• 12Mar

    Relay Foods Update

    My $20 off of $60 code is https://www.relayfoods.com/friend/9WZ8KG.

    I’ve been getting a lot of groceries lately from Relay Foods lately, so here are some of my current top picks from their lineup:

    Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars are whole wheat versions of Fig Newtons are come in various flavors. I like the fact that they are whole wheat and in packages of two cookies for a healthy snack on the go. My favorites flavors are the blueberry, raspberry, original, and peach/apricot. I’m not a fan of the strawberry.

    Ninth Street (out of NC) makes Chocolate Babka. I’d prefer it doesn’t come frozen (because I have to defrost it to slice and toast it), but it is a good product. Keep in mind that it ca be difficult to slice, isn’t overly sweet, and should be toasted.

    Pretzilla Soft Pretzel Sausage Buns & Soft Pretzel Hamburger Buns. They arrive frozen. The hamburger buns they are already sliced but the sausage rolls are not.

    Hex’s Sea Kraut and Farmstead Ferments’ Classic Kraut are both good and local. Farmhouse Culture’s Organic Jalapeno Kraut is my favorite of the three, and is organic, but not local. (The other two are not organic.) Hex is a regular at the Silver Spring Farmer’s Market (and even sells kombucha there).

    I’m always a fan of Hudson Henry’s granola, which comes in three flavors (Pecan, Cashew, or Walnut) and is local. People go crazy for this product. This is my favorite granola right now!

    Asmar’s Baba Ganouj (out of Alexandria, VA) is a good product as well. It’s he best Baba I’ve found outside Middle Eastern Restaurants, although the texture is a little different.

    Escazu and Salazon are good options for local chocolate. The Escazu Dark Chocoloate Pumpkin Seeds & Guajillo, and the the Salazon Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and  Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel are my favorites of these products.

    Eden Brown Mustard with Apple Cider Vinegar is stone ground, organic, and a great product.

    -JAY

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  • 30Mar

    From the DCFüd Test Kitchen

    Product Reviews:

    I used the new spice rub from Dizzy Pig, Bayou-ish, on various baked chicken dishes. This great tasting rub is designed for searing and blackening, but can also be used for baking or stir frying.

    I purchased two of Farmstead Ferments’ sauerkrauts from Relay Foods: the Apple Kraut (made with red cabbage) and the Classic Kraut. The producer is based in Charlottesville, VA, and creates raw, naturally-fermented foods and beverages made by hand in small batches. She uses “eco-locally grown” fruits and vegetables. You don’s want to kill the probiotics, so don’t cook the kraut. I use the krauts on good whole wheat Portuguese rolls with turkey sausages and mustard, but use a sweeter mustard (such as honey Dijon) with the (extremely strongly flavored) red kraut for the contrast in flavors. You can use this code (JXDVAG) to get $30 off of $50 on your first Relay Foods grocery pickup (they have pickup spots throughout the area) or delivery.

    I tried two of Saffron Road‘s simmer sauces: the Korean Stir Fry, and the Harissa. I used both of the sauces (separately) in chicken and vegetable dishes. Both sauces are tasty, and included combinations of flavors I didn’t expect (both include pear juice as an ingredient). I have a couple of other simmer sauces to try out, so I’ll report back on them later.

    I sampled a number of NAR Gourmet Turkish products. They products I tied are all are kosher (pareve), but only some are organic.

    NAR’s Organic Cumin and Organic Chili Pepper (flakes) are both good quality products; I used them together in a variety of dishes including home fries, and green beans. The Organic Chili Pepper arrived in a small glass bottle with a cork stopper, so, when I opened it, I half expected a genie to materialize. The Red Wine Vinegar and Early Harvest cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil are both good quality products, and what I expected; I used them on several delicious salads.

    NAR’s pressed Pistachio Oil is a new product for me, which is why I ordered it. It also took me a while to think of how I wanted to try it out. I considered making something with filo dough, or maybe a pasta salad, but did not have appropriate ingredients.  This morning, I combined the oil with butter and used it  to pan fry French toast with spectacular results. (We are talking spectacularly good, not spectacularly bad.) This is a great product.

    The last two NAR products that I tried were the Traditional Lemon Peel Jam and Traditional Mandarin Marmalade. They may both be traditional in Turkey, but I’m unsure that either one translates well to the US market.

    This particular “marmalade” isn’t what we (in the US) know as a marmalade (a jelly with some suspended slivers of rind), but a product that seems to be blended. As such, all you taste (besides a little sugar) is rind, and this is an overly bitter combination with an odd texture; I did not enjoy this product. My recommendation here is that NAR emulates how marmalades are made in the US (or even the UK, which is big on marmelades), in  order to produce a product appropriate to the market they are targeting.

    The Traditional Lemon Peel Jam is actually closer to a preserve than a jam, but I would describe it as candied lemon peel in syrup. The lemon peel is rolled up into little wheels, and aren’t really that enjoyable to chew on because of how big/thick the pieces are. Do I see possible uses for this product? Yes, if renamed something like “candied lemon peel in syrup,” I can see people using the candied lemon rinds and syrup in cooking, baking, and creation of  cocktails. You would chop the peels up to cook or bake with them.  I am sure they is a way to slice the peels up to use them to garnish a cocktail, and the syrup could definitely be used in cocktails.

    -JAY

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  • 29Oct

    Move over Peapod, there is a New Online Grocery in Town!

    rsz_relayfoods

    This is what was supposed to be in the produce box, but they ran out of some items so made substitutions. It would be nice if this list was representative of what they actually gave me in the box.

    I recently added an ad/coupon for Relay Foods (a grocery pickup/delivery service) to the right side of DCFüd so that our readers can save $20 off of $60 on their first order. Relay Foods has many good quality products including those from local businesses and farms. I decided to try the grocery delivery service, and write this review about my experience with Relay Foods. I ordered $50 in groceries (total before adding the discount code).

    The Groceries:

    • Local Bounty Share Produce Box. Between the day of the order and the delivery, they changed the box to Fall produce. They should have sent me an email, so that I knew I’d get different produce than I’d ordered. The box did have good quality items, but some of the items in the Fall box were out of stock, so they replaced them with other items. Instead of 2 Asian pears, I received 1 pear but there was also 2 bell peppers instead of one. Instead of butternut squash,  received a small yellow summer squash. Instead of potatoes I received extra sweet potatoes.The greens in the box were organic mustard greens (that were actually from California while everything else seems to be local). The pear has a sticker identifying it as this Stemlit product (and organic); the pear was quite good.
    • Artisan Cuts‘ Freebird Whole Chicken from Artisan Cuts. Their description of the chicken: “These humanely raised chickens are grown in Amish Country, by experienced family farmers, who follow strict animal welfare standards. The chickens are free-roaming in well-ventilated, spacious barns, which offer more room than those of factory-raised birds. The chickens are vegetarian fed sun ripened corn and soybeans, and are never treated with antibiotics.” The chicken was very flavorful and obviously high quality; I will definitely purchase one in a future order.
    • Artisan Cuts’ Plainville Farms Ground Turkey – Fresh, 1 lb. I messed up the ground turkey meatballs by forgetting to add the beaten egg. They taste great, but are heavy and their texture is off, so can’t really judge the ingredient.
    • Family Ties & Pies‘ Mixed Berry Pistachio Scones, two Scones (frozen). I enjoyed the scones, and may try different varieties next time.
    • Mimi’s Whole Grain Cinnamon Rolls, Honey Whole Wheat, 6-8 Pack, 20 oz. These are very good when warmed up.
    • Mission Home Bakeshop‘s Homemade Honey Oatmeal Bread, 16 oz. This had great flavor and texture when used to make French toast.
    • Bombolini Pasta‘s Spinach Fettuccine, 16 oz. It arrived half frozen, but it should not have been frozen at all. When I cooked it, the pasta stuck together (because it is not packaged in one layer so it can be frozen), was gummy, and inedible. I let Relay Foods know about the inedible pasta, and they apologized, removed the item from my bill, and gave me a $5 credit to be used on a future item.

    Other good products Relay Foods Carries:

    Virginia Vinegar Works. I’ve only tried the Heritage Blend Red (which is a good local product) but I noticed that they have the 500 ml White Heritage Blend and Chardonnay varieties on sale for $7.20 (instead of $12) right now.

    Holy Grael Sorbet. My favorite of Holy Grael sorbet is the Blackberry Lime.

    Cavanna Pasta. I am a fan of their Artichoke-Pesto Cannelloni and Spinach-Egg Taglierni.

    Moorenko’s Ice Cream. I have written about this company previously, and Relay Foods carry one of my favorites, the Honey Lavender.

    Soupergirl. We wrote about this soup company in 2009.

    Pickup and Delivery:

    Relay Foods has a map of their pickup spots. You can also get your order delivered (for a fee) or signup for monthly delivery service (for a larger fee).

    Customer Service:

    Relay Foods’ customer service by email and phone is excellent. When I noticed that the ground turkey I ordered was listed in my confirmation message as frozen instead of fresh, I called Relay Foods to change the item. The representative said they were out of fresh ground turkey, told me how to edit my cart, and told me to check the site in the next few days to see if it was back in stock. I let her know that I’d remove the frozen item and that they could email me if they have the fresh version in the next few days. The representative agreed and stated that she would call their butcher. I got an email the next day saying the item is back in stock, and added it back to my order. Customer Service (as mentioned earlier) also handled the issue with the spinach pasta in a positive way.

    The delivery person was running a half hour late (there was a 2 hour range), a customer service person called me at the end of my time range to let me know. When the delivery person (who was very nice) gave me the box (and I checked it out), there was a whole chicken I didn’t order. She told me I could keep it for free.

    So, yes, there were a few glitches here and there, but it is a new business. I will definitely order from Relay Foods again.

    -JAY

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  • 29Sep

    Relay Foods Discount for our Readers!

    DCFüd readers can now get $20 off of a $60 or more purchase from Relay Foods! Just click on the image below (or on the right side of the website) or use this link: https://www.relayfoods.com/friend/JXDVAG. They have convenient pickup spots and also deliver.

    -JAY

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