THE NIBBLE Gourmet News & Views
Trends, Products & Items Of Note In The World Of Specialty Foods
Read all of our content on TheNibble.com, the online magazine about specialty food.
Archive for Entertaining
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June 27, 2008 at 9:29 am
· Filed under Beverages, Cocktails & Spirits, Entertaining, Recipes
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The ever-popular Margarita seems to be a classic with every generation. |
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Modern mixology, like today’s fine cuisine, has become a throw-down to see who can create the most complex, fascinating drinks with new flavors and nifty ingredients. In the process of entertaining cocktail customers with new wow factors, many of the classic drinks have fallen by the wayside. While some, like the Martini, are enjoying a renaissance (including hundreds of variations on the theme that make the drink unrecognizable, as in the Plum Sakétini), when was the last time anyone ordered a Tom Collins—even though a bar glass is named after it?
This summer, treat guests to a retro cocktail hour. Here are cocktail recipes for some oldies but goodies that haven’t been seen for a while, along with some classics that seem to be high on the list of the cocktail menu top hits:
-Bellini Recipe
-Grand Margarita Recipe
-Mojito Recipe
-Scotch & Ginger Recipe
-Tom Collins Recipe |
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May 23, 2008 at 8:55 am
· Filed under Cheese/Yogurt/Dairy, Entertaining, Tip Of The Day
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Mount McKinley, a Nibble Top Pick, is a shepherd’s-style aged goat cheese unfamiliar to most people: sharp, earthy and nutty. Photo by B.A. Van Sise. |
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The next time you’re deciding on what cheeses to serve, select the entire group from either goat’s or sheep’s milk. From fresh chèvre to blue to Parmesan- and Cheddar-like goat cheeses, for example, you and your guests will experience goat (or sheep) cheeses in a new light. People who may only be familiar with fresh chèvre logs and aged pyramids will be surprised and delighted by what the milk produces in other styles of cheese. Include quark, a yogurt-like cheese, for a complete picture. As an added bonus for those who have lactose problems, goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses are easier to digest than cow’s milk cheeses. You can learn more about fine cheese in the Gourmet Cheese section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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May 22, 2008 at 10:20 am
· Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Entertaining, Tip Of The Day
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| Make your ice cubes a focus of attention by freezing fruit, herbs or small vegetables in the cubes. For sweet drinks, add a raspberry, small strawberry, red grape, mint leaf or lemon peel curl to each section of the ice cube tray. For savory drinks like Bloody Marys, use a grape tomato, small basil leaves or a snip of rosemary. For ice water, quartered cucumbers (leave the peel for color), mint and lemon curls are pretty. Read about our favorite ice cube trays from iSi Orka. Plan a fancy cocktail party with recipes from the Cocktails & Spirits section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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Gussy up your plain water with herbs, citrus peel or cucumber-embedded ice cubes.
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May 20, 2008 at 9:10 am
· Filed under Coffee & Tea, Entertaining, Tip Of The Day
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These tiny Dough Ray Me cookies, a Nibble Top Pick, make a perfect companion for tea time.
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When was the last time you had afternoon tea? Most of us have forgotten about the ritual that used to be part of everyday genteel life. Even if you prefer coffee to tea, this elegant social and gustatory delight should be experienced more often—if only as a reason to get out the good china, see your friends and enjoy those delightful little sandwiches and pastries. Revive the art of the tea party: Be the kick-off host and get your circle of friends to take turns hosting tea on the last Sunday of the month (or whenever). It’s much easier than preparing brunch, and since tea begins at 4 p.m., you don’t have to wake up early. Click here for a good book to start you on your way (the book can be passed from host to host). Learn how to brew the perfect cup of tea at THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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April 23, 2008 at 11:38 am
· Filed under Cheese/Yogurt/Dairy, Entertaining, Tip Of The Day
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Flavored butter looks even more enticing when served in a lovely ramekin. This cultured butter is made by Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.
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Instead of bringing butter to the table in a rectangular brick, serve it in ramekins, like some fine restaurants do. In addition to plain butter, you can easily make and serve different flavored butters with style. Use a knife to score decorative cross-hatches on the top; and if you’re of an artistic nature, add a few fresh herb leaves or capers to the center or edges. Or sprinkle the top of sweet butter with sea salt.
Find recipes for flavored butters and read more butter tips in the Artisanal Butter section on THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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April 11, 2008 at 1:33 pm
· Filed under Chocolate, Top Pick Of The Week, Entertaining, Mother's Day
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Looking like the Marilyn Monroe pinup of white chocolate, Pierre Marcolini’s white chocolate bar truly is eye candy. |
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If you don’t already love white chocolate, our review of the best white chocolate bars in the world will make a believer out of you. You’ll also learn why you may not have enjoyed the white chocolate you’ve had in the past, and how to select the best bars. With Mother’s Day fast approaching, if you’re stuck for a gift or an activity, order one of each bar and have a white chocolate tasting party (read our instructions). Read the full review, and check out the Chocolate Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine for many more of the world’s best chocolates. |
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April 11, 2008 at 11:53 am
· Filed under Top Pick Of The Week, Entertaining, Bread, Crackers, Muffins
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 Moist, creamy Iveta Scones are a departure from the dry, traditional variety. These raspberry scones are among our favorites. |
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Today’s scones are quick breads, similar to American biscuits. They are traditionally made with wheat flour, sugar, baking powder or baking soda, butter, milk and eggs, and baked in the oven—both in the traditional wedge form and in round, square and diamond shapes. We don’t enjoy traditional, hard, dry scones. They come from an earlier time, when cooking wasn’t as easy as it is today. The Scots, and others who enjoyed them back then, covered them with butter, jam (and more later, clotted cream), to take the edge off the dryness. But the cream scones from Iveta Scones—called cream scones because they substitute cream for the butter and eggs—are a moist delight that require no further embellishment (but go ahead—slather them with lemon curd and Devon cream). They’re available in 16 flavors plus sugar-free Vanilla. Read about our favorites—for even among a line that is uniformly delicious, there are standouts. Gift boxed and around $6.00, they make nice house gifts and—thinking ahead—stocking stuffers. Better yet, you can have delicious scones in 20 minutes, just by adding cream to the mix, shaping and baking. The scones also substitute for shortbread biscuits. |
| While scones can be found in many flavors today—both sweet and savory—traditional English scones may include raisins or currants, but are often plain, relying on jam, preserves, lemon curd or honey for added flavor—perhaps with a touch of clotted cream. You may have heard two different pronunciations for “scone.” Which is the authentic one? They both are! The word is pronounced “skahn” in Scotland and Northern England (rhymes with gone) and “skoan” in the south of England (rhymes with own), the pronunciation adopted by the U.S. and Canada. Read more in the The History of Scones. You’ll also find the difference between clotted cream, Devon cream, and other scony mysteries. See more of our favorite scones and other bread products in the Bread Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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March 18, 2008 at 6:16 pm
· Filed under Top Pick Of The Week, Entertaining, Pasta
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| Ravioli lovers, dinner-party givers, and foodies of all inclinations: It doesn’t get more exciting than this. The word “ravioli” typically conjures up the image of pleasant pasta pillows stuffed with some vague meat or cheese. Not any more! Be prepared to be blasted to a higher level of ravioli consciousness by the artisans at Nuovo Pasta. For years we have lusted after Nuovo Pasta’s visually stunning, palate-tantalizing ravioli. We have longed to introduce them to you, dear NIBBLE reader. Heck, we have longed to get our own hands on them, but have been limited to tasting them at trade shows. The unmovable obstacle has been that Nuovo sells its gorgeous products only to restaurants, caterers and distributors. But now, we all can buy the same amazing ravioli that the professionals do, and wow our families and guests in the way that diners are wowed at top restaurants. Our good fortune is thanks to Marx Foods, a distributor of gourmet products to fine food establishments. They’ve made their wares available to consumers nationwide, through their online store. |
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A trio of gourmet raviolis: from the top, a regular round ravioli, a girasole (sunflower) and a pansotti (trainagle). |
| As we sit here eating giant ravioli (a.k.a. ravioloni—a single piece is an entire first course), one stuffed with osso bucco and one with Point Reyes blue cheese (a prior NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week), we are eternally grateful. There are plenty of regular-sized ravioli, too, but there is nothing “regular” about these beautiful pastas—triangular, round and rectangular, flecked, striped and marbled. They are stuffed with veal Bolognese, crawfish and andouille sausage, Grand Marnier roast duck, portabella mushrooms and Asiago cheese and dozens of other wonders. They’re irresistible, and will make your dinner parties the talk of the town. Read more and see all the photos in the full review. Pick your favorite and order a memorable first course for Easter dinner. And find more of our favorite pastas and sauces in the Pasta Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. Want to know the difference between ravioli, ravioloni, girasoles, pansotti, sacchette and a hundred other types of pasta? See our Pasta Glossary. |
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February 24, 2008 at 7:24 am
· Filed under Special Sweets, Cookies/Cake/Pastry, Entertaining, Academy Awards
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 Who wouldn’t want to take a bite out of Johnny Depp? |
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Invite the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees to your Oscar party—at least, in cookie effigy. Every year, we spring for these cookies from Eleni’s, a New York City bakery that specializes in hand-decorated cookies in every conceivable design. They outdo themselves with their Academy Award cookies, creating a set of Best Actor and Best Actress cookies with great likenesses of the performers. The only downside: 16 of these cookies are about $60, plus shipping. But, sometimes fun doesn’t come cheap. Read our review of Eleni’s Cookies, and find our other favorite cookies and brownies in THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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February 19, 2008 at 7:12 pm
· Filed under Special Sweets, Desserts & Ice Cream, Entertaining, Tip Of The Day
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| Invite food-loving friends to a fun, “pot luck” brunch, cocktails or coffee klatsch. Ask everyone to bring a favorite specialty food or beverage appropriate to the occasion, that the other guests would enjoy tasting. They’ll also need to bring the accoutrement(s) required to serve their food (e.g., bread or crackers for spreads, crudités for dips and dressings). For brunch, for example, guests might bring quince preserves, sun-dried tomato peanut butter, Swedish flatbread and guava nectar—foods most guests haven’t experienced. Or, they could bring their favorite brand of artisan sausage. Set the foods on a sideboard, cart or other “tasting bar” along with cards that indicate who chose them and where they can be purchased. We’d probably pick something from our Top Pick Of The Week foods—the 52 best products we taste each year. You can have the Top Picks emailed to you, or sent via RSS. |
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 We’d bring Wine Cellar Sorbets, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week. We find them irresistible. |
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