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THE NIBBLE’s Gourmet News & Views
Trends, Products & Items Of Note In The World Of Specialty Foods
This is the blog section of THE NIBBLE. Read all of our content on TheNibble.com,
the online magazine about gourmet and specialty food.
Archive for Tip Of The Day
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November 20, 2009 at 8:31 am
· Filed under Kitchenware, Tip Of The Day
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Tundra from First Alert: your first defense against kitchen fires. |
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Cooking for Thanksgiving? Stove fires are the number one cause of home fires in the U.S. We’ve had one in THE NIBBLE kitchen.
Here’s an important tip from The National Consumers League: Keep an oven mitt and a large pot lid next to the stove. If a small fire starts in a pan, turn off the burner. Wear the oven mitt while carefully sliding the lid over the pan to smother the flame.
Never pour water on a grease fire and never use a fire extinguisher on a pan fire—it can spray or shoot burning grease around the kitchen and end up spreading the fire.
Also make sure you have a kitchen fire extinguisher nearby. When our fire started, we lost valuable minutes trying to figure out how to work the fire extinguisher. That’s why we were thrilled to discover the Tundra—a push-button aerosol can that anyone, from children to the elderly, can handle. We’ll never be without it again.
Read our review of the Tundra push-button fire extinguisher.
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November 18, 2009 at 8:55 am
· Filed under Recipes, Tip Of The Day, Vegetables
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Add truffle flavor to a dish with some of this brilliant juice, available at specialty food shops. Created by soaking Italian and French truffles in a brine, it’s an easy way to introduce the heady flavor of truffles to a dish.
We use it in sauces, soups and stocks where we don’t want the added fat from our other favorite truffle-enhancement, truffle butter, another delicious and affordable solution. Truffle oil is yet another option (and great to spray on popcorn).
Learn all about truffles and using truffle products.
You must try our favorite truffle butter, from D’Artagnan, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
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Truffles, glorious truffles. Photo by Kelly Cline | IST. |
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November 17, 2009 at 7:46 am
· Filed under Recipes, Tip Of The Day, Vegetables
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When tomatoes are out of season—or you just don’t have any at hand—simply substitute roasted red peppers (pimientos) or marinated sundried tomatoes. Both are available in jars, and can be kept on your shelf ready for sandwiches, salads, plate garnishes, hors d’oeuvres, pastas and any need you have for flavor and color.
Try peppadews too, a cherry pepper-sized African fruit that looks like a small, round red bell pepper and is available in mild and hot styles. They can be stuffed for hors d’oeuvres and even used as cocktail garnishes. But warning to carb counters: Their sweetness comes from added sugar.
See our review of Peppadew.
See more of our favorite veggies, plus recipes, in the Gourmet Vegetables Section of THE NIBBLE.
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Use sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and peppadews to add flavor and color to sandwiches and dishes when tomato season is over. Photo courtesy Peppadew.com. |
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November 16, 2009 at 8:55 am
· Filed under Honey/Sugar/Syrup, Tip Of The Day
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| A pinch of brown sugar is a delightful garnish on top of yogurt, fruit salad, cereal, pancakes, sweet potatoes, ice cream and much more. But it has a tendency to lose moisture and solidify into a hard brick.
When brown sugar gets hard, put it into a microwave-safe container and zap it for 60 seconds. The old-fashioned method, placing a slice of fresh apple into the sugar canister, still works; but it takes overnight or longer for the moisture from the apple to absorb into the sugar.
Learn about the different types of brown sugar—and other sugars and syrups—in our Sugar Glossary.
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A microwave zap does it every time! Kenmore microwave available at Amazon.com. |
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November 15, 2009 at 8:55 am
· Filed under Bread, Crackers, Muffins, Recipes, Tip Of The Day
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Try your turkey and swiss “half and half.” Photo courtesy Sargento. |
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When serving sandwiches, offer a variety of condiments and recommend that diners mix and match: one half of a roast beef, ham or turkey sandwich with chutney, one half with Roquefort Dijon mustard, for example. It’s like having two different sandwiches, and just one way in which specialty condiments transform everyday foods into gourmet treats.
We love the Dijon mustards of Laurent du Clos so much, we can eat them from the jar—especially the amazing Roquefort mustard. Other favorites include the Saffron Aïoli mayonnaise from Restaurant Lulu and the fabulous flavored mayos from The Ojai Cook—all Top Picks Of The Week.
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How many types of sandwiches are there? See our Sandwich Glossary.
Visit our Gourmet Condiments Section for our favorite condiments.
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November 15, 2009 at 8:30 am
· Filed under Tip Of The Day, Vegetables
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Yesterday was National Guacamole Day, but it’s a dish that we enjoy almost every week of the year. To make the best, use avocados from Mexico. We hate to say it, because we prefer to support American businesses, but the Mexican Hass avocados are simply better—creamier and more flavorful, the best avocados we’ve ever had. As a result, they make the best, creamiest guacamole. Why?
Hass avocados from Mexico are grown in the mountains in the state of Michoacan, in volcanic soil, in semitropical temperatures with the perfect combination of sunshine and abundant rainfall. It makes a big difference.
They are left on the tree until they reach the perfect maturity, which allows for that depth of flavor and creamy texture when ripe.
Avocados are good for you. Yes, they have calories (from heart-healthy unsaturated fats); but they’re also packed full of antioxidants, fiber, folic acid and other B items, potassium and Vitamin E.
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A Hass avocado from Mexico. Photo courtesy AvocadosFromMexico.com. |
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Avocados originated in Mexico. Find out more, plus lots of avocado recipes, at AvocadosFromMexico.com.
If the avocado originated in Mexico, why is it called the Hass? Because a California avocado grower propagated seedlings and sold one to a postman named Rudolph Hass, who patented the name. Read more about the history of the Hass avocado.
Do you know about avocado oil? It has the highest smoke point of any culinary oil, and a good brand is absolutely delicious. Check out Olivado avocado oil, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
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November 9, 2009 at 8:41 am
· Filed under Oil/Vinegar/Dressing, Recipes, Tip Of The Day
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Flavored balsamic vinegars do more than create tasty salad dressings, marinades and glazes. They can make sophisticated desserts: drizzle cherry, strawberry and raspberry balsamics over berries and other fresh fruit, over vanilla ice cream, and even slices of fresh goat cheese. You can reduce the vinegar and add stock to make a sauce for duck or pork.
Or, drizzle it onto a duck or pork sandwich (add some arugula!). Perk up a soup, stew or casserole by adding a spoonful. Look for fruit balsamics at fine supermarkets and specialty stores. Try some in a cocktail!
One of our favorite fruit balsamics has been the Cherry Balsamic from Restaurant LuLu Gourmet Products. But we just discovered this family of flavored balsamics from Lucero, in Blueberry, Fig, Peach, Red Apple and Wild Cherry. We’ve just started dressing, mixing and cooking with the line and will report back in a full review in the December issue of THE NIBBLE webzine.
Learn more about balsamic vinegar.
The history of vinegar and all the different types of vinegar.
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Lucero balsamic vinegars are made by a third- generation family producer in California’s Sacramento Valley. Photo by Evan Dempsey | THE NIBBLE. |
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November 6, 2009 at 8:41 am
· Filed under Ice Cream, Tip Of The Day
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Vosges’ Red Fire Ice Cream with ancho and chipotle chiles (plus cinnamon) lets you add some fire to your chocolate ice cream. Then, pair it with brownies or chocolate cake! Photo courtesy Vosges Chocolat. |
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Match traditional desserts like apple pie, brownies, chocolate cake and pound cake with very modern flavors of ice cream. Vosges Chocolat’s Naga (sweet Indian curry and coconut ice cream) and Red Fire (chocolate with chilies and cinnamon) ice creams are heavenly with classic cakes and pies. Vosges will overnight-deliver them (and their two other exotic flavors) to you in dry ice, but your local creameries may offer similar delights.
Another of our favorites, Reed’s Ginger Ice Cream (in Chocolate, Ginger and Original), is available at specialty stores nationwide. Ginger is a delicious pairing with pound cake, chocolate, fruit desserts—just about anything!
Read our review of Vosges ice cream.
Find out more about Reed’s Ginger Ice Cream.
Check out all of our favorite ice cream, plus recipes and the history of ice cream, in our Ice Cream Section.
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November 5, 2009 at 8:54 am
· Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Entertaining, Kitchenware, Tip Of The Day
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Our favorite ice cube trays from ISI Orka keep ice cleaner and fresher and color-code our “specialty” ice cubes. |
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You can make festive ice cubes for holiday drinks without investing in special pumpkin- or holly leaf-shape ice cube trays. And you can do it more elegantly, too!
Just freeze one of the following in each section of a regular ice cube tray:
a whole cranberry
a mint or basil leaf
a rosemary sprig
a piece of curly lime or lemon peel
We create different trays of “designer ice cubes” to match to different sweet or savory beverages. It’s easy to keep the garnishes straight in our favorite color-coordinated ice cube trays from iSi Orka.
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November 4, 2009 at 8:15 am
· Filed under Entertaining, Fish/Seafood/Caviar, Tip Of The Day
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A simple-to-make, impressive first course is a smoked salmon roll filled with salmon caviar and crème fraîche. Ask the counter person to slice the salmon in wide pieces instead of narrow strips—explain that you’re going to fill the slices and roll them up like a cigar.
1. Spread the inside of each slice with crème fraîche and a teaspoon of your favorite caviar or roe, but leave the last inch on each end clear of filling so it doesn’t spill out when you roll up. Then roll!
2. Put a few beads of caviar on top of the “cigar” for decor (consider some contrasting caviar, e.g. flavored whitefish roe or tobiko).
3. Garnish the plate with a sprinkle of snipped chives and dill and some finely diced red onion. This cigar is smokin’!
Discover the different types of smoked salmon.
Explore all the different types of caviar in our Caviar Glossary.
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Can’t afford sturgeon caviar in a recession (or any time)? Affordable salmon caviar is delicious in this recipe. Photo courtesy of Red-Caviar.com, certified kosher. |
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