Find recipes for flavored butters and read more butter tips in the Artisanal Butter section on THE NIBBLE online magazine.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/23/l-tip-of-the-day-butter-ramekins/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/22/tip-of-the-day-curdelicious/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/22/tip-of-the-day-curdelicious/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:06:43 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/22/tip-of-the-day-curdelicious/
The same lemon curd you’d enjoy on breakfast scones can do double-duty for dessert.   Lemon curd and its siblings, like lime curd and blood orange curd, are a versatile addition to the pantry. Serve them with strawberries and other dipping fruit for a casual dessert or a snack. Or spoon curd into tart shells for an instant fancy dessert—instead of one large tart, serve three mini tarts with different curd flavors, topped with a different type of berry. Use curd to garnish bundt cakes and pound cake. Serve it with plain cookies. And of course, spread it on toast, muffins and scones (the scones at the left are from Iveta Scones, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week). We even use it to make “dessert pasta” with angel hair and slivered almonds. Keep a jar or two on hand and you’ll always have something interesting to serve to guests. Read more about desserts and fruit spreads in the Dessert Sauces & Toppings section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/22/tip-of-the-day-curdelicious/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/21/tip-of-the-day-fusion-antipasto-recipe/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/21/tip-of-the-day-fusion-antipasto-recipe/#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:35:56 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/21/tip-of-the-day-fusion-antipasto-recipe/ Piquillo peppers add color and flavor to what would have been a plain lettuce salad. These are from El Navarrico and are available on Amazon.com.   Create a fusion dish by using Italian antipasto ingredients to dress up your salad course. Marinated tomatoes, roasted peppers or artichokes from a high-quality manufacturer like Divina are wonderful on their own, but are even more grand atop greens. You can use the oil marinade from quality jarred vegetables as your salad dressing and shave some Parmesan on top to finish your dish. Visit the Gourmet Vegetables Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine for more salad recipes.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/21/tip-of-the-day-fusion-antipasto-recipe/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/18/tip-of-the-day-flavored-cream-cheese/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/18/tip-of-the-day-flavored-cream-cheese/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:46:18 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/18/tip-of-the-day-flavored-cream-cheese/ If you don’t have time to make scallion cream cheese, do the next best thing: Snip chives into a small dish so that guests can sprinkle them on top of the cream cheese. It takes two minutes to wash and snip the chives.   When we serve flavored cream cheeses at brunch, the scallion cream cheese is the first to disappear. But commercial brands are gummy and specialty store fresh-made is pricey. Here’s our trick: Buy plain cream cheese, preferably organic. Using electric beaters on slow, blend 8 ounces of cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of sour cream (you can add more for a more fluid spread). Add 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions, or more to taste. That’s it! We also love olive cream cheese: Purée roasted peppers and, instead of the sour cream, blend 2 tablespoons or more of purée to taste. Add chopped green olives stuffed with pimento. Strawberries, bananas, guava, papaya, mango and pineapple (canned) are great blend-ins for sweet spreads. Read about more of our favorite dips and spreads in the Salsas, Dips & Spreads Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/18/tip-of-the-day-flavored-cream-cheese/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/12/tip-of-the-day-zippier-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipes/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/12/tip-of-the-day-zippier-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipes/#comments Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:27:52 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/12/tip-of-the-day-zippier-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipes/ Today is a holiday you can really sink your teeth into: Grilled Cheese Day! In fact, April is also Grilled Cheese Month—a much tastier concept than Taxes Are Due Month. Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of our favorite comfort foods—for lunch, light supper or snacks (you can cut them in quarters for casual hors d’oeuvres, too). Ask at your cheese counter for a tastier alternatives to American cheese, and test to find your favorites. We love smoked mozzarella and Jarlsberg, a Swiss-type cheese from Norway; and we find that making our sandwiches in a panini press in the best method. Otherwise, a frying pan will do just fine. Assemble the sandwiches and butter the outsides with softened butter. Fry: When the bottom slices are golden brown (2 to 3 minutes), flip them over, press down with a spatula and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. We like tomatoes on our sandwiches: We first sprinkle them with oregano or marinate them briefly in a vinaigrette for added flavor.   Tuscan-style grilled cheese combines Fontina, mozzarella and grilled vegetables. But don’t stop there. We have a dozen gourmet grilled cheese recipes for you, along with tips on making the perfect grilled cheese sandwiches. Read the full article and pick your favorite recipes. We’ve been making two a day for lunch at THE NIBBLE offices, and the voting is intense. (HINT: If you love blue cheese, the two blue cheese recipes are a slam dunk…except for the sweet mascarpone and dulce de leche recipe. Testing and voting is HARD WORK!) Get the gang together and make all 12, for one heck of a grilled cheese-a-thon. When you’re done, you can fnd more sandwich recipes in the Bread Products section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/12/tip-of-the-day-zippier-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipes/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/11/tip-of-the-day-water-glass-garnishes/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/11/tip-of-the-day-water-glass-garnishes/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:17:30 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/11/tip-of-the-day-water-glass-garnishes/ Take a tip from stylish restaurants and add slices of lemon, lime or cucumber (or a plump strawberry) to the rim of water glasses. After you’ve cut the slices, make an additional cut from the center to the edge, and use that notch to affix the fruit to the rim. Guests can remove and float the pieces in their water for added flavor. If you keep a water pitcher at the table, citrus or cucumber slices and strawberries provide flavor and look elegant inside, too. Read about more glamorous garnishes for every food on your table in THE NIBBLE online magazine.   Cocktail? No! It’s a healthy, calorie-free glass of water, dressed up with glamorous garnishes.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/04/11/tip-of-the-day-water-glass-garnishes/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/19/tip-of-the-day-pesto-trick/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/19/tip-of-the-day-pesto-trick/#comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:51:44 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/19/tip-of-the-day-pesto-trick/ There’s nothing better than a fresh basil plant on the windowsill, that you can snip whenever you’d like some fresh herb garnish. However, if a green thumb isn’t one of your talents, keep a jar of versatile pesto sauce in the cabinet for plate accents. Drizzle a bit across the plate, or use a medicine dropper to apply “polka dots” around the perimeter of the plate. You can also use it, of course, with pasta, hors d’oeuvres and as a bread spread. If you don’t use the entire jar, keep it fresh by pouring a layer of olive oil on top of the pesto and capping it tightly. The opened jar will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. Pour off the olive oil before using the pesto, and use it to make a delicious salad dressing. Read all about pesto, reviews of some of our favorite pestos and our homemade pesto recipe. Find more of our favorite pasta sauces in the Pasta Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.  
Make an instant hors d’oeuvre from pesto, a bocconcini (small mozzarella ball, and some roasted red pepper.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/19/tip-of-the-day-pesto-trick/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/18/tip-of-the-day-re-think-your-salt/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/18/tip-of-the-day-re-think-your-salt/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:45:53 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/18/tip-of-the-day-re-think-your-salt/ Alaea red lava salts from Hawaii are colored and flavored by clay in the local water. Photo courtesy of Saltworks.us.   Bid adieu to one of America’s food icons, the Morton Salt Girl, whose iodized salt is too salty. Instead, accent your food with the far more vivid flavors of sea salts. There are dozens, each with its own flavor and beauty. Some of our favorites are grey Celtic salt, coral-hued Hawaiian sea salt, beige and ochre smoked sea salts and Himalayan pink salt. These are general categories: Each type of salt can be found under different brand names. Sea salts are not as refined (processed) as table salts, so contain nutritious traces of calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and zinc (that also add to the color). They have bright, pure, clean flavor and the flavor subtleties from the minerals. The grains are generally too large for salt shakers, so take pinches from salt dishes, like great-grandma did. It makes it all the more a gourmet experience, and you’ll notice flavors in your food you never have before. You’ll have a great time perusing our glossary of artisan salts in the Salts & Seasonings Section on THE NIBBLE online magazine. ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/18/tip-of-the-day-re-think-your-salt/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/13/tip-of-the-day-irish-cream-icing/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/13/tip-of-the-day-irish-cream-icing/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:20:28 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/13/tip-of-the-day-irish-cream-icing/
Make a white chocolate frosting with Irish cream liqueur. Photo courtesy of Equinox Maple Flakes.  

Celebrate the 17th with Irish Cream Icing. You can bake or buy brownies or a loaf cake and add this tasty homemade topping. Take 1/3 cup Irish cream liqueur (such as Bailey’s) and 8 ounces of top-quality white chocolate. Buy a good chocolate bar instead of baking chips, which can be vegetable oil instead of real chocolate. You can buy Green & Black’s, one of our favorites (it’s organic, too), readily available at Whole Foods Markets and elsewhere. In a small pan, bring the liqueur to a slow boil; then remove from the heat and whisk in the chopped white chocolate until it’s completely melted and the icing is smooth. Refrigerate until it becomes thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally. Spread the icing over the brownies or cake. Keep refrigerated until 30 minutes before serving.

- Make Irish Coffee to go with your dessert.
- Find more cake recipes in the Gourmet Cakes Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/13/tip-of-the-day-irish-cream-icing/feed/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/10/tip-of-the-day-jazzy-vinaigrette/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/10/tip-of-the-day-jazzy-vinaigrette/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:22:13 +0000 Nibble Editors http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/10/tip-of-the-day-jazzy-vinaigrette/
Add a splash of raspberry flavor to your vinaigrette.   Looking to add a little pizazz to your everyday salad dressing? Try a raspberry vinaigrette—two parts raspberry vinegar, three parts olive oil. The sweet raspberry fruit shines through, as does its ruby color. While raspberry vinegars are available for as little as $3.50 a bottle—they can be made less expensively with raspberry flavoring—we splurge on the opulent French vinegar of J. Leblanc, made from the juice of fresh raspberries blended into white wine vinegar, then aged in oak barrels. It also makes a splendid addition to fish sauces, marinades and luncheon salads—especially with sliced duck or chicken. It adds magic when you substitute it for cider vinegar, for example, in cole slaw, potato salad and gazpacho. It can be drizzled on fruit, cheese, bread, ice cream, cheesecake…in fact, you can mix a spoonful into apple juice, iced tea, lemonade and other beverages. It also makes a great gift for your favorite cook or foodie. If you can’t find the brand locally, it is sold on Amazon. Find more of our favorite vinegars in the Oiis & Vinegars Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.   ]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2008/03/10/tip-of-the-day-jazzy-vinaigrette/feed/