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THE NIBBLEâs 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 Uncategorized
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March 18, 2010 at 8:00 am
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Do you really want an Easter basket with jelly beans, marshmallow eggs and a chocolate bunny? Or would you rather have confections from a fine chocolatier who thinks outside the basket?
The answer may be âbothâ; but order early if you want to acquire these beautiful pieces of edible art from Bond Street Chocolate. They sell out!
To make these beautiful chocolate statues of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadeloupe (as well as Buddha and Moses), Bond Street Chocolate uses the finest E. Guittardâs 72% Coucher du Soleil, a dark, rich, smooth couverture chocolate with a creamy mouth feel and hints of thyme and jasmine. With all due respect, it is chocolate to pray for.
The chocolate is poured into handmade chocolate molds. The molded pieces are painstakingly hand-painted with edible gold leaf.
They are beautiful to look at, and you can keep the chocolate for up to a year as an object dâart before you have to decide whether itâs art or food.
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Beautiful chocolate sculptures, embellished with edible gold. Photo by Katherine Pollak | THE NIBBLE. |
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For those who want a box of classic chocolates, Bond Street Chocolateâs sophisticated bonbons are available in traditional shapes, but with anything but standard flavor combinationsâseveral with fine spirits such as Bourbon, Cachaça, Rum and Tequila, as well as florals and herbs such as hibiscus, lavender and tea. Send a box to your favorite chocolate gourmet, but hurry, as they do sell out.
Read the full review of Bond Street Chocolate and see more beautiful chocolate.
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March 1, 2010 at 3:14 pm
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You might not be aware that March is:
- National Celery Month
- National Flour Month
- National Frozen Food Month
- National Nutrition Month
- National Noodle Month
- National Peanut Month
- National Sauce Month
- National Caffeine Awareness Month
In addition to the declaration of entire months as food holidays, almost every day of the year has its own food holidayâfor example, today, March 1st, is National Peanut Butter Loverâs Day.
While we used to publish all of the holidays in this blog, theyâre now part of THE NIBBLEâs Tweetstream. Sign up for them at Twitter.com.
These holidays are part of a long article on monthly food holidays that we created in 2005, and are among the most popular of the 20,000 pages on TheNibble.com. (More than a few people have begun tweeting on the same topic after seeing ours.)
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Itâs National Caffeine Awareness Month. Become more aware in our Coffee Glossary. Photo by Mac Pale | SXC. |
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You can see the entire Food Holiday list (with an overview of how days become designated as particular food holidays), with a click-through to a related article or recipe. Or enjoy it Tweet by Tweet.
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February 18, 2010 at 8:57 am
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Cooking with cherries?
It takes about 4 cups of tart cherries to make one 9″ pie.
There are about 3 cups of frozen cherries in a pound.
Using a cherry pie filling?
There are about 2 cups of filling in a 16-ounce can.
Try this recipe for pulled pork in a tart cherry sauce.
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Montmorency (tart) cherries. Photo courtesy Cherry Marketing Institute.
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February 9, 2010 at 8:30 am
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Seeking to offer tea drinkers as good an experience as their coffee lovers enjoy, Starbucks has gone âfull leafâ with its Tazo line of teas, available in black, green and herbal infusions.
Full leaves, or whole leaves, make the finest tea. Many tea bags are filled with broken leaves which donât have as much flavor. Less expensive supermarket brands use fannings, the dust (think âcrumbsâ) left over from processing the leaves.
Open up a tea bag from the brand you favor, shake the contents on a plate and look at them closely. If you see broken bits and fannings, youâre not getting quality tea. (Thatâs also why sugar and milk are required to make the drink enjoyable for many people. The finest tea canâand shouldâbe drunk straight.)
By the way, âwhole leafâ refers to black, green, oolong and white teas, made from the Camelia sinensis plant. The term doesnât apply to herbal infusions, although as with every product, there is a range of quality of the ingredients.
Learn all about fine tea in our Tea Glossary.
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The bags are now whole leaf. Photo by Benjamin D. Esham | Wikimedia Commons. |
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February 8, 2010 at 3:10 pm
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The popular Black & White cookie has been dressed in Valentineâs Day colors (a.k.a., the Pink & White).
We think theyâre a lovely gift for a deserving young lady. Find them at William Greenberg Desserts, or phone 1.800.255-8278.
Looking for more Valentine goodies for the kids?
Check out the Mickey Mouse chocolates above, and see our Best Valentineâs Gifts for Kids list, including heart-shaped cookies and brownies and the cutest mice and penguin bonbons from Burdick Chocolate, a NIBBLE top pick of the week.
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The black & white goes pink & white for Valentineâs Day. Photo courtesy WmGreenbergDesserts.com. |
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January 31, 2010 at 11:09 am
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To transition out of Healthy Food Month at THE NIBBLE and gird ourselves for Valentineâs carbs, we thought weâd celebrate Brandy Alexander Dayâa creamy, chocolaty cocktail that was a favorite in our teenage years (when we turned 18, it was still the legal drinking age in our state). Itâs dangerously goodâlike drinking milkshakes.
According to the Classic Cocktail Club of Milan, Italy, it was created in 1922 in London, âat the time ofâ the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood to Viscount Lascelles. However happy that marriage was, weâre happy the Brandy Alexander is part of its legacy.
BRANDY ALEXANDER RECIPE
Ingredients Per Serving
- 1-1/2 ounces brandy
- 1 ounce dark creme de cacao
- 1 ounce half-and-half
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
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Brandy Alexander photo courtesy EmperadorBrandy.com. |
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Preparation
1. Fill a shaker halfway with ice cubes.
2. Add brandy, creme de cacao and half-and-half; shake well.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with grated nutmeg.
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January 22, 2010 at 8:58 am
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Haggis in its âcook-in-bagâ (the sheepâs stomach) can be found online. |
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In Scotland, January 25th is a national holiday that celebrates the birthday of the great romantic poet, Robert Burns, in 1759. On Burns Night, family and friends gather for an evening of good food and companyâmuch like our Thanksgiving. A traditional Burnsâ Supper is served.
Put on your best tartan, get out the bagpipe and plan your own Burns Night by gathering the crew for Scottish food and drink. Read some of Burnsâ most popular poems: A Red, Red Rose; To a Louse; To a Mouse; Tam OâShanter, Ae Fond Kiss and perhaps most appropriate to the occasion, Address to a Haggis.
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FOOD IDEAS
For starters, serve Scottish salmon and/or smoked haddock (called Arbroath smokie, after the east coast fishing town of Arbroath).
As a main course, consider Scotch piesâindividual pot pies traditionally filled with mutton, but now generally made with beef (beef pies are available from Twin Hens). Beef, lamb and almost any seafoodâcrab, lobster, mussels, scallops or shrimp, for exampleâwill also do nicely. Or, send someone out to shoot a grouse or pheasant.
Itâs not easy to make haggis, a delicacy thatâs a tasty mixture of sheep’s offal, boiled, minced and mixed with beef suet and toasted oatmeal thatâs boiled inside the sheep’s stomach. But if your family and friends are adventurous, you can find it online.
For veggies, make colcannon, a dish popular in the Western Islands of Scotland (as well as in Ireland). Boil cabbage, carrots, turnip and potatoes; drain and stew for about 20 minutes in a pan with butter, salt and pepper.
Stovied tatties are a potato-based dish, designed to use left over meat and vegetables. Diced onions are cooked in beef fat along with leftover beef and vegetables (typically carrots and peas). Water is added to the pan, and then diced potatoes are added and simmered until soft.
Whatâs for dessert? Black bun is a dark, rich fruitcake, chock-full of currants, raisins, finely-chopped orange peel and chopped almonds, spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Or, serve shortbread and teaâalways a crowd pleaser. (Read the history of shortbread.)
An easier celebration might be to invite everyone for a Scotch tasting.
How about a Scotch and chocolate tasting?
Or, go straight for it: How to plan a Scotch tasting.
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January 10, 2010 at 8:54 am
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Isnât this special: Rio Star Grapefruit & Apple Mint Sushi Roll With Honey Chili Dipping Sauce. Photo courtesy TexaSweet. |
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Grapefruit is in season, healthy (full of vitamins A and C, dietary fiber and lycopene) and flavorful. Go for Rio Star Grapefruit, Rio Red, Ruby Red or Star Ruby grapefruit varieties and youâve got a beautiful color as well. Rosy Rio Star Grapefruit is a hybrid of the two reddest grapefruit varieties, Rio Red and Star Ruby grapefruit.
Grapefruitâs flavor and color work well in recipesâfrom cocktails to bruschetta, steamed shrimp, asparagus (or other green sides) and salads.
In fact, we have an entire menu of grapefruit recipes, from cocktails to desserts (Rio Star Mini Cheesecakes and Rio Star Grapefruit CrÚme Brûlée).
Check âem out and add variety, nutrition and great taste to your winter menu.
Find more of our favorite fruitsâand more fruit-based recipesâin our Gourmet Fruits & Nuts Section.
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November 13, 2009 at 8:56 am
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Tasty placecards: Use affix the card to a pumpkin bonbon. Photo courtesy of WeddingBee.com. |
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For Thanksgiving dinner, itâs easy to make place cards that are good enough to eat: Just stick a card in a bonbon (preferably, pumpkin, maple or other holiday flavor).
If youâre artistically inclined, buy tent place cards at any card shop or stationery store. Then look for candies the size of a quarter: flat chocolate turkeys or pumpkins, nonpareils or colorful white chocolate pastilles. Affix a piece of candy to the left side of each place card, using a paste of 2T confectionerâs sugar and 3 to 4 drops water. The cards add fun and anticipation from the moment people see the table. Guests can remove and eat the chocolate at the end of dinner.
For other holidays, you can attach Christmas trees, hearts, bunnies, etc. If you donât want place cards, use chocolate place settings.
Looking for some special Thanksgiving Chocolates? Read our article.
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November 12, 2009 at 8:43 am
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Hors dâoeuvres from GoodWives.com. |
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Entertaining? Plan 4 to 6 cocktail hors dâoeuvres per person if youâre following drinks with dinner; 8 to 10 pieces if itâs just a cocktail party.
Some brands of frozen hors dâoeuvres available to consumers are the same brands caterers use. Theyâll cook up hot and crispy in your oven in just 7 or 8 minutes. Just try the products in advance of the event so there are no surprises. Not only do you want to be sure that the food tastes as good as it looks; different ovens produce different results, and you donât want to experiment while guests are waiting to be fed!
Find reviews of our favorite hors dâoeuvres, plus recipes, in our Hors dâOeuvres & Cocktail Snacks Section.
Read more about planning hors dâoeuvres.
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