THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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TIP OF THE DAY: Expeller Pressed Oil

Many people use olive oil and canola oil as healthy fats. But is your healthy oil expeller pressed (good) or chemically extracted (not as good)?

Expeller pressed oils (also known as cold pressed oils) are those that have been extracted from fruits (avocados, olives, etc.), nuts, seeds and grains by expeller pressing.

A completely natural process, the source material has been squeezed in an expeller machine—an old-fashioned mechanical press. Some types of oils may then be refined using a steam filtration process.

The best oils are produced this way, and only oils produced this way are 100% natural.

Expeller pressed oils are typically more expensive because the pressed olives, nuts, etc. yield only about two-thirds as much oil as they would with chemical extraction.

Producers choose a lower yield and a pure product, rather than soaking the fruits/seeds/grains in chemicals, which can leave residues in the oil.

 
Is your olive oil expeller pressed and free of
chemicals, or has it been extracted with a
petrochemical? Photo by Liv Friis -Larsen | IST.
 
Even an oil labeled “virgin” does not guarantee the absence of chemicals. The word “virgin” refers to the lower acidity level of an olive oil. You need to see the words “expeller pressed” or “cold pressed.” (More about virgin olive oil.)

Expeller pressed oil are 100% natural, free of chemical solvents, additives and preservatives. Because they are less volatile, they evaporate less when heated; so you can use less when cooking. This can offset the higher price.

Another benefit: oils with a high level of saturated fat, such as coconut oil, contain fewer triglycerides than common vegetable oil (and thus have less saturated fat) when they are expeller pressed. Canola oil becomes lower in saturated fat than chemically extracted olive oil, and higher in Vitamin E, Omega 3 and Omega 6.

What is chemically-extracted oil?

If you don’t purchase oils that are labeled expeller pressed or cold press, your oil has been processed with hexane, a petroleum derivative (also known as a petro-organic compound). It is then further processed with phosphoric acid and other additives.

Now that you know, the choice is yours!

  

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FATHER’S DAY GIFT IDEA: The Best Whoopie Pies


You’ll want many bites of these whoopie pies. Photo by River Soma | THE NIBBLE.

  We’ve had many a whoopie pie, and can attest that the absolute best are from artisan baker WannaHavaCookie.

We wannahav lots of these cakelike cookies:* perfect recipes of moist cake and buttercream. Each one is a pillow of comfort food.

*A whoopie pie is not a pie, but a sandwich cookie. It’s made not from cookies, but from cake. Confusing? Well, that’s how the industry classifies it. A cookie is a handheld food; a piece of cake requires a fork.

Send any dad an assortment of scrumptious Wannahavacookie Whoopie Pie Classics.

The mixed dozen includes chocolate, red velvet and vanilla cake whoopie pies (the best red velvet cake we’ve ever had). They’re filled with chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, mint and peanut butter buttercream fillings, and are packaged in a reusable bucket tin.

Order them at TheNibbleGourmetMarket.com.

We bet Dad will say “Whoopie!”

 
WHOOPIE PIE TRIVIA: Legend credits an unnamed Amish woman with the invention of the whoopie pie. She allegedly took some leftover cake and frosting and made a handheld treat for her husband’s lunch box. He opened his lunch box and exclaimed, “Whoopie.” However, according to food historians, the real credit likely goes to a Boston bakery that created the whoopie pie sometime during the Depression. Details.

  

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Rocky Road Ice Cream Recipe For National Rocky Road Day

June 2nd is National Rocky Road Day.

Rocky road ice cream is chocolate ice cream mixed with nuts and marshmallows, the “rocks” in the road. The original nuts, walnuts, were later replaced with toasted almonds.

Over the years, the concept has been ported to fudge, cookies, popcorn and other sweets.

An easy recipe for Rocky Road ice cream is below.
 
 
HISTORY OF ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM

In 1928, William Dreyer and Joseph Edy founded Edy’s Grand Ice Cream in Oakland, California. Rocky Road ice cream was created the following year.

William Dreyer’s professional relationship with ice cream began in 1906 when, as a galley boy aboard a German passenger ship, he was tasked with making a frozen dessert to celebrate the ship’s arrival in America.

By the 1920s, he had established an ice cream manufacturing facility in Visalia, California. In 1926 he was recruited by National Ice Cream to run a large plant in Oakland. In Oakland he met Joe Edy, a prominent confectioner.

In 1928, Edy and Dreyer teamed up to manufacture premium ice cream under the name Edy’s Grand Ice Cream, focusing on creative flavors. At the time, ice cream was only sold in basic flavors such as chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

Dreyer was inspired by Edy’s use of marshmallows and nuts in a candy creation. In those days there were no miniature marshmallows. So in March of 1929, Dreyer cut up marshmallows with his wife’s sewing scissors, and added them along with walnuts to a base of chocolate ice cream.

The flavor was named Rocky Road for the texture. You’ll also find references that it was named for the troubled economic times of the Great Depression. However, the flavor was created in March 1929 and the stock market crash that engendered the Depression didn’t happen until October of that year.

 
EASY ROCKY ROAD ICE CREAM RECIPE

If you don’t want to make chocolate ice cream from scratch:

1. LEAVE a quart of store-bought chocolate ice cream on the counter to soften. You want it just soft enough to mix in the “rocks.”

2. STIR in 1 cup of miniature marshmallows and 1/2 cup roughly-chopped almonds or pecans.

3. RETURN the quart to the freezer to harden.
 
 
MORE ROCKY ROAD RECIPES

  • Rocky Road Bark
  • Rocky Road Brownies
  • Rocky Road Truffles
  •  
    [1] Enjoy a dish of Rocky Road (photo © Baskin-Robbins).


    [2] Rocky Road ice cream with caramel sauce (photo © Queen Of Cream | Atlanta).


    [3] The original rocky road ice cream (photo © Edy’s).

     

      

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    PRODUCT: Skinny Cow Chocolate Candy


    We can’t believe we ate the whole thing.
    Photo by River Soma | THE NIBBLE.

      The Skinny Cow line, which for years has offered reduced-calorie ice cream sandwiches to diet-conscious ice cream lovers, first expanded to ice cream cups, cones and bars.

    Now, there’s candy. And we like it.

    There are:

  • Dreamy Clusters: Bite-sized chewy clusters of creamy caramel and crispy pieces, covered in dark chocolate or milk chocolate (120 calories, 3g fiber, 6g fat, 4 Weight Watchers points).
  • Heavenly Crisps: A wafer bar in peanut butter creme and/or chocolate creme, covered in a milk chocolatey coating (110 calories, 3g fiber, 3g fat, 3 Weight Watchers points).
  •  
    The candies are sold in single serves and 6-packs.

    Learn more at SkinnyCow.com.

    Warning: These products can be addictive.

     

      

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    Mix Up A Half & Half, Arnold Palmer, Or Shandy (& The Arnold Palmer History)

    When you think of a refreshing warm-weather drink, do you think of beer, iced tea, lemonade, or ginger ale?

    If you mix two of them together in a half-and-half drink, you’ll create a summer refresher: an Arnold Palmer or a Shandy, depending on the recipe. You can purchase them ready-bottled; but like most things, homemade tastes better.
     
     
    THE ARNOLD PALMER

    Combine equal amounts of homemade iced tea and lemonade in a tall glass. You can vary the proportions if you prefer one flavor over the other.

    The drink, also known as a half and half, is named for golf legend Arnold Palmer. It was his soft drink of choice—he mixed it up at home—and is popular enough that Country Time and Sweet Leaf, among other companies, bottle it.

    Mix your alcohol of choice into an Arnold Palmer and you get a John Daly. According to Golf Digest, Mr. Daly is not at all happy about this, claiming copyright infringement.

    To give you some ideas about how the recipe has expanded, AriZona Beverage Company sells six variations: Lite Iced Tea & Lemonade, Zero Iced Tea & Lemonade, Lite Green Tea & Lemonade, Pomegranate Green Tea & Lemonade, “Southern Style” Sweet Tea & Pink Lemonade, and Peach Sweet Tea and Lemonade.
     
     
    THE HISTORY OF THE ARNOLD PALMER

    One day during the late 1960s, after a long morning of designing a golf course in the Palm Springs area, the legendary golfer Arnold Palmer was ready for lunch. He asked the waitress for a mixture of half lemonade and half iced tea.

    A woman sitting nearby overheard what he ordered and told the waitress, “I’ll have that Arnold Palmer drink.” Thus the Arnold Palmer tea and lemonade combination was born.

    Arnold had been drinking it for years; his wife Winne made them for him.

    But now, word of the Arnold Palmer tea and lemonade beverage spread throughout America via his army of fans [source].

    While the Arnold Palmer contains no liquor, more than a few fans of the drink have given it a hit of spirits (gin, vodka, rum, whiskey, whatever).
     
     
    THE SHANDY

    Shandy, short for shandygaff, is a beer diluted with a non-alcoholic drink: ginger beer, ginger ale, carbonated lemonade, citrus-flavored soda, or cider, for example. We prefer ginger beer or Mike’s Hard Lemonade (which, at 5.2% ABV, does no diluting!).

    The proportions are half-and-half; but as with an Arnold Palmer, they can be adjusted to taste.

    Fentimans, a U.K. brand sold in the U.S. (and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week), bottles a lemonade-based Shandy made of a 70%-30% mixture of beer and carbonated lemonade with a 0.5 ABV (1 proof). The lower proportion of beer enables it to be sold as a soft drink.

    The origin of the term “shandygaff” is unknown; it first appeared in print in 1853. Shandy is a surname in the U.K.; and in Ireland, the name is a variant of Shaun (John). Gaff is an old term for a fishing hook. Perhaps the drink was first mixed up by a steward named Shandy?

    You don’t need a gaff: Mix up your own Arnold Palmer or Shandy. Have an “AP & S” party and let guests create their own variations.

    > Here’s how to have a shandy party.

     

    The Arnold Palmer Drink: Half Lemonade Half Iced Tea
    [1] The Arnold Palmer, half iced tea, half lemonade (pnoto © Fahrwasser | Panther Media).

    The Arnold Palmer Drink: Half Lemonade Half Iced Tea
    [2] If you really want to, you can add a splash of whiskey or other spirit (photo © Misunderstood Whiskey | Unsplash).


    [3] A Shandy is half beer, half carbonated lemonade or ginger beer (photo © Milos Luz | iStock Photo).

     

     
     

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