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


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GIFT OF THE DAY: Chanukah Gifts

These yummy personalized jumbo sugar
cookies from Harry & David make a perfect
small gift or party favor. Photo by
Katharine Pollak | The Nibble.

Chanukah/Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, begins at sundown on Wednesday, December 1st. It continues through sundown on Thursday, December 9.

There’s a gift for everyone on our list of kosher Hanukkah gifts: cheese, chocolates, cookies, nuts, toffee and other delicious gifts.

Take a peek; then come back for a little Hanukkah history.

The holiday commemorates a battle that took place some 2,200 years ago. Judea, the land of the Jews (the southern part of what is now Israel), was under the rule of Greece.

A Greco-Syrian king forbade the Jewish people from observing their religion. They were prohibited from praying to their God, studying the Torah* and practicing their customs.

A small group of resistance fighters called the Maccabees waged war for three years to drive the very large Greco-Syrian army out of Judea. When they returned to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, they cleaned and rededicated their house of worship.

 

Here’s what most people remember about the Hanukkah story:

The Maccabees discovered that the enemy had defiled the oil which was used to light the temple’s menorah (lamp). Only enough purified oil remained to light the menorah for one day. It would take a week to make more purified oil. But a miracle occurred:

After the the menorah was lit, the flames burned for eight days—by which time new vats of purified oil were ready.

Thus, the Hanukkah Menorah holds eight candles plus a shamash† candle used to light the eight. And why Hanukkah lasts for eight days.

*Today the Torah comprises the five books of the Old Testament, which contain Judaism’s founding laws and ethical texts.

†The Hebrew word shamash means “the attendant.” The beadle (synagogue attendant) in a temple is also called a shamash.

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THANKSGIVING: A Great Chocolate Gift

Say it with candy, the expression goes.

Check out this sweet selection of our favorite chocolate turkeys, decorated creme mints, caramel and a smashing “bridge mix” or chocolate-covered nuts, fruits and seeds.

These beautiful, chocolate- and toffee-covered almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, dried cherries and apricots are a delectable gift or candy-bowl-filler for the home. They’re packaged in an attractive plastic box, in a variety of sizes. Serve them or give them as party favors.

We serve the colorful mix with coffee or tea at the end of dinner instead of a heavier dessert (and we confess, we’ve mixed them into our breakfast yogurt as well). The chocolate and toffee-covered pistachios are especially awesome.

 

Enjoy a handful of these chocolate-covered
treats. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

Our Thanksgiving chocolate and candy list includes kosher items.

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TIP OF THE DAY: Secrets Of Salting

Kosher salt. We use this salt server in
THE NIBBLE test kitchen to add pinches
of salt as we cook.

Since cooking is chemistry, you have to combine ingredients in the right order to get the fluffiest cakes or soufflés, for example.

It’s the same with salt: Pay attention to the order in which you add salt. Here are tips from Chef Louis Eguaras:

  • Meats: Salt meat 1 to 4 hours before cooking. For the first half hour, salt will extract the moisture from the meat. Then, the protein fibers loosen up and absorb the salty juices.
  • General Cooking: Add salt in the middle of the cooking process, not just at the end. It gives you a better opportunity to taste and adjust the amount of salt.
  • Stocks: Don’t salt stocks. Subsequent reductions will intensify the saltiness. It’s the same with sauces that will be reduced. Instead, taste the stock or sauce when you are preparing the dish.
  • Deep-Frying: Don’t salt the food immediately before deep-frying it. Salt will alter the surface and make the food less crisp.
  • Blanching: Add salt to the liquid before adding the food.
  • Aluminum & Cast Iron Pots: Add salt after boiling begins but before adding food, to prevent pitting of the pot.

 

See the many different types of salt in our Salt Glossary.

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THANKSGIVING: Pumpkin Mousse Recipe

Instead of a heavy pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner, how about a pumpkin dessert that’s light as air: pumpkin mousse.

Some people have begged off mousse because the recipe requires raw eggs. But you can buy and enjoy raw eggs safely if you use pasteurized eggs.

Beyond mousse, use them in Caesar salad dressing, egg nog and steak tartare.

You’ll have room for pumpkin mousse at the
end of Thanksgiving dinner. Photo by
Kelly Cline | IST.

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TIP OF THE DAY: Calibrate Your Kitchen Thermometer

CDM meat & poultry thermometer available
at Amazon.com.

Many kitchen thermometers will be used on Thanksgiving to test the temperature of the turkey. Undercooked turkey means the possibility of salmonella; overcooked turkey most certainly means dry meat.

Given that 10 degrees can make the difference between good and dry, how accurate is your kitchen thermometer?

A chef will calibrate a new thermometer, then recalibrate once a week (or whenever it’s dropped), using the freezing or boiling method.

There is a calibration nut underneath the thermometers, at the top of the stem, right under the head. You’ll need a small wrench and some dexterity (or someone to help).

  • Ice Point Method: Pack a glass with crushed ice, add ice water and stir thoroughly. Wait four minutes and insert the stem of the thermometer. Hold it at least an inch from the sides and bottom of the glass. The pointer will stop moving in about 30 seconds. If the thermometer is not accurate within +/- 2°F of 32°F, adjust it. Keeping the thermometer stem in the ice, use the wrench to turn the calibration nut to turn the pointer to 32°F/0°C.
  • Boiling Point Method: Use boiling water and adjust the thermometer to the boiling temperature at your altitude—212°F/100°C at sea level. This may sound easier than the ice method, but the ice method is more accurate.

 

If your thermometer doesn’t have a calibration nut, contact the company’s customer service line for advice.

The harmful bacteria are killed at 150°F. The turkey should be removed from the oven when the thickest part of the thigh meat is 155°F but no more than 160° (be sure not to touch the bone).

That’s because food keeps cooking after it is removed from the oven. As the turkey stands to let the juices to settle for easier carving (15 to 20 minutes), the thigh meat will reach 165°F and the breast meat will probably be 10°F higher.

 

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