While the recipes are similar, kefie has even more live and active cultures (naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts) and is loaded with vitamins and minerals. It contains easily digestible, complete proteins, and is recommended for those with digestive issues, including colitis, Crohn’s disease, IBS and lactose intolerance.

The once-exotic drink is now available in supermarkets nationwide. It’s available in luscious fruit flavors in addition to plain.

The addition of fruit creates what we think of as a kefir smoothie (to differentiate it from a conventional yogurt smoothie). It’s just as delicious and better for you. And it’s more drinkable—less thick—than smoothies made with non-drinkable yogurt.

Our favorite flavored kefir, from Green Valley Organics, is made with lactose-free milk that is Certified Humane® plus a probiotic-rich combination of 10 live and active cultures. A blend of strawberry, pomegranate and açaí, It has less added sugar than many flavored kefirs. Also available in plain, the kefir is kosher-certified, organic and gluten free.

It is so delicious, an eight-ounce serving (150 calories, 20 from fat) satisfies our craving for ice cream or frozen yogurt, which has more than twice the calories and typically, none of the healthy components.

Another brand, Lifeway Kefir, makes Blueberry, Cherry, Peach, Pomegranate/Açaí, Raspberry and Strawberry kefir flavors, in addition to plain.

The original dragées* (drah-ZHAY) are sugar-coated almonds. Technically, the nuts are encapsulated in a hard-shell coating. English speakers call them Jordan almonds—not because they’re from Jordan (they’re from Spain). It’s a corruption of the French word for garden, jardin, which refers to the large variety of almonds). The almonds can also have a chocolate coating under the sugar. The key is the hard sugar shell.

In America, we see the word used to refer also to sugar panning, which creates what are known as panned products (photo #3). It’s not correct—they’re two different types of coating, dragées having a very hard (and potentially tooth-breaking) sugar shell and panned products having a softer chocolate shell.

Panning is one of the four† basic methods of coating chocolate onto a center (typically hard centers, such as nuts and crystallized ginger). In panning, chocolate is sprayed onto the centers as they rotate in revolving pans (think drums); cool air is then blown into the pan to harden the chocolates.

Sugar panning, or simply panning, adds a candy shell to candy centers or nuts. In addition to fine confections, popular candies that employ this process include M&M’s and jelly beans. Jelly beans use soft panning, while hard shells like M&Ms are examples of hard panning.

On a small scale (and before the Industrial Revolution), confections and nuts are coated on a pan on the stovetop; hence “panning.” Today, mechanical tumblers are used.

The centers can be rolled in cocoa powder or another coating before they harden.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF DRAGÉES

Panned confections are thought to have originated in ancient Rome, where honey-covered almonds were introduced by a Roman baker and confectioner named Julius Dragatus. His confections were called dragati and were served by nobility at weddings and births. When sugar became more readily available in the 15th century, the nuts were coated in sugar instead.

The technique of creating the dragée almonds and other products was perfected by the Pelino family in Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy [source].

Confetti Mario Pelino is one of the oldest Italian confectioneries, founded in 1783 by Bernardino Pelino and located in Sulmona, Abruzzo, a region known for the production of Jordan almonds.

The term “Jordan” is most likely a corrupted version of the French word jardin, garden, indicating a cultivated rather than wild almond. In Italy, the hard sugar-coated almonds are called confetti.
 
 
RECCHIUTI CONFECTIONS MALTED DARK MILK REVOLUTION

One of our favorite chocolatiers, Recchiuti Confections, sent us a new product, called Malted Dark Milk Revolution. The confection looks like chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, but the centers are crunchy malted cookies (think malted milk balls) accented with fleur de sel. The centers are then coated with layers of dark milk chocolate (high-percentage cacao milk chocolate, typically 38% or more).

There’s no hard sugar shell, so they’re easy on the teeth.

Recchiuti calls these gourmet malted milk balls are a revolution because they use dark milk chocolate and an accent of fleur de sel, which provides a nice counterpoint to what in other hands can be a too-sweet confection.

For us, the concept of chocolate-coated malted milk centers has been around for a while, regardless of what type of chocolate or seasonings are added. So instead, we think of the name as a pun on the number of times the centers go around in the drum—from 20 to 60 “revolutions,” according to Recchiuti.

We immediately used the little bites:

 
 
A YUMMY GIFT

Malted Dark Milk Revolution is a lovely small gift, especially for those who like the play of sweet and salty. It’s available in two sizes at Recchiuti.com: a 5-ounce box for $11.00 and 12-ounce box for $19.00.

Recchiuti also has a sampler of panned products (called the Dragée Sampler) that we love for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifting, 12 ounces, $29.00. It includes Recchiuti’s heavenly Burnt Caramel Almonds, Burnt Caramel Hazelnuts, Peanut Butter Pearls, and Cherries Two Ways.

Learn more at Recchiuti.com.

[1] Jordan almonds, the original dragees (photo © Williams Sonoma).

[2] In the U.S., dragées typically refer to small, metallic gold, silver, or other color sugar balls used as decoration (photo © Pelino Confetti).

[3] Bridge mix is an old-fashioned example of panned nuts and dried fruits (photos #3 and #4 © See’s Candies).

[4] Panned products span everything from dried fruits and nuts to coffee beans, crystallized ginger and the malted ball centers, below.

[5] Sophisticated malted milk balls that multitask (photo © Recchiuti Confections).

*In French, the word also refers to nonpareils and is slang for bullets (small shot). Dragée à la gelée de sucre is a jelly bean.

†The other methods are enrobing, panning and molding or shell molding.

Nothing says you care like a home-baked cake. For Mother’s Day, bake Mom’s favorite recipe and decorate it to look like a brimmed hat.

It’s actually easy! You can use cake mix, as in the video, or use your own from-scratch recipe. You bake a 9″ and 8″ layers, then trim the 8″ layer to be a 6″ top layer, the “crown” of the hat.

Then, just frost and decorate. Use a piece of real ribbon around the “brim,” add a fresh flower and use and Mom’s favorite candies to decorate the hat. The recipe uses Reese’s Pieces, which look bright and sunny.

Take a look and you’ll agree: It’s a nice way to surprise Mom. It’s also a charming birthday cake.

Like to look at pretty cakes? Check out our Cake Glossary.

Sushi bar customers loved the ginger miso salad dressing so much that the company bottled it.

Consumers can purchase it from the sushi case in two versions: regular Ginger Miso dressing and Spicy Ginger Miso dressing, which is pretty spicy (the heat level is like hot salsa—use it to get the heat-lovers in your family to eat more salad).

The tasty, vegan dressings are made from white miso, canola oil, and rice vinegar, flavored with onion, pickled ginger, soy sauce, and lemon juice. The miso adds a unique flavor not found in Western salad dressings—along with a pile of health benefits (more about them below). A two-tablespoon serving has 80 calories, 7g total fat, 0 cholesterol, 320 mg sodium, 3 total carbs, and 1 g protein.

The dressings are very thick. Some people love thick dressings, but your two-tablespoon portion size doesn’t go too far in coating a bowl of salad greens because it doesn’t “slide.”
 
So we diluted the miso dressing 1:1 with salad oil to get more coverage without using half the bottle.

> See the health benefits of miso below.

> The history of miso is also below.
 

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning made by fermenting rice, barley, and/or soybeans, with salt and koji kin, a natural fungus. The mixture ferments for three months to three years, producing an enzyme-rich food. The longer the fermentation, the higher the quality of the miso.

The result is a thick paste used to make sauces and spreads, to pickle vegetables and meats, and to mix with dashi, a soup stock, to become miso soup (misoshiru). Westerners can add it to beans, grains, pasta, seafood dishes, spreads and dips, stews, and numerous soups beyond misoshiru.

Here’s an entire book of delicious miso cookery. It also shows you how to make miso paste at home, from scratch.

The less ambitious among us can buy miso paste in the international section of supermarkets, in Asian markets and in health food stores.

There are different types of miso paste, based on whether they are made with bean malt, rice malt or wheat malt. Each type of miso paste can be made into either red miso or white miso, and different miso pastes are used in different recipes.
High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso is widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity and savory, based on fermentation process, length of fermentation and added ingredients (rice or other grains can be added in addition to barley).

While miso is strongly identified with Japan, the predecessor of today’s miso probably originated in China as a salt-fermented food called chiang. It was originally made with animal proteins—meat or fish.

Over time, soybeans were substituted for the animal proteins. The first written record of this is from Chimin Yaushu, who created what is perhaps the oldest agricultural encyclopedia in the world (written between 535 and 550 C.E.). He indicates that fermented soybean foods had been prepared for centuries.

Miso probably arrived in Japan with the introduction of Buddhism, in that same century. To use a modern expression, it was a big hit, and quickly became a staple of the Japanese diet.

All Japanese miso varieties are made with fermented soybeans, but there are broad district and regional differences based on local tradition and preferences.

Miso is a highly nutritious food. It is a “perfect protein,” containing all eight of the essential amino acids.

 
According to Japanese mythology, miso is a gift to mankind from the gods, to assure lasting happiness, health and longevity. We can’t make any guarantees, but we think you’ll like it.
  
 
 

A stunning presentation for mixed hors
d’oeuvre or mini desserts. Photo courtesy
Chapter 40 restaurant | Kerry, Ireland.

Sometimes, the eating receptacle is not part of a conventional place setting. In this photo, Chapter 40 restaurant repurposes a slate cheese board for an assorted hors d’oeuvre plate and miniature desserts. (And of course, they can be used to present cheese and other foods.)

Slate is a fine-grained rock composed of layers ash, clay and other sediment, which were fused together millions of years ago. When quarried and cut by experts, they form smooth, flat sheets of stone that have long been used to create handsome roofs and floors.

Natural slate resists fading, abrasion and chemicals and is highly durable (but it’s highly porous, so floors and roofs require regular sealing).

In recent years, slate has been made into cheese boards. Its subtle, natural beauty is a complement to food.

 
While these plates are not inexpensive (around $30 each), you can pick up one at a time and ask for them as birthday and holiday gifts. Use the first one as a cheese board; the second one becomes “dinner for two,” and so on.

You can also try to buy slate floor tiles as a more affordable solution. Flooring suppliers want to sell the whole floor and don’t embrace the sale of individual tiles. But if you have connections, or can get the store manager to order a dozen or two tiles (you can give the extras as gifts), you may be able to buy them for as little as $3 apiece.

We went to a store that sells kitchen and bath tiles to contractors, in boxes of four for $20. While they didn’t have slate, we picked up a dozen beautiful granite tile squares in dark grey; then put felt stickers on the bottom to avoid scratching the table. We have our eyes on handsome dark red granite tiles as well.

As with kitchen counters made from granite or marble walls and floors in a bathroom, they’re very easy to wash by hand.

They’re heavier than conventional dinner plates, but gorgeous.