America’s chocolatiers celebrate The Year
Of The Rabbit. Photo courtesy
Charles Chocolates.

Some of America’s chocolatiers have joined the festivities, creating special confections for the holiday: this year, celebrated on February 3rd.*

*Chinese New Year begins according to the Chinese calendar, which consists of both Gregorian and lunar-solar calendar systems. Because the track of the new moon changes from year to year, Chinese New Year can begin anytime between late January and mid-February.

To celebrate the Year Of The Rabbit, Charles Chocolates offers a gift set that includes a box of 10 orange ganache rabbits and a box of 20 tea-infused truffles, each topped with a Chinese character that indicates the type of tea inside. (If you don’t read Chinese, a guide explains which are baochong, jasmine, lichee, osmanthus and oolong.)

Purchase both boxes for $45.00 (a $5.00 savings) or the rabbits only for $20.00, at CharlesChocolates.com.

For Chinese New Year, the box is filled with five chocolate rabbits and eight honey and lemon pepper truffles. The milk chocolate rabbits are filled with a spicy almond ganache; the dark chocolate rabbits with tangerine ganache.

The box is stamped with a gold “Good Luck” wax seal and tied with a red-and-gold ribbon imprinted with “Gung Hay Fat Choy” in Chinese characters (which means “wishing you great happiness and prosperity”).

The box is $25.00 at BurdickChocolate.com.

Celebrate with either or both. Just be sure to get your order in now so the rabbits arrive in time for the Year Of The Rabbit.

Rabbits and truffles with elegant flavors.
Photo courtesy Burdick Chocolate.

You’ve added too much salt. Now what?
Salt server available on Amazon.com. We
use this one in THE NIBBLE test kitchen.

• With a liquid dish like soup, you can dilute it with more liquid (unsalted broth or water, for example)—essentially creating 125% of the amount of the original recipe. You can add more ingredients—or rice or noodles cooked without salt, plus herbs and nonsalt seasonings, to round out the dish.
• A trick from our Nana: Cook some white rice without salt. Purée (use water as necessary to thin the purée) and add to the soup or stew as a salt-free thickener.
• You can also try adjusting the recipe with cider vinegar and brown sugar. Both of these ingredients will add a complexity of seasoning, reducing the impact of the salt.
• Similarly, a salty sauce can often be softened with the addition some cream or vinegar.
• Since the opposite of salt is sugar, brown or white sugar (brown sugar adds more flavor), honey or agave nectar can help to diminish the saltiness in certain dishes.

• If the dish is only moderately oversalted, toss in a peeled raw potato or two, quartered or in thick slices. Potato can help to absorb the extra salt. In the case of soup or stew, the potato can enhance the recipe. In a recipe like chili, you can remove the potato at the end of cooking, or present a new take on the dish.

Whichever technique you try (except for adding potatoes), use a bit at a time, tasting along the way.

And remember next time: the longer food cooks and reduces, the more the salt intensifies. Consider adding half the amount of salt and adjusting it at the end of cooking.

Do you have a favorite salt-minimizing technique? Share it here!

Studies reveal that berries have a significant impact against the diseases of aging, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and age-related mental decline.

Aside from delicious flavor and few calories, there’s now another reason to eat more berries.

According to an article in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating just one cup of strawberries or blueberries each week can reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure—a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Both contain a large amount of anthocyanin, a group of red-blue plant pigments in the flavonoid family, and a powerful antioxidant. It may also help open blood vessels, which allows for smoother blood flow and lower risk for high blood pressure.

Berries and yogurt are a delicious and
very healthy breakfast, lunch or snack.
Photo courtesy PreserveProducts.com.

While blackberries and raspberries were not part of this particular study, you can consider them similarly rich in anthocyanin.

The biennial Berry Health Benefits Symposium in June will reveal even more research.

So pick up some berries today, with this caveat: fresh berries don’t have a long shelf life. Consume them within three days, then buy more.

Or stock up on frozen berries, and sweeten them as needed with your favorite non-caloric sweetener or agave nectar.

Season your food with a pinch of gremolata,
a mixture of herbs and other seasonings.
Photo courtesy Aunt Nellie’s. Get the soup
recipe.

Gremolata (alternate spelling gremolada) is a lively fresh-chopped condiment that commonly includes parsley and/other green herbs, lemon zest and garlic.

It’s probably most familiar to Americans as the traditional accompaniment to osso bucco, a braised veal shank dish that’s a top-seller at Italian restaurants.

But it’s a great accent to many dishes. And because it’s so flavorful, you can cut back on salt.

Whether you’re serving meat (from lamb, pork or rib roast to veal and venison), poultry, pasta, potatoes and other vegetables (we love it with sautéed string beans), salad, risotto, soup or stew, a pinch of gremolata spices up any dish. The citrus note is perfect with white fish like cod and halibut to dark fish like mackerel (in fact, it’s great with any seafood). And it’s easy to make. Just chop and mix:

• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

You can add sea salt; but we prefer to serve salt separately so that people can use it or not.

There are many variations to a basic gremolata. Mint, other green herbs, anchovies or chopped hazelnuts can be included. If cilantro will pick up your dish, for example, make a cilantro gremolata.

The varieties are only limited by the imagination of the cook. Here are some pointers:

• For more citrusy flavor, add lemon juice and orange zest.
• Use grapefruit, lime or orange zest instead of the lemon zest.
• Add or substitute mint for the parsley with lamb dishes.
• Add grated horseradish for beef dishes.
• Substitute capers for garlic and basil for parsley, and serve with smoked salmon.
• Add to breadcrumbs.
• Make a gremolata crust for fish (delish).
• Use it in olive oil as a marinade.

Some sources say that gremolata is the Italian word for chopped or ground. We haven’t found it in the dictionary, but chalk it up to dialect.

Two lucky winners will each receive two bags of every flavor of Laurel Hill Tortilla Chips, including:

• Multigrain
• Nacho Cheese
• Olive & Caper
• Pumpkin Seed
• Sea Salt & Lime

Made with all-natural ingredients, no preservatives and a selection of healthy ingredients like chia seeds, flax seeds, quinoa and pumpkin, these chips taste as good as they sound. They’re also gluten-free, kosher and vegan. With a thick texture and unusual rectangle shape, Laurel Hill tortilla chips will have you dipping away.

• Learn more about Laurel Hill Tortilla Chips by checking out our review or by visiting LaurelHillFoods.com.

Open the bag of Sea Salt & Lime tortilla chips
and you’ll smell the natural lime oil flavoring. Photography by Hannah Kaminsky | THE
NIBBLE.

• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Snacks Page and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. Approximate Retail Value Of Each Prize: $30.00. This contest closes on Monday, January 31st at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!