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


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FOOD VIDEO: How To Choose Healthier Ice Cream

 

America has been convinced that it needs superpremium ice cream: higher milkfat (butterfat) and lower overrun (less air).

That’s the equivalent of saying that we need heavy cream in our coffee, when most of us do quite well with fat-free, lowfat or whole milk.

If you only eat ice cream occasionally, this shouldn’t be an issue. But if you eat it weekly (count us in for several times weekly), head to your grocer’s ice cream case and study the nutrition labels on different brands of ice cream. The differences in calories and fat can be shockers—a difference of twice the amount of calories and fat.

So consider this:

  • The nutrition information on the labels is based on a teeny four-ounce portion of ice cream (the whole pint is 16 ounces).
  • Most superpremium brands—have 260 to 280 calories per four ounces. Flavors with inclusions (candy, chocolate chips, cookies, swirls, etc.) can have more than 300 calories per four-ounce portion.
  • Would you rather eat a four-ounce portion (or more) for 300 calories or for half that?
  • The choice is yours, which brings us to our video of the week, How To Choose Healthier Ice Cream. Take a look:

  • Find more healthy ideas in our Cooking Videos Section.
  • Find our favorite ice cream (plus frozen yogurt, sorbet and granita), tips, recipes and more in our Gourmet Ice Cream Section.
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    PRODUCTS: Fiordifrutta Sugar-Free Jam

    That spoonful of jelly, jam or preserves can be up to 70% sugar and so sweet that the first thing you taste is table sugar, not fruit.

    If you’re trying to cut back on sugar, switching jam and preserves is one place to start.

    The producers of the Fiordifrutta (“flower of the fruit”) line of no-sugar-added jams (actually fruit spreads*), imported from Italy, say that they “work with nature” to produce their products.

    *Per U.S. Food & Drug Administration definitions, a jam or preserve sweetened with something other than sugar is called a fruit spread.

    The taste is right from nature. It’s as if you picked and cooked the fruit in your own kitchen, modestly sweetened with apple juice.

    The only ingredients in the jar are organic fruit, organic apple juice and apple pectin, resulting in about 30% fewer calories than conventional products.

    The 100% organic line works with nature in a second way: Organic agriculture is sustainable agriculture. By choosing an organic product, you help maintain the environment for your family and for future generations.

     

    Spread more for less: There are less sugar
    and fewer calories in this line of apple-
    sweetened organic fruit spreads. Photo
    courtesy Fiordifrutta.

    You can enjoy Fiordifrutta in apricot, blackberry, cherry, cranberry, lemon, orange, peach, plum, raspberry, strawberry, wild blueberry and wild berries.

    Spread away: on bread, with cheese, as a dessert or pancake topping, in sauces, in smoothies, in plain yogurt.

    The suggested retail price is $5.99 per 9.52-ounce jar. All of the flavors are available online at SelinaNaturally.com. Or, phone the importer at 1.305.470.7583 for a retailer near you.

    One note: Since the fruit spreads are organic and made without sugar, there is no preservative—natural or otherwise. Thus, the shelf life is shorter than other jams in the fridge. Enjoy your Fiordifrutta within 6 to 8 weeks of opening. Most people won’t have to worry about this: The jar will be empty within a week or two.

    Organic Hazelnut Spread

    Apart from the fruit spreads, Nocciolata chocolate and hazelnut spread, an elegant version of Nutella, is a must-try. According to the company, Nocciolata contains 15% more hazelnuts than Nutella.

    Learn more at FiordifruttaUSA.com.

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    HEALTHY RECIPE: Tofu Caprese Salad

    Substitute tofu for mozzarella in your
    caprese salad. Photo courtesy
    MaiCuisine.com.

      We love cheese. We eat it daily: mozzarella, feta and goat cheese are favorites.

    They’re also loaded with saturated fats. So one of our 2011 goals is to look for satisfying substitutes.

    When we had lunch at Mai Cuisine, a creative New York-area sushi bar-and-restaurant chain, we didn’t have to look far. We discovered Tofu Caprese, which has become a new favorite low-calorie, lowfat appetizer, side or snack.

    Mai has cleverly substituted tofu for mozzarella. (Tofu is sometimes called “the cheese of Asia” due to its physical resemblance to a block of farmer’s cheese.) It’s delicious, and it’s also vegan, helping us with our environmental goals to eat vegan two days a week. (If you don’t know how animal-based foods contribute to global warming, here’s the scoop.)

    While cheese has protein, it has a lot of saturated fat. An wee ounce of mozzarella (made from the milk of cows or water buffalo) has less fat than other types of cheese, but that’s still 6g, including 4g saturated fat. And don’t think you’re “doing good” by choosing part-skim mozzarella: It saves just one gram of total fat.

     
    On the other hand, tofu, which is pressed from the curds of soybean milk, is a highly nutritious, high-quality protein that has much more protein per ounce compared to meat. It has no saturated fat, is filled with calcium, manganese, with a good amount of copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc.

    Try it; you’ll like it!

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Bouquet Garni

    Bouquet garni, an aromatic bundle of herbs (the term is French for “garnished bouquet”), is a seasoning for some of the world’s favorite dishes. It’s called upon to flavor dishes such as Beef Bourguignon, Bouillabaisse and Osso Bucco. It’s a go-to seasoning for sauces, soups and stocks.

    Bouquet garni is classically tied with string and enclosed in cheesecloth, for easy removal at the end of the cooking process. The herbs can also be added into a sachet (the type that are also used to fill-your-own tea bags); and you can use a tea ball.

    But what if you have no cheesecloth? No sachet? No tea ball?

    Use a couple of coffee filters (or just one if the herbs fit). Insert the herbs, tie it closed and add it to the pot.

    A bouquet garni is made of particular herbs that accent a recipe. There is no one herb mix: three or four choices are made among a group that typically includes bay leaf, chervil, parsley, sage, savory, rosemary, thyme and tarragon.*

    *Did you realize that Simon & Garfunkel were singing about bouquet garni? Here’s the background of the song, Scarborough Fair.

    As you cook, enjoy Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, or at least the MP3 of “Scarborough Fair.”

    A bouquet garni of bay leaf, sage and thyme.
    Photo © David Monniaux, courtesy Wikimedia.

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    GOURMET GIVEAWAY #2 ~ Cookbook From Patsy’s Italian Restaurant

    Make the delicious recipes from Patsy’s
    Italian restaurant at home.

    Only one New York City restaurant can claim to be Frank Sinatra’s favorite: Patsy’s Italian restaurant on West 56th Street, featuring Neapolitan cuisine.

    Five lucky winners will win the cookbook from the restaurant, to cook the cuisine that Sinatra loved.

    Patsy’s Cookbook: Classic Italian Recipes From A New York City Landmark Restaurant, by Salvatore Scognamillo, presents 100 recipes from the classic southern Italian cuisine that’s become American comfort food.

    Plan a buffet dinner of Mussels Arreganata, Fettuccine Alfredo, Rigatoni Sorrentino, Chicken Parmigiana, Veal Marsala and Shrimp Scampi, with Tiramisù for dessert.

    Directions for the 100 recipes are simple and well adapted to home cooking; the book will please both old and new fans alike.

    • To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Italian Cookbooks Page and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. Approximate Retail Value Of Prize: $27.50. This contest closes on Monday, January 17th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!

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