September 20, 2010 at 1:14 pm
· Filed under Snacks
Yo ho ho! If ye missed National Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 19th, ye don’t need to punish yerself by walking the plank. Just enter this week’s Gourmet Giveaway and ye can win a treasure chest of Pirate’s Booty.
Three lucky buccaneers don’t need to go digging for buried treasure, because two of each of the flavors of healthy, all-natural snacks will be sent right to their ships (or wherever ye be calling home).
Shiver me timbers! With flavors including Aged White Cheddar, Barbeque, New York Pizza, Sour Cream & Onion and Veggie that be some good eatin’.
Retail value: Approximately $15.00.
To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway:Go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Snacks Section and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, September 27th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
Taste the whole line. Photo by Evan Dempsey | THE NIBBLE.
Tellicherry, the “Champagne” of black
peppersorns.
Photo by B.A. Van Sise | THE NIBBLE.
There’s no question that freshly-ground pepper delivers exciting flavor, while pre-ground pepper tends to be flat.
That’s because the grinding process releases aromatic and palate-pleasing qualities that begin to dry out after they’re released. The spicy heat derives largely from the piperine compound, found both in the outer fruit (the black layer) and in the seed (the white ball underneath). The outer fruit layer also contains volatile oils that give pepper its scent.
Yet, it’s not easy filling a classic pepper grinders with those tiny peppercorns. Even with nimble fingers, peppercorns escape, sending us on a pepper chase.
One day, we decided to use a small kitchen funnel to fill the grinder. Voilà, a solution!
If you don’t have the right-size funnel, you can put the peppercorns into a plastic snack bag or sandwich bag and cut off a corner.
Learn all about pepper and the numerous different types in our Peppercorn Glossary.
Black truffles are among the costliest foods in the world. The finest can cost more than $2,500 a pound. Fortunately, you don’t need a pound to enjoy their unique musky aroma and distinctive flavor.
Even the chips and flakes that fall off the whole truffles are costly. They‘re used to make truffle oil and truffle salt that in turn flavor other foods.
There have been a few truffle popcorns launched in the last couple of years, some more successful than others.
But we say “wow!” to the truffle popcorn from 479° Popcorn, a luxury producer or heirloom popcorn that is a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
We’d previously had the company’s excellent popped Black Truffle + White Cheddar Popcorn. But truffle lovers will love the latest truffle popcorn in a pop-it-yourself (PIY) kit: regular popcorn with truffle salt and truffle oil. It’s simply marvelous, and (spoiler alert to our foodie friends) we’ve designated it as our personal holiday gift for 2010.
Truffle oil, combined with truffle salt
makes the best truffled popcorn.
Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.
The secret to the deeper truffle flavor comes from drizzling the crunchy popcorn with premium truffle oil from La Tourangelle, another Top Pick Of The Week.
Simply pop a batch of the beautiful popcorn kernels in heirloom strains of Dakota Black, Shaman Blue, White Diamond and Yellow Topaz. Drizzle with a few drops of black truffle oil and sprinkle with truffle-infused sea salt. Then inhale the famous aroma as you devour the popcorn.
The Black Truffle PIY Kit is $45.00, which may seem high, but remember the price per pound of the truffles required to make the truffle oil. You can purchase it at 479Popcorn.com.
A saucier has rounded edges, eliminating
corners where food can burn. This saucier
is available at Amazon.com.
Here’s advice from the book, 101 Things I Learned In Culinary School, by Louis Eguaras, a former White House staff chef now a professor at the California School of Culinary Arts:
A griddle is not a grill, a saucepan is not a saucier and a skillet is not a sauté pan. You need the right equipment to do the best job; that’s why the variations were developed.
Griddle vs. Grill: A griddle is a heavy, flat cooking utensil. A grill is an open web on which foods are placed to directly expose them to fire.
Saucepan vs. Saucier: A saucepan has straight sides and is used for basic heating and boiling. A saucier (photo at left) is rounded and bowl-shaped, ideal for the preparation of sauces, custards, risotto and creamy foods. Unlike the saucepan, there are no corners in which food can hide and burn; and the wider mouth is better for whisking.
Skillet vs. Sauté Pan: A skillet has low, sloped sides that help with evaporation and steam dissipation. It is used for browning and/or caramelizing, and for reducing sauces. The sloped sides make it easy to flip food and slide it out of the pan. A sauté pan has straight sides and a lid. It is used for braising and pan frying; the high sides reduce splatters and keep in the moist heat.
Now that you know the difference, put the equipment you need on your wish list to make cooking more efficient.
