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


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PRODUCT: Fruit Bread In Red, White & Blue

Banana bread is one of our favorite comfort foods. It belongs in a category called fruit bread, which includes blueberry bread, zucchini bread and other dense, cake-like products baked in loaf pans.

The density enables fruit bread to be used as sandwich bread—mascarpone, cream cheese or nutted cream cheese is an excellent partner (serve fingers or triangles at brunch, at tea or for snacks). The great chef Larry Forgione uses banana bread, chocolate bread and other flavors to make memorable ice cream sandwiches.

St. Lucia Bread Company, an artisan bakery in Dallas, ships its fruit breads nationwide in keepsake tins. They’re a welcome gift—and the red, white and blue tin (the Texas flag) makes a perfect thank-you for your July 4th hosts. There’s also a fruit bread-of-the-month club, a gift that keeps on giving.

There are seven flavors of fruit bread plus seasonal specialties, which can be had with or without nuts. Take a bite of Apple Cinnamon, Banana, Blueberry, Chocolate, Cranberry, Pear or Pumpkin Bread.

 

Fruit breads arrive in keepsake tins. Photo
by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

 
Chocolate is a fruit? Well, we can stretch that: Chocolate is made from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. (Learn about chocolate production.)

  • Read the full review.
  • Check out Hannah Banana Bread, a Chicago baker and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
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    TIP OF THE DAY: Grilled Fruit

    Accessories make grilled fruit easier. This
    fruit grill rack is from SurLaTable.com.

     

    As long as the grill is hot, make grilled fruit for dessert!

    Ingredients

  • Fruit (see Step 1, below)
  • Cold water
  • Lemon juice
  • Spices: cinnamon stick or pumpkin pie spices (allspice, clove, ginger, nutmeg)
  • Rum (optional)
  • Vegetable oil spray for grill
  • Melted butter for basting
  • Ice cream or whipped cream (optional)
  • Preparation
    1. Select firm fruits: apples, pears, and pineapples hold their shape well. Softer fruits like bananas, mangoes and stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums) become even softer. If the fruit is too ripe, you can grill individual portions in foil.

    2. Cut fruits in half or in thick slices, as appropriate (cut juicy fruits into thick slices and split bananas, but leave them in the peel). Keep the skins on.

    3. Cover cut fruit in cold water with spices plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice per cup of water, and soak for 20 to 30 minutes in the fridge (if there’s no room, you can leave the container on the counter, but add ice to keep the water cold).

    4. If you want to add rum, you can marinate the fruit in it or add rum to the melted butter. (The alcohol may cause flames to flare.)

    5. Clean the grill so that no meat or other food bits attach to the fruit. Lightly spray the grill with a bland vegetable cooking oil (not olive oil, which will add flavor to the fruit); or brush with melted butter.

    6. Place large pieces directly on the grill, basted with butter to keep them from sticking. Smaller pieces can be grilled on skewers or a grill pan.

    7. Close the top and cook for 10-12 minutes, turning at midpoint. Serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.

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    TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: A New Maté Drink With Sencha

    Many people rely on energy drinks to keep up with busy schedules.

    Energy drinks generally contain caffeine plus other energy enhancers such as carnitine, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, glucuronolactone, guarana, and taurine—often made palatable by a large dose of sugar.

    Energy and enhanced cognitive activity are benefits. But drinking too much of a typical energy drink can result in anxiety and irritability, stomach cramps, even cardiac arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat). Not to mention something resembling energy drink addiction (actually, it’s caffeine addiction).

    Maté Sencha Shot, a fusion of yerba maté and sencha green tea, combines the energizing power of South American yerba maté with the antioxidants of Japanese green tea. There’s no sugar, it’s calorie-free and a healthy drink.

    It’s our favorite new energy drink.

    You won’t get the jitters from Maté Sencha
    Shot. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

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    FOOD FACTS: How Much Water Do You Need To Drink?

    Are you thirsty? Hot? Using a low-calorie beverage instead of food to fill you up?

    Jane E. Brody, health writer for the New York Times, provides a bucket full of facts in this week’s Personal Health column.

  • Dehydration can produce symptoms from fatigue and irritability to headache and muscle cramps.
  • How much water do you need each day? Multiply your weight (pounds) by .08; the result is your requirement in eight-ounce cups. But, before 200-pound folks panic about having to drink 16 cups of water per day, note that about half of one’s daily requirement can come from fruits, vegetables, soup and other high-water-content foods.
  • Dry air, whether air conditioning or heating, increases the body’s needs for water.
  • So does sugar. Aim for unsweetened thirst-quenchers or drinks with sugar substitutes. Many of today’s most popular bottled drinks are loaded with sugar and HFCS that increase the body’s need for water.
  •  

    Hydrate with something satisfying, yet
    sugar-free. Photo by Naheed Choudhry | THE NIBBLE.

     

  • Sugar-sweetened sodas are the single largest source of calories in the American diet (7.1%). Yet, they provide no nutrition and, aside from the water content, no value to the body.
  • Flavored bottled waters sweetened with sugar may carry healthy-sounding labels like “antioxidant,” “green tea” and “vitamin.” But check the label: How many calories of sugar are there that counter the “healthy” claims?
  • While caffeine is a mild diuretic that causes the body to expel water (via trips to the bathroom), coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages do count toward one’s daily liquid intake. However, they contribute to a lesser extent than water. We don’t have an exact formula, but assume 50%.
  • Alcohol increases the body’s need for water. Our trick: For every beer, cocktail or glass of wine, drink a glass of water.
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    And take a look at David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding’s book, Drink This, Not That. You’ll be floored by the number of calories in popular brands of smoothies, lattes and other harmless-sounding beverages.

      

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    PRODUCT: Best BBQ Sauce

    There’s a big difference in BBQ sauce quality.
    Photo by E.Z. Foryu | IST.

    We receive a lot of barbecue sauce to taste. In fact, we receive more barbecue sauce than any other product. We joke that if aliens invaded THE NIBBLE offices, they’d think that earthlings lived on barbecue sauce.

    However, it’s no joke that most of the sauces we taste are indistinct and overly sweet—a mix of ketchup, molasses and brown sugar, often with high fructose corn syrup.

    But every year there are a few true standouts. Check out our favorites of 2010. In alphabetical order they are:

    Read the full review. You’ll also learn the difference between Kansas City-style, Memphis-style, North Carolina-style, Texas-style and other types of barbecue sauce.

     

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