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


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CONTEST: The Pillsbury Bakoff $1,000,000 Grand Prize Awaits

Will you win the million dollar top prize in the 2010 Pillsbury Bakeoff? Will you be one of the 100 finalists to make the trip to Orlando from April 11-13, 2010, to compete for cash and merchandise prizes totaling $1,050,200. The Grand Prize Winner and runners up will be chosen from these categories:

– Breakfast & Brunches
– Entertaining Appetizers
– Dinner Made Easy
– Sweet Treats

While it’s not exactly a million bucks, the three other category winners each receive $5,000 and a GE Profile Induction Free-Standing Range. Take a gander at the prize rules at http://www.pillsbury.com.


Last year’s winning appetizer, Salmon Pastries
with Dill Pesto, from finalist Edgar Rudberg.

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TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Way North Foods Biscotti


Double Chocolate Biscotti, iced in white chocolate,
have a rich chocolate flavor and give the
satisfaction of eating a piece of chocolate cake.
Way in the north of Michigan is a gourmet foods company established to create all-natural products from choice local ingredients—the best of the farms, fields and orchards of the surrounding region. The company’s first product line is handcrafted biscotti, and if we were in Italy, we’d say bravo! What sets these biscotti apart is, even though they are twice baked like all biscotti, the standard size have a softness that is non-threatening to anyone with dental work, and provide a pleasing crunch while melting into cake-like satisfaction in the mouth. For those who want the traditional, rock-hard biscotti experience, the ends of the loaf,* cleverly called “stones,” are sold separately. Regular or stone, everything that emerges from the Way North Foods ovens is absolutely luscious and distinctively better than most biscotti we’ve tasted.

*Biscotti dough is rolled into an oblong loaf and baked once. Then the individual cookies are cut from the warm loaf and baked again, giving them their name—bis coctum is Latin for “twice cooked.”

The line departs from classic Italian biscotti (almond and anisette flavors), with a focus on Michigan fruits, plus chocolate. There are seasonal specials, and varieties are added faster than the website can be updated. For example, instead of the Dried Cherry White Chocolate Biscotti on the website, Cherry Cordial Biscotti were available, chocolate biscotti with dried cherries and a bit of dark chocolate icing drizzled with white chocolate.

Did we complain? Heck no—we can’t imagine turning down any flavor baked by the gifted Chef Perry Harmon. Lemon Dried Blueberry, Maple Walnut (made with local maple syrup), Orange Dried Cranberry and Dried Cherry equally pleased our critical palate. We can’t wait for new seasonal flavors and limited editions. We wish you had some marvelous biscotti to munch on as you read the full review. But buy some today and you’ll have them in time to chew over next week’s Top Pick.

10% off Fudgy PB VitaTops

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GOURMET TRAVEL: Taste Of Vail, April 1 ~ 4

You can eat all you want and then ski off the calories at the Taste of Vail Food & Wine Festival. Nonstop airfare is $200 from most cities, so pack your bags and your appetite and head for the hills (very high and majestic mountains) of Colorado. The festival, which takes place during the last weekend of ski season, kicks off with the 5th Annual Colorado Lamb Cook-Off in the heart of Vail Village—classic lamb chop dishes and exotic recipes prepared by Vail’s finest chefs, guest chefs and the Colorado Lamb Board, perfectly complemented with fine wines and beers. The festival continues with wine tastings, a mountaintop picnic (10,350 feet above sea level) and a Grand Tasting Dinner with breathtaking Rocky Mountain views. A full, four-day pass to the 19th Annual Taste of Vail is $600 and includes nine events plus all the morning cooking seminars. Find out more at www.tasteofvail.com—and send us a postcard! taste-of-vail
The new meaning of “al fresco dining”: a picnic
10,350 feet above sea level, at scenic Eagle’s
Nest on Vail Mountain.

15% Off Orders of $100 +

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BOOKS: Save Money With Your Slow Cooker & “Slow Cookers For Dummies”

Cut back on the high cost of takeout. That slow cooker that’s been tucked away in your kitchen cabinet is an easy solution for making delicious, cost-efficient entrees at the touch of a button. Slow Cookers For Dummies provides basic tips and troubleshooting, as well as delicious recipes that go beyond soups and stews. How about:

– Holy Guacamole Tomato Salsa, Peach Butter, and Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam
– Classic Vegetable Casserole with French-Fried Onions, Macaroni & Cheese and more
– Apple Bread Pudding, Chocolate Caramel and Peach Crisp
– Irish Coffee for a Crowd, Mulled Wine and Ruby Red Cider

In addition to convenience and money savings, a slow cooker lets you feed your family wholesome, all-natural proteins, grains and vegetables, and steer clear of prepared mixes and convenience foods that are loaded with salt, hidden sugars and preservatives. Can’t beat that!

– Don’t have a slow cooker? Try this 3-1/2-quart one from Rival.

Egg-celent Children's Gifts for Easter!

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TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Dorot Frozen Herb Cubes

Fresh herbs, garlic and ginger are such wonderful additions to recipes that, for many cooks, they’re kitchen staples. But what happens when you don’t have any on hand? Or if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to wash, dry and chop? Or if the fresh parsley in the bin has turned yellow, and your garlic cloves are dry and hollow?

Enter Dorot, an Israeli-based company specializing in fresh-frozen herbs. They are packaged in what look like tiny ice cube trays, four by five inches, filled with 20 bouillon cube-size nuggets. While frozen herbs will seldom equal fresh ones, these handy substitutes are light years beyond dried herbs, and occupy little freezer space.

The choices include crushed garlic or ginger and chopped basil, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley and red chile peppers, as well as Asian, French, Italian and Mexican herb mixes. Some freeze better than others; we liked cilantro, ginger and parsley the best.


Instant flavor in a flash…after you toss these herb
cubes into your soup, dressing, eggs or other
recipe. Shown: Dorot garlic cubes.
The cubes pop right out of the tray, so they can easily be added to sautés and soups, dressings and marinades, or anything that needs a hit of concentrated, fresh flavor. (Or color, for that matter. If you had them now, you could make green scrambled eggs for St. Patrick’s Day.)

The compact trays stack neatly in the freezer. While they’re a terrific convenience any time of the year, they’re especially nice to have around in colder months, when garden-fresh herbs are in short supply. They’re also great for people who can never use up a large bunch of herbs. No one will know you didn’t take out the cutting board and chop away. Frozen, they should keep their flavor for up to two years. The products are certified kosher. Click here to read the full review.

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