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


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TIP OF THE DAY: Drink Your Dessert


Some of the most refreshing desserts are the simplest. Put fresh fruit salad in a wine goblet and cover it with a fizzy Moscato d’Asti, a sweet sparkling wine from Italy (our favorite is La Spinetta from Rivetti, with an amazingly low alcohol level of around 6%, similar to beer). The sparkling wine elevates the fruit salad to elegance, and is the perfect ending to a light or heavy dinner. After guests finish the fruit, they can drink the remaining wine from the goblet: It’s a dessert and a dessert wine in one (though have an extra bottle on hand for guests who want more of this intensely fruity, exuberant wine). If you don’t drink alcohol, you can use Fizzy Lizzy Fuji Apple sparkling juice.

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TIP OF THE DAY: Cheese Kabobs



Cheese kabobs are a festive way to serve different cheeses at parties, and are a fun family snack (and save the calories and carbs of bread and crackers). Buy blocks of different-color cheeses that can be cut into 1-inch cubes. Put 3 different cubes on a skewer or jumbo toothpick, alternating with a fruit (melon ball, grape or berry) or veggie (grape tomato, broccoli floret or zucchini cube). Create a variety of different skewers and arrange them in an inverted half watermelon or winter squash on a tray, or in a large round loaf of crusty bread. You can also arrange the skewers in a shallow vase or an ikebana (Japanese floral arrangement) dish.

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PRODUCT: Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters

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Granola and nuts = crunchy sweetness.
Photo by Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

Nature Valley has ported granola into a very crunchy line of Granola Nut Clusters: bite size, 100% snacks that are an alternative to candy and other sweet treats. While they are made of nutritious nuts and honey, whole grain oats, canola oil and other better-for-you ingredients, there’s also a lot of sugar—catering to the American palate that’s been trained to want more sweetness than other flavors. The sweet, crunchy nuggets certainly more than please.

The strongest nut flavor (and least sugariness) came from Nut Lovers, a combination of cashews, peanuts and pecans. Roasted Almond and Roasted Peanut tied for second, with Roasted Cashew trailing in third, the mild cashew flavor overwhelmed by the sugar.

Granola Nut Clusters can also be used to garnish a dish of ice cream.

 

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TIP OF THE DAY: Easy Fruit Ice Cream

 

No ice cream machine is needed here, just very ripe fruit and a quart of vanilla ice cream (No Sugar Added ice cream works fine, too). Lightly purée (don’t liquefy) 3 cups of peaches, berries, stone fruit or bananas. Scoop the ice cream into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat it with the paddle attachment for 2 minutes, until soft. Add the fruit purée and blend for 1 minute. Transfer the mixture back into the original ice cream container (plus another container for the excess), and return the ice cream to the freezer for 2 hours or more. It will taste just like long-churn, homemade ice cream!

  • Check out more ice cream recipes.
  • Think you know what distinguishes regular ice cream from French-style ice cream? Test your knowledge with our Ice Cream Trivia Quiz.
  • Frozen treats go back to the ancient Chinese. Trace the history of ice cream from 2000 B.C.E to today.

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    RECIPES: Celebrate National Panini Month

    Cheese producer Sargento has declared August National Panini Month. It’s National Sandwich Month, so why shouldn’t panini, Italian sandwiches, share the glory?

    To celebrate, we’re bringing you eight delicious recipes, courtesy of Sargento and Chef Jason Denton. If you don’t have a panini maker, you can use an electric countertop grill or a gas grill. There’s everything from tuna to mozzarella, tomato and pesto (a Caprese salad on a sandwich!) to ham and Swiss with fig jam. Dig in!

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    With sharp provolone, pesto and arugula, this
    panini is not your everyday turkey sandwich. Photo courtesy of Sargento.

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