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


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PRODUCT: Russ & Frank’s BBQ Sauce

Russ And Frank's BBQ Sauce

Russ & Frank’s BBQ Sauce.

Anyone in America with an internet connection can have a blog. And anyone in America who can find a co-packer can have a barbecue sauce…or a salad dressing…or a jam. A co-packer is a manufacturer that will make your recipe to your specifications and put your label on it. It’s up to you to find the customers. To everyone with that favorite recipe who has heard the words, “Hey, this stuff is great, you ought to sell it…” there are those with the fortitude to find the co-packer, get their label on the jar and set up shop, full time or as a side job. Many think they’ll become the next Famous Amos, with little brown bags of chocolate chip cookies bringing in millions. Or the next Stonewall Kitchen. Maybe their grandmother’s jams will even net them a contract on the Food Network.
But the truth is, more people will lose money—and lots of time—on these ventures than will have positive outcomes. At least they can say they tried. And for some, having been in the game is enough. Before you’re tempted to try it, go not to your local supermarket but to the Fancy Food Show in New York or San Francisco. Walk up and down the aisles and then ask yourself, does the marketplace need another product like mine? Why will retailers be interested in buying my product instead of the dozens of lines that are here…and the hundreds of others that aren’t here?

Russ and Frank are neighbors in Des Moines, Iowa with day jobs. Friends and neighbors told them that they should sell their barbecue sauce, made from all-natural ingredients. Most certainly, it is better than what is on the local supermarket shelves. So they refined their sauce and found their co-packer. They’re one of the lucky ones (or, as Samuel Goldwyn said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get”): They’ve racked up more than a dozen awards since their line of three sauces debuted in 2003, among them, 2nd Place in the 2008 Great American BBQ Contest in Kansas City. Even a 5th Place ribbon is no small feat, given the number of sauces the judges in any competition taste. One co-packer estimates that there are probably more than 170 co-packers that make barbecue sauce alone, each of them for many clients.

We like that Russ & Frank’s uses real tomatoes as a base—not ketchup or tomato paste like so many brands do. We like that they use molasses, not just sugar, brown sugar or corn syrup, to sweeten. (They use white sugar too, the third ingredient after water and tomatoes; Russ says they tried honey, but couldn’t get a consistent taste in each batch. So they defaulted to sugar to assure customers a consistent flavor.) But would we give them an award, based on all the barbecue sauces we taste each year? No. Too sweet. While we love honey-caramelized spare ribs, we don’t like to taste white sugar on our meat. Although there are complex flavors in the blend, with each bite we also got white sugar. We know that’s what America has gotten used to (along with the HFCS that cheaper brands use), and it makes us sad.

Otherwise, we liked the “Sassy” and “Fiery” flavors, as well as the packaging. Mild, which has one its share of awards, was simply too mild for us city gals. You can buy some for yourself at RussAndFranks.com.

And for the two guys who have come a long, long way from their backyward grills in Des Moines: Bravo!

tabasco.com (McIlhenny Company)

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PRODUCT: Heart Shaped Goat Cheese For Valentine’s Day & Special Occasions

Getting ready for Valentine’s Day? Throwing a bridal shower? Planning to propose? Don’t hide the ring in a cream puff where your intended can break a tooth. Instead, insert it, standing up, into a Bourbon-chocolate heart-shaped goat cheese (chèvre).

Capriole Goat Cheese enables you to say “I love you” year-round with this loving assortment of three six-ounce goat cheese hearts:

– A 6-ounce fresh chèvre heart with pink
peppercorns
– A 6-ounce ripened chèvre heart
– A 6-ounce Bourbon-chocolate chèvre heart

The three cheeses are boxed in a wooden crate tied with a red ribbon, for $60; the hearts are $8.99-$12.99 individually. BYO Champagne and crackers. The assortment is available for immediate delivery during February. A two-week pre-order is required the rest of the year. At CaprioleGoatCheese.com or telephone 1.812.923.9408.

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PRODUCT REVIEW: Michael Season Reduced Fat Cheese Puffs


Michael Season’s Cheddar Cheese Puffs (front)
and Chili Cheese Puffs (rear) offer real cheese
flavor with reduced fat.
Love chips, but want to cut back on the fat and the calories? Michael Season delivers a line of baked cheese snacks that have fewer calories, less fat, and taste even better than his regular line. They’re also wheat-free, gluten-free, certified kosher and all-natural—no preservatives, no hydrogenated oils, no MSG, and made with organic grains.

Michael Season heard the call to organic foods more than 20 years ago. He tried his hand at organic farming long before it was hot, because he wanted his family to be able to eat foods free of chemicals and additives. He developed one of the largest natural foods distributorships in the U.S., and then began to produce “better for you” snack foods—reduced fat and lowfat potato chips. They promise:

– All-natural ingredients
– No preservatives
– No artificial colorings or flavorings
– No GMOs (genetically modified ingredients)
– No MSG
– No hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
– Kosher certification

We had the opportunity to taste the Season’s line of cheese puffs and cheese curls—the regular, “Ultimate,” line and the reduced fat, “Baked” line, which have half the fat (or more) of traditional puffs and curls—and are wheat-free and gluten-free to boot.

Whether digging into the Ultimate or Baked Line, these snacks are delicious. Where one bite of a major supermarket brand of cheese puff or curl tastes like artificial food, here, these all-natural snacks taste just like that: all natural. Light and crunchy, they’re made with real cheese, not an imitation cheese-flavored powder. That being said, you still end up with orange-powdered fingers. It must be part of the ritual.

Snack along with us as we review these noteworthy, cheesy, crunchy snacks. Read the full review on TheNibble.com.

The Popcorn Factory

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RECIPE: Rio Star Fiesta Salad

Winter is citrus season. Grapefruit and oranges make delicious and healthy salads, and red grapefruit adds to the drama of the presentation. There’s a reduced-calorie dressing and a healthy garnish of pomegranate seeds, pumpkinseed kernels and cilantro.

The Rio Star grapefruit is a very red, sweet variety that is 10 times redder than the original Ruby Red. It has an overall blush on the exterior peel as well as a deep red interior color. This specialty grapefruit is grown exclusively in the southernmost tip of Texas—the Rio Grande Valley. Texas citrus is tree-ripened and handpicked throughout the season.

Makes about 6 one-cup servings.

Ingredients

Salad

– 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce, rinsed, drained and patted dry
– 4 oranges (sectioned, reserving juice)
– 1 Rio Star Grapefruit (sectioned, reserving juice)
– 3 cups peeled and cubed jicama (about 1 pound)
– 3/4 cup slivered red radishes (1 bunch, about 10 to 12 radishes)

Dressing

– 1-1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel
– 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (1 large lime)
– 3 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt
– 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
– 1-1/2 tablespoons honey
– 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
– Dash of salt

Optional Garnishes

– 1 cup pomegranate seeds
– 3 tablespoons toasted pumpkinseed kernels
– 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

For Salad

1. Place lettuce in a large serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2. To section oranges and grapefruit, put each piece of fruit on a cutting surface. Using a sharp thin-bladed knife, cut off both ends of the fruit. Place on flat end and cut away peel from top to bottom along curvature of the fruit.
3. Remove all white pulp. Hold peeled fruit over a second large bowl. Section oranges and grapefruit by cutting down along fruit sections to the center. Turn knife to loosen section and lift out.
4. Remove other sections the same way. As the juice is released from the sectioning process, allow it to drip into the bowl.
5. Add jicama and radishes to citrus sections and juice; toss gently. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

For Dressing & Assembly

1. In a small bowl, combine lime peel, lime juice, yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, pepper and salt. Stir until smooth. Set aside.
2. Remove salad mixture and romaine lettuce from refrigerator. Using a slotted spoon, drain liquid from salad mixture and distribute salad over romaine lettuce. Drizzle dressing evenly.

For Garnish

1. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, pumpkinseed kernels and cilantro.
2. Note: Dried cranberries or dried cherries may be substituted for pomegranate seeds. Pumpkinseed kernels may be purchased already toasted. Toasted pine nuts or toasted sliced almonds may be substituted for pumpkinseed kernels. To toast nuts, place in a roasting pan in a single layer in a 350° F oven. Toss several times until light golden brown, being careful not to overcook.

– Read illustrated instructions on how to section a grapefruit.

– Find more fruit and salad recipes in The Nibble’s Fruit and Vegetables sections.

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TRENDS: Cutting Edge Flavors For 2009


Grains of Paradise: Largely confined to West
Africa, these tiny seeds are related to
cardamom, and resemble the seeds inside
cardamom pods.
Want to know what the cutting edge flavors will be at top restaurants this year?

According to trade weekly Nation’s Restaurant News, they’ll be these rarities:

– Grains of paradise from Africa
– Korean black garlic
– Torch ginger from Singapore
– True red pepper from India
– Unpasteurized barley miso—from Massachusetts

Read more about them, and who’s using them with what kind of dishes.

Two of the obscure ingredients, grains of paradise and true red pepper, are in THE NIBBLE’s Varietal Peppercorn Glossary.

For more flavor fun, see McCormick’s 10 flavor pairings for 2009, with 12 tempting recipes.

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