At a recent coffee and tea fair, what excited us most was not any of the fine coffees or teas, but Biscottea, a line of all-natural shortbread cookies baked with organic teas—just a touch, to provide interest. The buttery Scottish shortbread without the tea inclusions would have been good enough to accompany any cup of tea. But Laurance Milner has created a delightful line that, apart from adding a good general-purpose cookie to the specialty shelves, allows tea lovers to pair different tea-flavored shortbreads with different teas. Have some Earl Grey Biscottea shortbread with your Earl Grey tea, mint Biscottea shortbread with mint tea, and so forth.
Some might find this gimmicky, but gimmicky is a blessing when it tastes good: The large (two-inch) squares of shortbread certainly satisfy. These tea biscuits (biscot-tea, in case you missed the pun or want to confuse them with Italian biscotti) are available in individual packages of two as well as full boxes of ten. Flavors include African Honeybush Tea (a red tea) Shortbread, Blueberry Shortbread with Organic White Tea, Chai Shortbread with Organic Chai Spices, Earl Grey Shortbread with Organic Darjeeling Tea (infused with Earl Grey’s signature bergamot orange flavor) and Mint Tea with Organic Peppermint & Spearmint Leaves.
Blueberry Biscottea shortbread cookies
made with white tea and blueberry juice.
We’re not going to jump on the
bandwagon and call them “antioxidant
cookies”—just enjoy them for the novelty
and fine flavor.
The Blueberry, Chai and Earl Grey flavors are also available in gluten-free varieties. The line is certified kosher (dairy) by Orthodox Union.
The company says that Biscottea are “created with real tea for real tea lovers.” But anyone will enjoy them, even if there’s no cup of tea in sight. Read more about this elegant and fun selection of cookies in the full review on TheNibble.com.
Morton’s celebrates its 30th birthday
with the $19.78 Prime Sirloin Burger—
named for the year the restaurant was
founded.
If you want a glass of wine, rather than a beer, with that burger, here are some pairing recommendations from Morton’s the Steakhouse:
-Blue Cheese, Bacon, Grilled Onions and Mayonnaise
These robust flavors need a big, full-bodied red. Don’t be shy to open a Cab or a Barolo.
-Swiss Cheese, Tomato, Lettuce and Ketchup
A light cheese like Swiss demands a lighter red, like Pinot Noir, which still has enough oomph to balance to the flavors of the rich meat and the acidity of the tomato and ketchup.
-Cheddar Cheese, Raw Onion, Lettuce and Mustard: Spicy Wine
This combination needs a spicy wine to balance to the heat of the raw onion and the acidity of the mustard. Choose a peppery wine like Zinfandel or Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
If you’re a white wine lover: sorry, we have no wine recommendation for you. Beef is too hearty to pair with a white wine. Reach for a good craft beer instead (find some of our favorites in THE NIBBLE’s Beer Section.
Every Sunday from July through September, you can indulge in that burger for a good cause. With each Morton’s $19.78 Prime Sirloin Burger, five dollars will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
There’s no better time than summertime to quench your thirst with a delicious smoothie. Flavorful and healthy stone fruits and berries are at their peak, and smoothies are a perfect way to showcase their bright flavors. Smoothies are creamy, frothy blended drinks made from whole fruit, ice and a variety of other ingredients such as milk, yogurt and fruit juice. Here, we’ve gone further than refreshing: We’ve added nutrition with low-calorie, fat-free, cholesterol-free AllWhites egg whites—a great source of lean protein. Physical trainer Bob Greene developed these super-healthy and refreshing smoothie ideas for AllWhites. Each of the recipes includes up to 1/4 cup of egg whites, which turns a smoothie into a nutritious meal.
Lamb Loin Chops: throw ’em on the
barbie for a fast, delicious meal.
Cookout season is underway! But forget about the usual hot dogs and burgers: Instead, throw some lamb on the barbie, as the Australians would say. Our deliciously easy summer lamb recipes feature fresh, seasonal ingredients, and are perfect for outdoor cooking. Take advantage of the warm season by inviting friends over for a backyard lamb-becue. After all, these summer days will be gone before we know it.These recipes were developed by Sally James, a leading Australian chef, food book author and television personality, for Meat And Livestock Australia, which represents producers of Australian lamb.
Would you go to a swill party? That’s swill, not swell. One manufacturer is selling a Swill® Wine Tasting Party kit as a fun and casual way to conduct a blind wine tasting. It’s targeted to people who enjoy wine but aren’t very knowledgeable about it. Or apparently, very knowledgeable about the meaning of the word, swill.Excuse us for recoiling, but here are some dictionary definitions for swill (these from Dictionary.com):
1. liquid or partly liquid food for animals, esp. kitchen refuse given to swine; hogwash
2. kitchen refuse in general; garbage
3. any liquid mess, waste, or refuse; slop
4. a deep draught of liquor
5. contemptibly worthless utterance or writing; drivel
6. to drink greedily or excessively
7. to drink (something) greedily or to excess; guzzle
8. to feed (animals) with swill: to swill hogs
The SWILL Wine Tasting Party Kit has
everything you’ll need to host a wine
tasting party for eight.
The word is also used to refer to human food of very poor quality, e.g., “I can’t believe they served us that swill!” We don’t eat or drink swill. However, if you find this concept clever, or think it will make a good joke gift (at $24.99), you can order a wine-tasting kit at SwillParty.com.
