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


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PRODUCT: Lindt Wasabi Chocolate Bar

February 20, 2013 at 8:51 am · Filed under Chocolate

Imagine being the master chocolatier for the world’s largest prestige chocolate company. Management is always looking for something new and different.

You already have chocolate bars in Blackcurrant, Chili, Coconut, Cranberry, Orange, Passionfruit, Sea Salt, plus traditional flavors like Almond, Mint and Toffee and plain chocolate bars in a range of cacao intensities.

What do you do next?

Americans love chocolate, and we love sushi with wasabi; so how about wasabi—Japanese horseradish—and chocolate?

It may not sound intuitive, but another hot spice, chili, is a natural with chocolate.

And wasabi works, too!

The Lindt Excellence Dark Wasabi bar is a surprising and delicious flavor experience. Silky smooth dark chocolate is subtly spiced with a touch of wasabi flavor.

 
Lindt’s new Excellence Wasabi Chocolate Bar. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.
 

While the label says “artificial flavors,” to us it tastes like wasabi powder has added to the chocolate—with charming results.

So, bring some wasabi chocolate bars to the sushi bar. Give one as a gift to your sushi chef and enjoy a square or two after a delicious sushi dinner.

Consider them as Easter gifts—let everyone else bring the chocolate bunnies and eggs. And on any occasion when you need a little something with big impact, wasabi chocolate is it.

If you can’t find them locally, you can buy Lindt Wasabi Chocolate Bars on Amazon.com, $3.99 for a 3.5-ounce bar.

While it gets a bit lost in the wasabi news, Lindt has also released a new Strawberry chocolate bar along with Wasbi. It’s not a daring surprise, but it reads the script beautifully.

Read our review of Lindt Excellence chocolate bars.
  

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TIP OF THE DAY: Asian Peanut Sauce

February 20, 2013 at 8:15 am · Filed under International Foods, Recipes, Sauces-Rubs-Marinades, Spreads-Dips-Salsa


For both Asian- and Western-style salads,
peanut sauce is a delicious dressing. Photo
courtesy National Almond Board.		   If you enjoy a plate of Asian sesame noodles, that yummy, peanut butter-based sauce is equally versatile as a:

  • Dip for raw vegetables (crudités)
  • Grilled chicken, fish or tofu sauce or dip for
    skewers
  • Pasta sauce
  • Rice and grains sauce
  • Salad dressing
  • Sandwich and wrap condiment
  • Steamed or grilled vegetable sauce

    •  
    While peanut butter, coconut milk or cream, garlic and soy sauce are common to all recipes, there is no one version of peanut sauce. Every region has its own signature style.

    For example, Indonesian peanut sauce uses lemongrass, tamarind juice and miso; Thai peanut sauce uses lime juice and cilantro.

     
    You can make a double batch and keep it tightly sealed in the fridge, ready to add flavor to so many different dishes. It’s a quick and nutritious snack with baby carrots or hard-cooked eggs, and delicious with leftovers (one of our favorites: mix with leftover rice; add some peas, chopped green onions and diced bell pepper).

     

    ASIAN PEANUT SAUCE RECIPE

    Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce*
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce†
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon brown sugar
    		•   
    Grilled fish is delicious with peanut sauce. Photo courtesy Pollen restaurant.
     
    *For more heat and colorful flecks, add red chili flakes to taste.

    †If you don’t want to buy fish sauce just for this recipe, substitute Worcestershire sauce. If you think you’ll be making peanut sauce regularly, invest in the fish sauce.
     
    Preparation

    1. WHISK together ingredients, except cilantro, in a small bowl.

    2. MIX in cilantro just before serving.

    3. FOR A THINNER SAUCE OR DIP, dilute with water, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Ways To Use Peanuts, Especially Flavored Peanuts

    February 19, 2013 at 8:49 am · Filed under Recipes, Snacks, Tip Of The Day


    Indian chicken salad with roasted peanuts.
    Here’s the recipe. Photo courtesy
    MyRecipes.com.    		   Peanuts are a New World crop. They are believed to have been domesticated in Bolivia or Paraguay, where the wildest strains still grow. The oldest specimens in Peruvian archeological sites date back some 7,600 years.

    While American colonists enjoyed a hearty, rich peanut soup (here’s a peanut soup recipe from Colonial Williamsburg), and Civil War soldiers snacked on “goober peas,” the majority of the peanut crop was used as animal feed until the 1930s. Then peanuts began to come into their own.

    The next burst of popularity came in the late 1960s. Until then, shelled peanuts were available in two varieties: salted and unsalted, cooked in oil. Planters introduced dry roasted peanuts, eliminating the oil slick that attached to the fingers of peanut nibblers.
     
    Progress followed with honey roasted peanuts. Other flavored peanuts trickled in to join them. Planters’ current flavored peanut lineup includes 5-Alarm Chili, Chipotle, Heat, Honey Barbeque, Honey Roasted, Roasted Onion & Garlic and Sweet & Crunchy.

    Peanuts are nutritious: They’re a good source of monounsaturated (heart healthy) fats, which helps to maintain the immune system. Unsaturated fat is good for you: It’s a component of cell membranes that is needed for cell growth and daily repair.

    One serving of dry-roasted peanuts (30 grams) contains 12 grams of unsaturated fat, 2 grams of saturated fat and 0 cholesterol. It also contains protein, folate, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin and thiamine.

     

    WAYS TO USE PEANUTS & FLAVORED PEANUTS

    Sweet flavored peanuts can be used as cereal, pancake and ice cream toppers or baked into recipes. But savory flavors require a different treatment. Here are our 10 favorite ways to use savory flavored peanuts:

  • Breadcrumb enhancer: grind or finely chop peanuts and add to breadcrumbs
  • Dips: stir in chopped peanuts, especially into yogurt-based dips (curry dip, cucumber dip)
  • Hummus mix in: grind peanuts with the chickpeas, or chop as a mix-in or topper
  • Pesto: substitute peanuts for the traditional pine nuts (pesto recipe)
  • Popcorn mix-in
  • Rice/grain/pasta mix-in or garnish
  • Salad topper
  • Savory trail mix
  • Soup garnish
  • Yogurt or cottage cheese mix-in
    		•   
    Two new flavors of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts: Onion Garlic and Honey Barbeque. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.
     
    PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY SALAD RECIPE

    As long as we’re talking peanuts and salad, try this “Peanut Butter & Jelly Salad.”

    It uses neither peanut butter or jelly, but the suggestion of them. It’s what we call “marketing”: Not only is it tasty, but it’s a way to get kids to eat more salad.

    Ingredients Per Portion

  • 1/2 cup seedless grapes, sliced
  • 1 large leaf Boston lettuce, washed and patted dry
  • Favorite greens to fill the leaf “cup” (we used a cabbage slaw mix)
  • 1 tablespoon plain or sweet flavor dry roasted peanuts
  • 2 tablespoons dressing of choice (a balsamic vinaigrette works well or ranch dressing)

    •  
    Preparation

    1. MIX grapes and peanuts with other salad ingredients. Toss to coat with dressing.

    2. FILL lettuce cup and serve.
     
    WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE USE FOR FLAVORED PEANUTS? LET US KNOW!
      

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