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


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PRODUCT: B.W. Cooper’s Iced Tea Concentrate

July 27, 2012 at 8:56 am · Filed under Beverages

In our childhood, our mom made pitcher after pitcher of iced tea using a bottled tea concentrate named Redi Tea—at least that’s what we recall. Online searches for “Redi Tea” yielded only that “White Rose Redi-Tea was the world’s first instant iced tea powder, introduced in 1953.”

Perhaps by our time, they had come up with a concentrate; but it’s no longer made. There are other brands filling the void—in fact, the biggest user of iced tea concentrate is foodservice (restaurants, delis and other businesses that provide prepared food).

Yes, fellow iced tea lovers: The majority of iced tea served in U.S. restaurants isn’t fresh brewed from leaves. Most of it is made from a tea concentrate: just add cold water to the liquid, toss in some ice and serve it to the customer.

  
The fastest way to quality iced tea: Just mix concentrate in water and add ice! Photo courtesy B. W. Cooper’s.
 
Not that there’s anything wrong with that: Tea concentrate is a quick and easy way to serve large quantities of iced tea—or make just one glass, if you’re so disposed. It’s not a lesser product: There are good tea concentrates and mediocre tea bags.

We recently made the acquaintance of four flavors of B.W. Cooper’s Tea Concentrate. Among his other activities, company founder Barry Cooper is the tea master for Gevalia teas.

Made with organic tea leaves and mostly presweetened (but still just 16 calories per serving*), all four flavors we tried hit the spot. The line includes:

  • Blackberry Concentrate (Unsweetened)
  • Half & Half Lemonade Tea Concentrate
  • Pomegranate Concentrate (Sweetened)
  • Sweet Concentrate
  • Tropical Green Concentrate (Sweetened)
  • Unsweetened Concentrate

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    There are 32-ounce bottles on Home Shopping Network and 64-ounce bottles at Sam’s Club and Coffee.org, the biggest selection we found. If we do the math correctly, the large format makes 16 gallons of tea (if you’re a big iced tea drinker, that goes pretty quickly).

    There are also mini bottles: four ounces of concentrate that make one gallon of tea. We like them as small gifts, party favors and stocking stuffers.

    For more information, check out the company website, CooperTea.com.

    Find more of our favorite teas in our Gourmet Tea Section.

    *The principal sweeteners are non-caloric sucralose and acesulame potassium (ace-K—details about these sweeteners). But there‘s no artificial flavor. There is also a bit of corn syrup (not HFCS), which the company says improves the mouthfeel.

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Safe Packing For Picnics

    July 27, 2012 at 8:16 am · Filed under Meat & Poultry


    Forget those picturesque picnic baskets: You
    need an insulated cooler. Shown: the
    Koolatron.    		   It’s National Picnic Month: You’ve got a few more days to celebrate. How about an impromptu picnic this weekend?

    Every picnic includes perishable foods. If you don’t keep them cool, you could end up with a very different type of memory of the event. Here are food safety tips from Common Ground:

    There is only one way to pack a cooler safely, say the experts at Common Ground, which dispels myths about food and aims to provide confidence about what you feed your family. With picnics, the drill starts with ice.

  • Ice. Most foods need to be kept below 40° Fahrenheit to avoid spoiling. This can only happen with ice (we use reusable ice packs). Heat rises, so be sure to put ice on the bottom of the cooler and pack it tightly around food so that perishable items stay cool.
    •  

  • Cold Meats. Pack perishable foods, like meat and chicken, directly from the refrigerator or freezer. Raw frozen meat acts as another cooling block, helping to keep the cooler temperature lower, for longer. Freezing the meat also reduce bacterial growth on the food and cuts back on dripping inside the cooler.
  • Wrapping and Placement. When transporting food in a cooler with meat or vegetables, wrap food in plastic sealable bags to catch any spills or drips of juice. When raw meat is not bagged and sealed, it can leak to the bottom of the cooler and potentially drip on other foods, causing contamination. If you can pack meat in a separate cooler, so much the better. If you have to pack meat and vegetables in the same cooler, pack meat products on the bottom so they can’t drip onto other foods.

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  • Grilling. If you’re grilling at the picnic site, make sure food is cooked to the right temperature. The proper internal grilling temperatures range from 145° Fahrenheit for beef and pork, to 165° Fahrenheit for poultry. Bring a meat thermometer with you (here’s a special grilling meat thermometer). Leave raw meat in the cooler until you’re ready to grill it. Don’t leave grilled meat out in the heat; put it back into the cooler until someone is ready to eat it.
  • Separate Coolers. When traveling long distances, pack two separate coolers: one with food and the other with drinks. People will be opening the drink cooler more often, which will raise the temperature in the food cooler. Another idea is to freeze some bottled water and other bottled drinks, not only to keep them cooler for later in the day, but to act as extra “ice” for the food cooler.
  • Shade. To maintain cool temperatures, open and close the cooler lids quickly and store coolers in a shady spot.
    		•   
    This cooler acts a a mini fridge: it plus into a 12-volt outlet, such as the car’s cigarette lighter. From Koolatron.
     

  • Safe Zone. Discard any perishable food that is left out for more than two hours: It will be at risk for increased bacterial growth. If temperatures are above 90° Fahrenheit, one hour is the maximum time food should sit out.
  • Clean Utensils. Cooking utensil safety is an important of food safety. To avoid cross contamination, use different utensils for cooking and cutting meats and vegetables. Store utensils outside of the cooler in separate plastic bags, or wrapped in clean kitchen towels. Use moist towelettes to clean hands between handling different foods.
     
    And have a great picnic!

      

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    RECIPE: Spicy Veggie Burger

    July 26, 2012 at 4:58 pm · Filed under Recipes, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs


    The Carla Burger from chef Carla Hall: a black bean burger with peach salsa. Photo courtesy MorningStar Farms.

    		   We love a good spicy veggie burger. Morningstar Farms makes one Southwestern style, from black beans, corn, tomatoes, bulgur, brown rice and jalapeños (among other ingredients).

    We often top our burgers with salsa for added spice. But MorningStar’s consulting chef Carla Hall came up with a version—peach pico de gallo—using this season’s sweet peaches, with spicy chiles and tangy lime juice—an easy-to-make burger topping.

    You’ll only need about a third of the recipe to top the burgers. Serve the remainder as a dip with tortilla chips or thin jicama slices…or the next day with another burger.
    THE CARLA BURGER RECIPE

    Prep Time: 25
    Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
    Yield: 4 sandwiches; 4 servings (1 serving =
    1 sandwich)

     

    Ingredients: Peach Pico de Gallo

  • 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 medium peaches, pitted, peeled and finely chopped, or 1-1/4 cups frozen unsweetened peach slices, thawed and finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 to 3 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

    •  
    Ingredients: Burgers

  • 4 MorningStar Farms Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers or substitute
  • 1 medium ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese or crumbled Cotija cheese
  • 4 whole wheat hamburger buns, split
  • Lime wedges
    		•

     

    Preparation

    1. MAKE PICO DE GALLO. In medium bowl combine tomatoes, peaches, onion, cup cilantro, chile peppers, lime juice, sugar, salt and garlic. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

    2. PREPARE GRILL. Meanwhile, spray grill rack with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

    3. GRILL BURGERS. Grill veggie burgers directly over medium-high heat about 6 minutes or until burgers reach internal temperature of 165°F and grill marks form on both sides, turning once.

    4. ADD AVOCADO & CHEESE. Top burgers with avocado slices and the 1/4 cup cilantro. Sprinkle with cheese. Grill about 2 minutes more or until cheese melts.

    		 

    Look for the green box. Photo courtesy Morningstar.

     

    5. SERVE. Move burgers to buns. Top each burger with about 1/4 cup peach pico de gallo. Place lime wedges alongside of sandwiches on serving plates.
     
    GRILLING TIPS FROM CHEF CARLA HALL

    1. NONSTICK SPRAY. Spray some non-stick cooking spray on the grilling surface before turning up the heat. It makes flipping your food easier than ever.

    2. SALAD TOPPERS. Think outside the bowl! Take your salad out of the bowl and use it to top your grilled burgers. Whether it’s a slaw or Caprese Salad, consider this the adult-version of playing with your food.

    3. GRILL EVERY COURSE. Use the grill to take advantage of summer’s wide produce selection. Marinate fresh vegetables in a light salad dressing and grill until tender for a tasty side dish. After the meal, add slices of angel food cake and stone fruit or pineapple to the grill for an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert.
      

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