[1] A crunchy layer of potato chips—waffle chips are a nice touch—adds texture and flavor to the Bacon Chili Crunch Burger at San Diego-based Slater’s 50/50 (photo © Slater’s 50/50).

[2] Fried chicken skins on the Blanco Burger at Lucky Rooster in Hilton Head (photo © Lucky Rooster).

[3] Crunch pork rinds on a burger at Sutter Home (photo © Sutter Home).

[4] Crunchy shoestring potatoes top this burger from Chef Eric Levine (photo © Chef Eric Levine).

What’s trending among America’s trendy chefs?

Adding crunch to burgers and sandwiches.

Flavor & The Menu, a website and magazine for chefs that reports on culinary trends, attributes the crunchy movement to the boom in fried chicken sandwiches.

Now, chefs are adding crispy ingredients for texture and an added layer of flavor—and fun.

Beyond crisp pickles, fried onions rings, slaws and even the venerable iceberg lettuce and raw onion, the “new crunch” includes ingredients such as:
Potato chips, tortilla chips, even crispy , and

 
 
CHECK OUT THESE EXAMPLES

Here are ideas from chefs across the country:

 
 
IDEAS FROM FLAVOR & THE MENU

 
What’s next?

Try one of these recipes, or invent your own.

While the suggestions above are largely burger-oriented, try the crunch on your favorite sandwiches.

If you have leftover candy canes or other red-and-white peppermints, here’s a good use for a cold day:

Crush them and use them as a hot chocolate garnish.

First top the hot chocolate with:

 
You can even add a small scoop of ice cream; just make the hot chocolate extra-hot.
 
 
HOW TO CRUSH PEPPERMINTS

1. PLACE the candies in a resealable plastic bag. Place the bag on a cutting board to protect the countertop.

2. USE the smooth side of a meat mallet to crush the candies to the desired size. No mallet? Use a hammer.

3. TO CREATE a powder, place the crushed pieces in a spice blender.
 
 
 > THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COCOA & HOT CHOCOLATE

> 25 DIFFERENT HOT CHOCOLATE GARNISHES

> HOT CHOCOLATE HISTORY

> THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE MIXES

> OUR FAVORITE GOURMET HOT CHOCOLATE MIXES

> HOW TO MAKE HOT CHOCOLATE & YOUR OWN HOT CHOCOLATE MIX FROM SCRATCH

> FAVORITE HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPES FROM THE EXPERTS

> THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF COCOA POWDER

[1] Crush candy canes and garnish your hot chocolate (photo © Bird Bakery | San Antonio).

[2] Crush any red and white stripe peppermints, like these popular “Starlight”-style mints (photo © Jeffrey Collingwood | SXC).

[1] Mix the batter and scoop it onto the griddle (photos © Krusteaz).

[2] Krusteaz makes blueberry pancake mixes in regular and protein versions.

January 28th is National Blueberry Pancakes Day.

Blueberries are out of season, so this is another one of those food holidays that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Hey, blueberry people: you should have scheduled this for June, July or August.

Still, all is not lost:

Here are fresh blueberry substitutes to make blueberry pancakes until the fresh domestic berries return.

Today’s second tip is how to make nice, round pancakes.

Some people buy special pancake batter dispensers.

But why find room for another gadget, when you can use your ice cream scoop.

Just scoop up the batter and plop it on the griddle.

Thanks to Krusteaz, makers of premium pancake mixes, for the tip.

Check out their Blueberry Pancake Mix.

Krusteaz also makes a whole-grain blueberry pancake mix with 14g of protein per serving.
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PANCAKES: A PANCAKE GLOSSARY
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF PANCAKES

Two products worthy of your attention are the new Coca-Cola With Coffee and a fun fusion snack mix, 4505 Cheese-Charrones, chicharrones blended with Whisps cheese crisps.
 
 
1. COCA-COLA WITH COFFEE

Finally, Coca-Cola with Coffee (regular and diet) has come to the U.S.

Available in Japan since 2018 and in 48 other countries, this fusion flavor is welcome.

It’s a true hybrid innovation. If you’re a Coke or Diet Coke drinker who also enjoys coffee, it’s a must-try.

And not just as a pick-me-up drink, although the varieties, made with Brazilian coffee, contain 69 milligrams of caffeine per 12-ounce can.

That’s double the caffeine of a regular Coca-Cola, but about half of the caffeine in a 12-ounce cup of coffee (depending on the brew).

Coca-Cola with Coffee is available nationwide in three flavors (photo #2) plus two sugar-free versions:

 
The company says that the new flavor “Sips like a Coke, finishes like a coffee.”

We tasted two varieties: Dark Blend and Zero Sugar Vanilla.

We don’t regularly drink sugary sodas, but found the Dark Blend to be an interesting flavor, not as sweet as a regular Coke. It’s sweetened with the same HFCS as regular Coke, but perhaps they used less of it.

The Zero Sugar Vanilla may be our new favorite zero-calorie drink (photo #1). It had no diet drink aftertaste; the sugar substitute is a combination of sucralose (the component of Splenda) and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K).

The natural flavors gave Zero Sugar Vanilla a hint of hazelnut; altogether a delicious diet drink. We look forward to trying Zero Sugar Dark Blend.

At cocktail time, we added a shot of vodka to turn it into a Diet Coke Black Russian.

Here’s a store locator.

For more information on the line, visit Coca-ColaCompany.com.
 

2. 4505 CHEESE-CHARRONES SNACK MIX

For those who like chicharrones—fried pork rinds—is there a better option than the basic simple recipe? Yes!

Last month we reported on Pig Wizard flavored pork rinds: a true delight in flavors such as Beer Bacon Caramel PorkCorn, Sweet Heat Caramel PorkCorn and Thai Tea Caramel PorkCorn.

We recently discovered different-flavored chicharrones, from 4505 Meats in San Francisco.

Back in 2009, chef and butcher Ryan Farr started to fry up chicharrones from pork fat, and selling them to local bars for extra cash.

The crunchy, carb-free snacks quickly became famous throughout the city, and were dubbed “crispy clouds of porkaliciousness.”

Made from sustainably, humanely produced pork, they have 7 grams of protein per serving.

He took a different direction in flavoring his pork rinds:

 
Read more about them here.

[1] Our new favorite diet Coke flavor: Coca-Cola With Coffee Zero Sugar Vanilla (photos #1 and #2 © Coca-Cola).

[2] A trio of flavors: Dark, Vanilla and Caramel, the first two also available in Zero Sugar.

[3] Flavored chicharrones (fried pork rinds) from 4505 Meats, plus the new Cheese-Charrones snack mix with Cheese Whisps (photos #4 and #5 © 4505 Meats).

[4] The new Cheese-Charrones are a blend of pork rinds, cracklings, and Whisps cheddar cheese crisps.

The result is crunchy, salty, porkalicious…and cheese-alicious, too.

Check it out on 4505Meats.com.

[1] Five lovely chocolate oxen are waiting to celebrate the Year Of The Ox with you (photos #1 and #2 © Burdick Chocolate).

[2] The wood box is a “keeper.”

[3] Celebrate the Year Of The Ox from February 12th through February 18th (photo © Liu Ziang | Panther Media).

Have you ever eaten a chocolate ox?

We didn’t think so.

That’s because the one chocolatier we know who makes them is L.A. Burdick, who celebrates every Lunar New Year with a chocolate interpretation of that year’s zodiac animal.

You were born in the Year Of The Ox if your birth year is 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997…and for the Centennials, 2009 and 2021.

The Lunar New Year begins on Friday, February 12th: the Year Of The Ox. (The date changes every year, based on the lunar calendar.)

“Chinese New Year” is an old-fashioned term, replaced by Lunar New Year.

That’s because in addition to China, other countries in Asia also celebrate the Lunar New Year: Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The celebration lasts up to 16 days, but only the first seven days are considered a public holiday.

You’ve got more than two weeks to indulge in your favorite Asian foods.

So plan your Asian feasts; but first, head to Burdick Chocolate to get your Chocolate Oxen.

This limited edition is available from January 25th through February 19th.
 
 
YEAR OF THE OX CHOCOLATES

Burdick’s mini chocolate oxen (each is about two bites) are entirely handmade without molds, meaning that no two are alike.

And as befitting the occasion, the chocolates have Asian flavor accents.

The “drove” (a.k.a. herd) of oxen includes:

 
Each wood “keeper” box is tied with a gold ribbon and hand-stamped with a gold wax seal featuring the Chinese character for good luck.
 
 
> WHAT IS CHOCOLATE GANACHE?

> RECIPE: BIBIMBAP: A KOREAN CLASSIC FOR THE LUNAR NEW YEAR

> CHINESE “GOOD LUCK” FOODS FOR THE NEW YEAR

> RECIPE: CHINESE LONG BEANS

> RECIPE: EGG DROP SOUP

> RECIPE: POTSTICKER DUMPLING SALAD

> RECIPE: YUSHENG, A RAW FISH SALAD FOR THE LUNAR YEAR