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


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TIP OF THE DAY: How To Prevent Freezer Burn

Freezer burn and ice crystals result from temperature fluctuation and too much oxygen. Most of us have found it on chicken and other meat, as well as on ice cream.

Here are some tips to reduce the amount of burned and crystallized food you need to throw away (burn isn’t harmful, it just ruins the taste and texture):

  • Tightly cover foods—even those in their original packaging—with freezer-weight plastic bags. Don’t rely on the flimsy bags from the produce department to protect your food. Squeeze out as much air as you can before sealing the bag.
  • Don’t put hot food directly into the freezer. To avoid the temperature fluctuation that causes ice crystals, let it cool to room temperature, or place it in the refrigerator to cool.
  • A special tip for ice cream and sorbet: Tamp a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the ice cream to keep it from contact with the oxygen in the container. Then cover the entire top of the container with plastic wrap and replace the lid. Even if the package is unopened, you can remove the lid and add the plastic wrap.
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    And finally:

     
    Keep freezer burn off ice cream with plastic
    wrap. Photo courtesy Ben & Jerry’s.
     

  • Open the freezer for only seconds at a time. Don’t spend minutes with the door open, pondering your selection and letting the temperature fluctuate. If you can’t make quick decisions or don’t know what you have, keep a list of all the contents on the freezer door.
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    PRODUCT: Samuel Adams Wee Heavy Beer


    Photo courtesy Midtown Wines & Spirits |
    Nashville.

      Scotch lovers: Here’s a beer for you!

    The Boston Brewing Company (maker of Samuel Adams beers) has been prolific lately, expanding the line to some 40 different beers of widely varying styles.

    While each beer is special in its own way, the variety we find most special is Samuel Adams Wee Heavy, a Scotch ale-style beer. It’s part of the company’s Imperial Collection: beers with big robust taste and complex flavors. The collection also includes Double Bock, Imperial Stout and Imperial White–this is our kind of beer.

    Scotch ales, nicknamed Wee Heavy, are strong ales. Samuel Adams’ Wee Heavy is inspired by both traditional Scotch ales and Scotch whiskies.

    Take a sip and you’ll find notes of Scotch, thanks to the highly roasted, peat-smoked malt. Exclusive to Scotland, it’s the signature ingredient of Scotch whiskey. Other Scotch ales don’t use smoked malt in beer, so Wee Heavy has a unique aroma and flavor. Smoked malt is also used in Samuel Adams Scotch Ale.

     

    This complex, full-bodied beer offers deep roasted flavor, earthy smokiness and intense malt flavors.

    The company says that the flavors will develop with age, but we haven’t been able to store any bottles: They get consumed in short order.

  • Check out the different types of beers in our Beer Glossary.
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    COOKING VIDEO: How To Cook Ham

     

    Are you cooking a ham for Easter?

    Watch Chef Tyler Florence prepare a smoked ham with a sage rub and tangerine sauce:

       

       

  • Enjoy the recipe with a glass of Gewürtztraminer, Riesling, rosé or a Pinot Noir. For a special splurge, try a rosé Champagne.
  • Bone in/bone out, wet cured/dry cured, smoked/brined, butt ham/shank ham: so much to learn about ham! Start here: the types of ham and ham cuts.
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