[1] Covered in top-quality chocolate, a couple of these mini pretzels are a guilt-free treat.

[2] You can set them out for guests, but we kept the bag to ourselves (both photos courtesy Edward Marc Chocolatier).

You can find chocolate-covered pretzels in stores nationwide. So why are these from Edward Marc Chocolatier so special?

Because the chocolate is great, and the mini size means you can have just a bite.

Edward Marc is a chocolatier and confectioner in Pittsburgh. A family business since 1914, the company manufactures, wholesales and retails chocolate and ice cream products.

Now, their almost-addictive Dark Chocolate Pretzels are available in family-size bags (20 ounces).

Made with premium, sustainably-sourced dark chocolate, they’re a delicious combination of salty, sweet and crunchy.

The bite-sized Dark Chocolate Pretzels may be small, but they’re full of flavor. That’s why just a few are so satisfying—an easy way to serve your sweet tooth (and your crunchy tooth, too).

The normal portion of 10 pieces is 180 calories, but just two or three, at 18 calories a piece, is satisfying—plain, or with a cup of coffee.

We’ve also enjoyed the mini pretzels:

 
The product is certified kosher (dairy) by OU. There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
 
 
WHERE TO GET THEM

The Dark Chocolate Pretzels are available at select Costco locations, as well as online at EdwardMarcChocolatier.com.

They’re worth seeking out. You won’t be disappointed!

In fact, get a few extra bags as treats for loved ones, and to make yourself a hero at work.

Around 610 C.E., monks in Southern France or Northern Italy twisted and baked scraps of dough as a reward/bribe to children who had memorized their Bible verses and prayers. The shape represented the monk’s concept of a child’s arms folded in prayer.

This was a soft pretzel made from bread dough. It became very popular, beyond a kids’ treat. Pretzels went great with beer, for starters.

Over time, specialty recipes were created, such as soft gingerbread pretzels for the holidays.

Hard pretzels were first created accidentally in 18th-century America, when a baker’s apprentice overcooked a batch, which made a hard pretzel. Instead of tossing them as ruined, he took a bite and loved the crunch!

Here’s more of the history.
 
Chocolate-Covered Pretzels Arrive

As the story is told, more than 900 years later, a journeyman baker in Hamburg, Franz Joseph Leibniz, thought to cover pretzels with chocolate.

Perhaps the neighboring chocolatier inspired the idea. Leibniz enlisted his help in the project.

There is no verification for the Leibniz story, but a late 16th-century recipe shows how to prepare chocolate covered pretzels.

A recipe book was published by Max Rumpolt, a chef to nobility, in 1581. This is about 40 years after Leibniz is said to have invented the idea. Rumpolt called the recipe Precedella.

His cookbook, Ein New Kochbuch (A New Cookbook), consisted of 2000 recipes.

Here are more details of the chocolate pretzel story.
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*We make a simple “cannoli” dip by blending ricotta, confectioners sugar, a bit of vanilla extract and some optional orange zest). These comprise the fillings of cannoli, i.e. cannoli cream. We take an extra step and blend it in a food processor, to turn the texture into more of a dip. Cannoli filling often includes chocolate chips, so it’s a perfect pairing with chocolate-covered pretzels.

If you like an excess of chocolate, you can also dip the Dark Chocolate Pretzels into chocolate fondue. We recommend white chocolate fondue.

April 4th is National Ramen Day. It’s also National Burrito Day, National Carrot Day and National Cordon Bleu Day.

In case you’ve never had a ramen burger, it’s a hamburger where fried ramen, formed into a bun shape, replaces the bread bun.
 
 
RAMEN BURGER HISTORY

The American version of the ramen burger (photo #1) was created in 2013 by Keizo Shimamoto, a ramen blogger turned ramen chef (his ramen shop closed last week).

He had inspiration from ramen burgers he saw while in Japan. Restaurants there used ramen noodles to form a top and bottom, although the top and bottom “buns” were not as solidified as Keizo’s ramen buns.

Instead of a beef patty, the Japanese filled the ramen buns with chashu pork.

Chashu pork is pork belly braised in soy sauce, sake, and mirin (rice wine*). The inspiration is that bowls of ramen soup are often topped with slices of the braised pork belly.

Creating a Japanese-American fusion, Keizo sandwiched a beef burger slathered in a “secret” shoyu sauce (soy sauce seasoned with brown sugar, garlic, ginger and shallot) instead of ketchup.

Arugula and a scallion garnish taking over for lettuce and onion.

Here’s the whole story.
 
 
MAKE YOUR OWN RAMEN BURGERS

The ramen burger started a craze among food bloggers everywhere, who created their own versions.

After checking out different recipes online, we chose this one from Pigamitha Dimar (photo #2).

Different bloggers add different touches; for example, cheese and/or a fried egg (photo #2 (bottom burger) and photo #3).

If you just want to know how to make the ramen “buns,” here’s the scoop from Nona Lim:
 
Add tomato or pickled vegetables.

 
There’s also gari, the pinkish pickled ginger served with sushi.

Consider Kewpie brand mayonnaise†, Japan’s favorite mayo.

Any burger works: beef, grain, lamb, turkey, veggie, etc.You can even make it a double, as in photo #2.

[1] The original ramen burger (photo © Keizo Shimamoto | Ramen Shack).

[2] A double ramen burger created by Pigamitha Dimar. Here’s her recipe (photo © Pigamitha Dimar).

[3] This ramen burger adds cheese and a fried egg. Here’s the recipe from Sarah N Spice (photo © Sarah N Spice).

Ready to create your own ramen burger? It’s a fine way to celebrate National Ramen Day.
 
 
MORE RAMEN RECIPES

 
 
> THE HISTORY OF RAMEN NOODLES

> THE GROWTH OF RAMEN IN JAPAN, PRE- AND POST- WORLD WAR II
________________

*Mirin and saké are both called “rice wine.” Both are fermented from rice; mirin has a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content (as an analogy, think of sweet and dry vermouths. If you have saké but no mirin, make a substitute by adding a half teaspoon of sugar to the saké, and warm it slowly to dissolve the sugar.

†It’s made with more egg yolks, rice vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar, and MSG.

[1] Delicious: a baked potato filled with a tomato-basil balsamic relish (photo courtesy Idaho Potato Commission).

[2] Russet Burbank variety of russet potatoes (photo courtesy Idaho Potato Commission).

[3] An artichoke-stuffed baked potato. Here’s the recipe from Bonefish Grill.

This recipe, from the Idaho Potato Commission, was titled “Spring Baked Potato.”

But given that the ingredients are available year-round, consider it a baked potato that puts bright colors on your plate any time of year.

Cherry tomatoes and basil ribbons (chiffonade) are tossed in a simple-but-flavorful balsamic dressing, then spooned over the hot baked Idaho russet potatoes and drizzled with a balsamic glaze.
 
 
RECIPE: BAKED POTATO WITH
BALSAMIC TOMATO RELISH (FILLING)

Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
Preparation

Bake the potatoes while you make the relish.

1. PLACE the sliced tomatoes, garlic, basil ribbons, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper into a medium bowl and mix to combine.

2. CUT a slit into the warm baked potatoes and fluff up the flesh with a fork.

3. DIVIDE the tomato relish between the two potatoes. Garnish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Serve immediately.

Here’s a recipe to make baked potatoes in an Instant Pot in one-third the time.

We prefer Russet Burbank potatoes, oven-roasted at a slightly higher temperature to make the skin crispy.
 
 
BUY RUSSET BURBANK POTATOES FOR CRISPY SKIN

In agriculture, there are numerous varieties or breeds of everything, from avocados to zucchini (and cattle, goats, etc.).

Each variety contributes slightly different features (e.g., grows better in a certain soil).

Many stores stock the Russet Norkotah potato variety, which is slightly moister than other varieties. But the moist flesh is a trade off: the skin doesn’t get crispy when baked.

Instead, you need the Russet Burbank. It’s a tiny bit drier, but if you add butter, sour cream or other moist topping (like the balsamic tomatoes in the recipe above), you won’t notice the difference.

If you buy potatoes by the bag, then by law, Idaho potatoes have to have the variety noted on the package. Somewhere non the closure, tag or label the variety will be indicated.
 
 
MORE BAKED POTATO RECIPES

 
 
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF POTATOES

THE HISTORY OF POTATOES

If you’re just a twosome for Easter dinner, you may not want to take on a half ham or a leg of lamb.

Lamb chops are appropriate, of course; but how about a loin of rabbit—or a mixed grill of both.

Rabbit can be served to any number of people, but we especially like it for a small group or as one small course in a multi-course (five or more) dinner.

If you’re a carnivore but the idea of rabbit seems alien to you, just try it. Rabbit is a common dish throughout Europe, and it’s surprising that it’s not found more often in the U.S.—especially since it’s the most nutritious meat (see below).
 
 
HOW TO PREPARE RABBIT

Moist and tender, this ultra-lean, delicate meat with a slightly sweet* flavor is, like chicken, versatile and easy to prepare. The texture is similar to chicken, but we find rabbit more flavorful.

 
Even prepared simply, it is delectable.

We prefer the sautéed or pan-roasted loin to the legs, which are less tender and need to be braised.

 
It doesn’t have to be an elegant dish. Consider this southern dish: Crispy Buttermilk Fried Rabbit Legs, served with coleslaw and cornbread.
 
 
THE MOST NUTRITIOUS MEAT

According to D’Artagnan, purveyor of quality farm-raised rabbit, the USDA states that rabbit is the most nutritious meat.

Nutritionally, rabbit is lower in calories and cholesterol, but higher in protein than beef, chicken, lamb, pork, turkey and veal.

If you can’t find rabbit loin locally, you can order it online from D’Artagnan.

Their rabbits are humanely raised by small-scale farms, with no antibiotics or hormones.
 
 
RABBIT RECIPES

You’ll find many recipes online. For starters:

[1] Preparations of rabbit loin (top) and leg at one of New York City’s finest restaurants, Le Coucou.

[2] Rabbit loins are boneless. These are from D’Artagnan.

[3] Cooking can be as simple as a pan-roast or a braise (photo courtesy D’Artagnan).

*Farm-raised rabbit is tender and sweet. Wild rabbit can be gamy and tougher. Wild rabbit may also carry tularemia bacteria; meaning it must be cooked to well done. For rare or medium cooked rabbit dishes, farm-raised rabbit from a reliable breeder must be used.

[1] You can use brown bags to serve popcorn, but not to pop it (photo courtesy The Popcorn Board).

[2] Having unpopped kernels at the end of popping is normal (photo courtesy Belle Chevre | Facebook).

[3] Ditch the brown bag and get an inexpensive microwave popcorn popper or similar vented bowl (photo courtesy Housewares Solutions).

Do you pop popcorn at home?

Today’s tip is a safety message from The Popcorn Board about brown-bag popping, something that many of us home poppers have done.

“Despite what well-intentioned food, lifestyle or health promoters tell you (writers, bloggers, TV personalities, etc.), it’s NOT OK to use a brown paper bag in the microwave oven.

“Brown paper bags are not made for use in the microwave. While they are safe for their intended non-heated use, they contain more volatiles than microwave bags.”

Heating releases these volatiles, which can be harmful if inhaled repeatedly over time (see below).

There has been extensive research and resources that have gone into the development of microwave popcorn bags to ensure the product is safe for consumption.
 
 
VOLATILE COMPOUNDS & POPCORN

Volatile organic compounds are chemicals that cause large numbers of molecules to evaporate and enter the surrounding air, a trait known as volatility.

Diacetyl is a volatile compound, a flavoring ingredient formerly used in foods like popcorn, caramel and dairy products. It evaporated into the air when microwaved popcorn bags were opened.

More than 10 years ago, it was found that workers at a factory that packaged microwave popcorn developed bronchiolitis obliterans, informally known as “popcorn lung,” at a higher incidence than other people.

It’s a condition that damages the lungs’ smallest airways and leads to coughing and shortness of breath.

In 2007, popcorn manufacturers removed diacetyl from their products. Microwave popcorn does not contain diacetyl today.

But there are other volatiles that are released when microwaving popcorn in brown paper bags.

So, ditch the brown bags for the microwave—for popcorn or anything else. If you want to pop your own kernels, do so on the stovetop.
 
 
HOW TO MAKE POPCORN WITHOUT OIL

There are countertop air poppers, if you make lots of popcorn; and microwave popcorn bowls (photo #3) that can be used to cook/heat anything else in the microwave.

When you make any popcorn, whether stovetop or microwave, you need to stay close to it to listen to the kernels as they pop. When they stop popping, immediately stop the heat, or the popcorn will burn.

It’s normal to have unpopped kernels at the bottom. Better unpopped than burnt!

Recipe: Stove Top Popcorn Without Oil

1. PLACE 2 tablespoons of popcorn kernels in one layer on the bottom of a deep pot. Cover with a tight lid and turn the heat to medium.

2. SHAKE the pot gently every 20-30 seconds. Once the kernels start popping, shake the pot every 5-10 seconds.

3. LISTEN. At the beginning the popcorn will pop vigorously. When there is a second or two between the popping sounds, turn off the heat.

4. LET the popcorn cool for a few minutes and move it to a serving bowl. If you want to add seasoning (salt, herbs, spices), mix it into the warm popcorn in the pot.

 
 
POPPING TIPS FROM THE NATIONAL POPCORN BOARD