Some 50 years ago, the debut of the first spray cooking oil, PAM, was a game changer for many cooks. But over the years, the joy of convenience and calorie savings gave way to wariness of the chemical propellants—petroleum, propane and isobutene—said to be 11% of the contents in the aerosol spray can. Today’s tip is to look at the ingredients in the can.

If you’ve never used it, here’s the 411: Cooking spray is applied to frying pans and other cookware to prevent food from sticking. The virtually calorie-free spray spare the calories and saturated fats of butter, oil or other fat because the sprayed layer is so thin.

PAM and the cooking spray brands that followed made other tasks a breeze, too—in the kitchen and beyond. We’ve listed some of the popular uses for cooking spray, below.

In recent years, consumers have become more aware and fussy about the quality of the ingredients they consume. Two companies have decided to lose the controversial chemicals: major brand Bertolli and artisan producer La Tourangelle.

Opting for compressed air to propel 100% oil (instead of 89% oil and 11% chemicals), these products deliver even better taste without the hint of chemicals.

The original sprays were a greasing agent; these new, all natural sprays are also salad spritzers, finishing oils* (especially the top-quality La Tourangelle line) and more—for example, a cholesterol-free, mess-free condiment for corn on the cob. In every case you use far less oil than in another type of application.
 
BERTOLLI 100% OLIVE OIL SPRAY

The new sprays launch in three varieties:

Spray away, without chemical propellants. Photo courtesy Bertolli.

 
You can purchase a six-pack on Amazon.com for $37.52 ($6.25 per five-ounce can), or a three-pack, one of each flavor, for $21.99 ($7.33 per can).
 
LA TOURANGELLE ARTISAN OIL SPRAYS

La Tourangelle, the California-based artisanal oil company and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week, has launched the first-to-market line of gourmet spray oils that are also all-natural and propellant-free. The company’s top-selling bottled oils are now sprayable:

 
The products are now available online at LaTourangelle.com and will be hitting store shelves soon. The prices range from $6.99 to $9.99 SRP. Consider them as stocking stuffers for friends with good palates.

 
*A finishing oil is one that is added to cooked food as a condiment, to add flavor and mouthfeel. It is an oil with especially fine natural flavor and aroma that should be enjoyed as a surface accent, and not used for cooking or baking where the nuances will dissipate under heat. It can be used on carpaccio, legumes, porcini mushrooms, pasta, rice and other grains, roasted meats and fish, vegetables and other foods. Fine olive oil can be drizzled atop vanilla ice cream and garnished with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Cooking spray is godsend for anything that calls for greasing, from skillets to bundt pans. Popular kitchen uses include:

 
Adventurous people found uses beyond the kitchen: everything from unsticking doors to preventing fresh nail polish from smudging.

How about using cooking spray for removing dead bugs from your car, and other unconventional uses?

PAM, America’s first aerosol cooking spray, was launched in 1961 by entrepreneur Leon Rubin who, with Arthur Meyerhoff, started Gibraltar Industries to market the spray. The name is an acronym for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff. The brand is currently owned and distributed by ConAgra Foods.

With canola oil as its main ingredient, the appeal of PAM was immediate.

 
Not only did it spawn imitators (Baker’s Joy, Crisco, Emeril, Mazola and Smart Balance, for example), but PAM itself developed eight varieties: Original plus Baking, Butter, Canola Oil, Organic Canola Oil, Grilling, Olive Oil, Organic Olive Oil Professional.

And now, welcome to Cooking Spray 3.0: chemical free.

While the preparation is simple—just combine the ingredients in a bowl and blend—depending on the recipe, you can spend more time or less time measuring ingredients.

We discovered this super easy recipe version on ILovePeanutButter.com, contributed by blogger Lizzie Mabbot of Lizzy Eats London. She serves it with homemade summer rolls.
 
 RECIPE #1: EASY PEANUT SAUCE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients with a whisk. If sauce is too thick, add a little water.

This recipe, from McCormick, has more layers of flavor and takes a few more minutes to prepare—plus fish sauce and sesame oil, which you may not have on hand. McCormick uses it in their sesame noodles recipe.

Ingredients

1. PLACE all ingredients in a food processor. Cover and process until smooth.
  

The Nibble’s reigning favorite cracker. Photo
by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Special occasions deserve special crackers—to accompany cheese, dips, salads, soups, spreads, whatever. They may be pricier than the supermarket varieties, but if your palate craves excitement and your eyes want visual allure, it’s money well spent.

Otherwise stated, Cracker Barrel makes perfectly tasty Cheddar cheese. But if we want a great Cheddar experience, we’ll spring for Fiscalini Farmstead, a great artisan wheel from California.

It can be a challenge to find great crackers, even when you know what you’re looking for. Recently we raced through three specialty food stores in search of Raincoast Crisps, our current favorite cracker. We finally found them at Dean & Deluca retail and etail, and also online at iGourmet.com.

They’re $6.79 for a six-ounce box at iGourmet, and a whopping $10 at DDL. The amazing flavors and textures and small batch production make it worth the special-occasion splurge. They’re exquisite absolutely plain or however you wish to serve them.

Dr. Kracker

Rolled by hand, these artisan flatbreads are long on flavor and unique in their appearance. Each cracker is topped a generous number of attractive—and healthy—seeds, sesame, sunflower, and/or pumpkin.

Mary’s Gone Crackers

Mary’s Gone Crackers are gluten-free and vegan, yet packed with so much flavor you start to wonder what is in them that makes them taste so vibrant and delicious (the answer: whole grain brown rice, whole quinoa, flax seeds and sesame seeds). They’re also organic, whole grain and OU kosher.

 
La Panzanella Croccantini

Unlike the previous recommendations, which are whole grain and laden with seeds, nuts or fruits, La Panzanella Croccantini provide classic Italian flare. Made from white flour, even the plain version is wonderful, but cracked pepper, garlic and rosemary versions add extra flavor. The line is certified kosher by KOF-K.

 
You can also browse the shelves at specialty food stores and try whatever looks good.

Raincoast Crisps with cheese. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

As crisp as they begin, crackers will attract moisture over time and get soggy. But you can easily re-crisp them:

1. Put the crackers in the microwave on a paper towel. Don’t overlap.

2. Microwave them for 40 seconds on medium/high.

3. Allow the crackers to cool for 3-5 minutes. They will crisp up as they cool down.

Crunch away!
  

Recipes vary greatly (here’s a super-rich spinach-mascarpone dip). Zabar’s, the famed food emporium in New York City, is known for its vegan spinach-arugula spread, a garlicky spinach dip variation with peppery arugula punch, made with Tofutti instead of a dairy product. The ingredients are spinach, arugula, Tofutti, pesto, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, salt and pepper.

Zabar’s chefs recommend it to liven up favorite comfort foods, weeknight dinners and entertaining staples. You can use your favorite spinach dip variation, based on using cream cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt or a combination.

Then, use it in any of these 13 ways:

1. Stir spinach dip into macaroni and cheese for extra color and flavor.

2. Spread it onto split French or Italian bread loaves, cover with minced garlic mixed with a little olive oil and broil, for a twist on garlic bread.

3. Mix with boiled halved or quartered potatoes and scallions for zesty potato salad.

4. Use instead of mayo on a BLT or other sandwich.

5. Use instead of mayo in chicken, egg, tuna, salmon or pasta salad for pumped-up flavor.

6. Mix into mashed potatoes.

7. Spread on sliced, toasted bread or crostini and serve as appetizers or with a salad.

8. Spread on crostini, cover with Gruyère or other melting cheese and broil; then float the crostini in your favorite soup.

9. Use instead of cream cheese on a bagel with lox.

10. Fill an omelet.

11. Mix with low-fat plain Greek yogurt for a healthy crudité or chip dip.

12. Mix with ricotta for a lasagna filling.

13. Add to a baked potato instead of butter or sour cream.
 
Would you like to add a tip or two to this list? Let us know.

Get it before it disappears from the shelves.
Photo courtesy Angry Orchard Cider
Company.

This may well be your last weekend to pick up seasonal summer hard ciders, before producers replace them with fall blends.

We received a shipment of Angry Orchard Elderflower Hard Cider, and have been saving it to serve this weekend.

Elderflower is a flower that in homeopathy as well as in cooking. The white berries are used to flavor jam and other cooked fruit; the tiny white flower blossoms are distilled into liqueur (elderflower cordial was enjoyed in ancient Rome), which in turn can be added to recipes.

We love the flavor of elderflower, which reminds us of lychee. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur is a favorite that we like to serve to guests, especially mixed with sparkling wine.

Now, for the first time, elderflower been added to cider, by Angry Orchard.
 
*ABV means alcohol by volume.

The finished product is pale yellow and 5% ABV*. Open the bottle and an apple aroma wafts up, along with elderflower floral.

Light and refreshing, the flavors of crisp apple marry with the elderflower to produce semi-dry sweetness with a bit of tartness. The cider pairs nicely with smoked salmon, braised pork and a fresh berry dessert.

You can also mix it into cocktails. Here are two from Hayley Jensen, a mixologist at Taproom No. 307 in New York City,

 
†Bittersweet apples are not edible, but do very nicely when fermented into cider. Culinary apples are the varieties we eat.

This drink is versatile: You can kick it up a notch with two ounces of any white liquor: cachaça, gin, rum, tequila or vodka.

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. POUR both over ice into a pint glass. Stir and serve.
 
RECIPE: ANGRY ELDERBERRY MOJITO

Ingredients For 1 Drink

1. MUDDLE berries and mint in a pint glass. Fill glass with ice. Add rum and cider.

2. POUR into mixing cup and stir. Pour back into pint glass and garnish with strawberry and mint leaves.