THE NIBBLE Blog » Food Holidays/History/Facts

TIP OF THE DAY: Have Some Whiskey On World Whiskey Day

admin — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:14:55 +0000

May 18 is World Whiskey Day. If you’re not normally a whiskey drinker, why not take a vacation from the tequila and vodka and sip a glass of:

American whiskey: bourbon (at least 51% corn, red winter wheat and barley malt), corn whiskey, Tennessee whiskey (identical to bourbon except filtered through sugar maple charcoal, which provides a unique flavor and aroma), rye (made with at least 51% rye in the mash).

Canadian whisky: Canadians produce both Bourbon-style whiskey, smoother and lighter than American bourbon, made with rye (e.g. Canadian Club, Crown Royal and Seagram’s VO), and Scotch-style whiskey made with barley (e.g. Canadian Mist).

Irish whiskey: triple-distilled for extra smoothness; unmalted barley means a sweet perfume with no smokiness.

Scotch whisky: malted barley used in the mash provides the distinctive, smokey flavor.

A shot of Irish whiskey with a wee wedge of lime. Photo courtesy Jameson.
.

Whiskey is a spirit, or alcoholic distillate, made from a fermented mash of grain or malt and aged in barrels. The brown color comes from barrel aging. Each different type of whiskey is distinguished by the type of grain (barley, corn, rye) used in the fermentation process, as well as the distinct distillation and aging process.

Australia, England, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and Thailand, all strong markets for whiskey, now produce their own. Regardless of the variety or country of origin, a general rule of thumb is that all straight whiskeys must be aged at least two years in wood, generally oak. Each nation has its own rules and regulations about what constitutes a true whiskey.

Whiskey sales have skyrocketed in the past year, in both the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., bourbon and Tennessee whiskey led the growth. American whiskies also accounted for 70% of the total U.S. spirits exports for 2012.

See all the different types of whiskey in our Whiskey Glossary.

If you don’t want to drink a glass, use whiskey in a recipe. It adds dimension to sauces for meats and in desserts like cake, ice cream and mousse. You can even make a whiskey vinaigrette: Add a tablespoon to any recipe.

WHISKEY VS. WHISKY

Canadians spell “whisky” without the “e,” as do the Scots and most other countries except Ireland and the U.S.

Scholars can’t determine why the “e” was dropped by the Scots many centuries ago. One theory is that the Irish made whiskey first and pronounced it with a broad “e.” When the Scots began to make it, they dropped the “e” to differentiate their product.

A 1968 directive of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms specifies “whisky” as the official U.S. spelling, but allows the alternative spelling, “whiskey,” which most U.S. producers prefer.

An Old Fashioned is based on the earliest
known American cocktail. Photo courtesy
Maker’s Mark.

OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL RECIPE

Here’s an easy way to enjoy World Whiskey Day: with a classic Old Fashioned cocktail. The recipe is courtesy Maker’s Mark.

The first documented use of the word “cocktail” dates to 1806; it combined liquor of any kind with sugar, water and bitters. As cocktail styles evolved, this early recipe became known as the Old-Fashioned. Later, it evolved into a particular drink made with American whiskey.

Ingredients

1-1/2 parts bourbon

1/2 part club soda

2 orange slices

2 maraschino cherries

1 teaspoon sugar

Ice

Preparation

1. MUDDLE 1 orange slice, 1 maraschino cherry and the sugar in a rocks glass.

2. FILL the glass 3/4 full of ice. Add bourbon and splash of club soda.

3. GARNISH with additional orange slice and maraschino cherry.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHISKEY

Distillation was discovered in the late eighth century by an Arab scholar known as the Father of Modern Chemistry, Abu Masa Jabir ibn Hayyam (?-803 C.E.). He wondered what would happen if he put wine into an al-ambiq, a round vessel like a tea pot with a tall spout on the top, and boiled it.

The vapors rose through the spout, were collected and condensed, creating the world’s first distilled alcohol. In fact, since the al-ambiq was often used to boil powdered antimony into a liquid called al-kohl (used to make the cosmetic kohl), the liquid became known as alcohol and the al-ambiq became the alembic still, which remains in use today.

The distillate was originally used as medicine, and remained a secret process, ultimately shared with the monks in Spain for medicinal purposes. Some orders created their own special distillations, such as Benedictine and Chartreuse liqueurs.

As for our word whiskey: The Scotch uisce and the Gaelic uisge, pronounced ISH-ka, became usky and then whisky in English.

Here’s more on the history of whiskey.

MORE ABOUT WHISKEY

Types Of Whiskey

Whiskey Style By Country

Tasting Whiskey: The Role Of The Senses

Planning A Whiskey Tasting

FOOD HOLIDAY: Cobbler, Crisp & Crumble ~ What’s The Difference?

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:48:09 +0000

There’s a group of cooked fruit desserts with crumb or pastry toppings that are similar enough to be confusing. Since today is National Cherry Cobbler Day, we’ll review the differences.

BETTY or BROWN BETTY

A betty is a crisp (see below) topped with buttered bread crumbs or bread pieces instead of streusel or another topping. Later recipes also use graham cracker crumbs (see the history of the graham cracker, which postdates the Brown Betty).

In some recipes, sugared and spiced fruit, usually diced apples although any fruit can be used, are placed in alternating layers with the crumbs and baked, covered, to the consistency of bread pudding.

A cherry raspberry cobbler. Photo courtesy USACherries.com.

The dish and name date back to colonial times, but the original “Betty” is lost to history; the brown refers to the brown sugar in the recipe. Here‘s a brown betty photo.

COBBLER

A cobbler is a cooked fruit dish, but the topping is different from other cooked fruits with toppings: It’s crowned with cooked lumps of dough. The dish got its name because the lumps of dough resembled cobblestones. In contrast, a crisp or crumble has a crumb topping.

Although some might see the cobbler as a crustless pie or “spoon pie” (a fruit pie with a filling so juicy it should be eaten with a spoon instead of a fork), it is often classified as a cake. Fruit is baked in a baking dish or casserole, then shortcake batter or biscuit dough is dropped onto the fruit before it goes into the oven.

Today, people tend to call everything a cobbler. But remember: a cobbler has a dropped pastry dough top instead of a crumb top.

A cherry crumble. Photo courtesy Dole.com.

CRISP or CRUMBLE

A crisp is a deep-dish fruit dessert made with a crumb or streusel topping and baked. The British term is crumble.

The next three relatives are in the spoon pie category.

GRUNT

A grunt is a spoon pie with biscuit dough on top of stewed fruit (fruit which is steamed, not baked). It’s a stovetop variation of the baked cobbler. Here‘s a photo.

PANDOWDY

A pandowdy is a spoon pie with a rolled top crust that is broken up to allow the juices to come through.

SLUMP

A slump is a spoon pie topped with biscuit dough or pie crust, which can be baked or steamed. It can be made upside down.

Now go bake a cherry cobbler and celebrate National Cherry Cobbler Day!

SEE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASTRY IN OUR PASTRY GLOSSARY.

FOOD HOLIDAY: Chocolate Chip Cookie Tasting

admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:51:10 +0000

We celebrated with four very different
chocolate chip cookies. Photo by Elvira
Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

May 15th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and chocolate chip is America’s favorite cookie. Our friends at Balducci’s specialty food store sent us three different brands of small-producer chocolate chip cookies for the occasion. Added to a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies already in house, we had quite a chocolate chip cookie tasting.

Gather up a selection and hold your own cookie tasting. Go to the best specialty food store in town and purchase four or five different varieties; call friends and neighbors for a tasting with tea, coffee and/or milk.

If all you‘ve got is a conventional supermarket, that works, too. No matter who makes the cookie, you’re looking for differences in chocolatiness, butteriness, sweetness, texture and other variables (we prefer a cookie with more brown sugar flavor, for example).

Don’t judge a cookie by its wrapper: You don’t know until you take the first bite. We tasted four very different chocolate chip cookies:

Balducci’s Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. These private label cookies (made by an cookie manufacturer and labeled with the Balducci’s name instead of the manufacturer’s), were O.K. but not standouts. Our favorite double chocolate chip cookie is from Levain Bakery.

The Cookie makes a soft, chewy cookie with Maldon sea salt. It has all the right ingredients on the label but doesn’t taste artisanal to us. We missed notes of butter and a lack of brown sugar flavor (which is purely a personal preference). We don’t mean to nitpick, but the extra large, four-inch diameter struck us as overkill, too. From Salt Of The Earth Bakery.

Pepperidge Farm Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies. This cookie is the standout in Peppepridge Farm’s new Dessert Shop cookie line (there are also carrot cake and Boston cream pie flavors). A soft style with large chunks of chocolate and cream cheese drops, it adapts the zebra brownie (half brownie, half cheesecake) very nicely.

Pick up an assortment from your specialty food store. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Tate’s Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie. Surprise: This was our favorite of all four cookies. You wouldn’t know it was gluten free; very thin and crisp, in the style of Tate’s Bake Shop of Southampton, New York, it had us rushing out to buy more.

HISTORY OF THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

The chocolate chip cookie was invented by accident in 1937, by an innkeeper who stirred a chopped chocolate bar into cookie batter, thinking it would melt to create chocolate cookies. The happy result was that it didn’t!

Here’s the full history of the chocolate chip cookie.

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES IN OUR GOURMET COOKIES SECTION.

FOOD HOLIDAY: National Butterscotch Brownie Day

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:33:03 +0000

May 9th is National Butterscotch Brownie Day, a bar cookie better known as the blondie—short for blonde brownie. The batter—flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla—is yellow (blonde), as opposed to chocolate brownie batter.

Butterscotch brownies don’t need to have inclusions (chips, nuts); but today’s blondies typically combine butterscotch chips and chocolate chips.

According to Food Timeline, blonde brownies predate the chocolate version by about 10 years. Around 1896, a molasses-flavored bar cookie (no chocolate, cocoa or chocolate chips) called a brownie appeared. The name honored the elfin characters featured in popular books, stories, cartoons and verses of the time by Palmer Cox (the Eastman Kodak Brownie camera was also named after these elves).

After the later introduction and popularity of chocolate brownies, became known as a butterscotch brownie (history of the brownie). The name “Blondie” surfaces in the 1980s. It was not named for Dagwood Bumstead’s wife.

In this recipe. cookbook author Dorie Greenspan uses toffee bits instead of butterscotch chips. She also adds some coconut, which you can keep or omit.

The recipe is from Dorie’s book, Baking: From My Home To Yours (it makes you want to get an invitation to Dorie’s home, ASAP).

RECIPE: Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Photo courtesy LovinInTheOven.com.

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1-1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips, Heath Toffee Bits, Skor Bits or other toffee bits*

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (we substituted pecans)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

*You can chop up any toffee you have on hand.

The blondie recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s
book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. Photo
courtesy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Preparation

1. CENTER a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet. Prepare a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer and a large bowl.

2. WHISK together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. BEAT the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated.

4. ADD the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition; then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter.

5. STIR in the chips, nuts and coconut, using a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

6. BAKE for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown color.

7. TRANSFER the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack right side up and cool the blondies to room temperature. Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

FOOD 101: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUTTERSCOTCH & TOFFEE

Both start with sugar, butter and water. Then, it’s a question of the heat and any added ingredients.

Here’s the scoop.

FOOD HOLIDAY: National Moscato Day Cocktail Recipes

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:25:44 +0000

You can celebrate May 9th, National Moscato Day, with a glass of Moscato: the slightly sweet white wine pairs well wherever an Alsatian Gewürtztraminer or Riesling would be at home (see the food pairings below).

But for National Moscato Day, we present two cocktail recipes, courtesy of Gallo Family Vineyards, one of our favorite Moscato makers.

MOSCATO DAY CELEBRATION PUNCH

Serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients

6 ounces Moscato

2 ounces blanco (silver) Tequila

4 ounces grapefruit juice

2 ounces lemon juice

4 ounces strongly brewed chamomile tea

2 ounces agave nectar

4 ounces club soda

Garnish: grapefruit and lemon wheels

Ice

Try a Moscato-Tequila punch. Photo courtesy Gallo.

Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a punch bowl or large pitcher filled with ice.

2. GARNISH and serve.

A Gimlet made with Moscato instead of gin. Photo courtesy Gallo.

MOSCATO GIMLET

Ingredients Per Drink

3 ounces Moscato

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce agave nectar

Lime wedge or wheel

Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a coupe glass.

2. GARNISH with lime wedge and serve.

ABOUT MOSCATO

Moscato is a lighter-style white wine, lower in alcohol (5%-8% ABV, about half the alcohol of other wines). It is popular with brunch, dessert or as an apéritif. It is grown around the world. The Italian bottlings, from Italy’s Piedmont region, are called Moscato d’Asti: named after the grape, Moscato, and the Italian town of Asti, the center of production. Asti Spumante is sparkling Moscato.

Straw-colored Moscato is known for its fruit (often peaches and tangerines, depending on region), its floral fragrance fragrance and its subtle sweetness.

PAIRING MOSCATO WITH FOOD

Don’t store Moscato: It’s meant to be drunk fresh and vibrant in the year it is vinified. Serve it with:

Antipasto and charcuterie plates

Asian foods, especially spicy cuisines such as Indian and Thai

Desserts, including apple desserts; biscotti and other cookies; fresh berries and fruit salad; fruit pies and cobblers including lemon meringue and Key lime pies; hazelnut desserts; loaf cakes and sponge cakes (delicious with lemon-poppy bread!)

Cheese, especially more pungent cheeses such as blues, Parmigiano-Reggiano washed rind cheeses; or with Brie and other double- and triple-crème cheeses

Shellfish, from the raw bar to grilled lobster, scallops, shrimp

SEE ALL THE AMERICAN FOOD HOLIDAYS.

TIP OF THE DAY: 10 More Uses For Orange Juice

admin — Sat, 04 May 2013 12:26:38 +0000

Drinking is just the beginning of uses for
orange juice. Photo by Sting | Wikimedia.

May 4th is National Orange Juice Day. Many Americans start the day with a glass of OJ but don’t touch the carton again until the following morning. Yet orange juice is a delicious ingredient that you can work into recipes for every meal of the day for a refreshing hint of orange flavor.

Breakfast

Pancakes & Waffles. Replace 1/2 cup of water in the batter with OJ.

French Toast. Soak 4 slices of bread in a mix of 4 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 1 tablespoon grated orange zest and a dash of cinnamon. Grill in a greased pan.

Lunch

Vinaigrette For Salad. Use this recipe for green salad (with or without chicken, salmon or other protein), cole slaw or grain salad (rice, quinoa, etc.). Whisk together 2 teaspoons of Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, 1 tablespoon grated orange rind, 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots and and a few dashes of salt. Let stand 5 minutes. Whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Dinner

Grilled Chicken. Baste the chicken with OJ, or make juice can chicken in the style of beer can chicken. Fill a clean, empty soda can with OJ and insert into the chicken (follow the link for further instructions).

Marinade. Add orange juice to a basic marinade (olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper, garlic) for meat or poultry: 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 1 diced small onion, 3 minced garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon salt.

Desserts

Cake Mix. Substitute orange juice for the water in angel cake, pound cake, white cake or yellow cake. We also add it to frostings.

Other Baking. Substitute for lemon juice in from-scratch cookies, cakes and frostings.

Snacks

Popsicles. Freeze into popsicles, straight or mixed with vanilla yogurt for a “Creamsicle” effect.

Beverage

Orange Juice Ice Cubes. Freeze OJ in ice cube trays and use to both cool and add flavor to pitchers of punch or iced tea. Or chill with an orange-based cocktail.

Orange Juice Cocktails. We love a Mimosa (with Champagne) or a Screwdriver (with vodka), but there are dozens and dozens of orange juice cocktail recipes.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE USES FOR ORANGE JUICE?

Add them to this list!

Add OJ to your vinaigrette. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

ORANGE JUICE HISTORY

Oranges are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia, a cross between the mandarin and the pomelo. They were cultivated in China as far back as 2500 B.C.E. In the late 15th century, Italian and Portuguese merchants returned home with orange trees. The fruit proliferated in the warm Mediterranean climate. Spanish explorers brought sweet orange trees to America in the mid-1500s. Its Spanish name, naranja, as an adaptation of the Sanskrit word, naranga.

The first orange trees were planted in the U.S. in the 1500s, in the area of St. Augustine, Florida, by Spanish explorers. The native Americans loved the fruit as well, so more trees were planted. The climate was perfect—warm, sub-tropical temperatures and abundant rains. The first commercial orange grove was planted in 1830 on Merritt Island, Florida, which remains a thriving growing area.

The oranges were eaten as well as juiced for drinking. In the centuries before shipping of perishable foods, orange juice was a local treat.

And it was a late addition to the breakfast table. In the mid 1910s, there was bumper crop of oranges in California and a lot of excess fruit. In the days before home refrigeration, juice would only last for a day.

Fortunately, at the same time pasteurization came into use and a national railway system was completed. So the growers were able to pasteurize the juice for longer shelf life and ship it nationwide.

Orange juice became available everywhere; additional technological developments allowed it to be stored and marketed year-round. Florida is one of the top 3 orange juice producers in the world, along with Brazil and Mexico; OJ is the official beverage of the state.

About 90% of the Florida orange crop is used to make orange juice. Valencia oranges are the best juicing oranges. Navel oranges (grown in California) are the most widely available eating orange.

FOOD HOLIDAY: National Raspberry Tart Day

admin — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:56:30 +0000

A raspberry tart baked in a rectangular pan.
Photo and recipe courtesy BettyCrocker.com.

May 3rd is National Raspberry Tart Day. It’s really easy to make a basic fruit tart with just a pastry shell, the fruit and currant jelly for glazing.

More complex recipes have a filling of cheese, custard or pastry cream. This recipe from Betty Crocker uses cream cheese—and doesn’t require a special tart pan. It takes just 20 minutes to prepare. It takes a shortcut, using a cookie mix for the crust; but you can make a classic, buttery pâte brisée (short pastry) just as easily with the instructions below.

EASY RASPBERRY TART RECIPE

Ingredients For The Crust

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 pouch Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

3/4 cup chopped almonds or pecans

1/3 cup sugar

Ingredients For Topping and Glaze

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

6 cups raspberries

1/3 cup red currant jelly

2 tablespoons honey

Preparation

1. HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray a 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. CUT butter into cookie mix in large bowl, using a pastry dough blender or fork. until crumbly; stir in almonds. Press dough in bottom of pan and 1/2 inch up the sides.

3. BAKE 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Meanwhile…

4. BEAT cream cheese and sugar in small bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, until well blended and smooth. Spread evenly over cooled cookie crust. Top with raspberries.

5. COMBINE jelly and honey in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave uncovered on high for 20 to 30 seconds or until thin enough to glaze. Brush glaze over berries.

6. REFRIGERATE 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining tarts. Makes 24 servings.

PÂTE BRISÉE RECIPE

Pâte brisée (pot bree-ZAY), or short crust,* is a buttery tart crust with a crumbly texture. It is used for sweet and savory pies, tarts and quiches. It can be made several days in advance and kept in the fridge, or frozen for a month.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

A classic tart is made in a round, fluted pan with a removable bottom. Photo courtesy PetesSweets.com.

Preparation

1. PULSE the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse 15 seconds, until the ingredients resembles coarse meal.

2. ADD 1/4 cup ice water through the feed tube in a slow stream, until the dough just holds together when pinched (add remaining water as needed). Do not process more for than 30 seconds.

3. PLACE the dough on a work surface and gather it into a ball; divide ball into two equal pieces, flatten into a disk and tightly wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

4. PRESS into tart pan, refrigerate or freeze for later use. Defrost in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

*Brisée actually is a participle of the French verb briser, which means to break, shatter or smash. We don’t know the origin, but inspired by the store of ganache, we like to think cookware was broken by whomever created the recipe.

FOOD FUN: Hidden Meanings Of 12 Popular Food Phrases

admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:05:19 +0000

You may be as cool as a cucumber and know how to bring home the bacon, but do you know where those phrases come from? Here’s a list of food phrases with hidden meanings, compiled by Eat24.com. a website and search engine for restaurants that deliver food.

1. BACON: “Bring Home The Bacon”

Meaning: Get the money

Some believe this phrase originated in Dunmow, England where the Dunmow Flitch (flitch is a side of bacon) was given every four years to a couple who impressed the town with their strength of fidelity. However, most believe the term derives from a 1906 boxing bout. Joe Gan’s mother told him before the fight, “Joe, the eyes of the world are on you. Everybody says you ought to win. Peter Jackson will tell me the news and you bring home the bacon.” This quote was published in the New York Times and caught on, creating one of the tastiest expressions ever.

Monkeys are responsible for the phrase, “go bananas.” Photo courtesy Del Monte.

2. BANANAS: “Go bananas”

Meaning: Go crazy

When zoologists fed monkeys bananas, the apes went crazy over the tasty treat. This is also where we get the phrase, to “go ape.”

Another origin may come from the drunken, bewildered behavior of Indonesians who got totally blackout drunk from a fermented banana drink called Tonto. But our vote is with the monkeys.

3. BEANS: “Spill The Beans”

Meaning: Give away a secret

This expresssion is believed to have originated in ancient Greece. Votes were held by the casting of beans: White beans meant yes and black beans meant no. If the vote collector dropped the jar and a black bean was seen, the vote was ruined.

4. BUTTER: “Butter Someone Up”

Meaning: Flatter someone excessively

The origin of this phrase traces its roots to ancient India. When seeking favor from their higher powers, people would throw little balls of butter (more precisely, it was ghee, clarified butter) at statues of the gods. Butter was costly, so it was a fitting tribute. There’s an even older Tibetan tradition of making sculptures for the New Year out of butter, to bring peace and happiness.

Butter is expensive, so “buttering someone up” is a tribute. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

5. CAKE: “Piece Of Cake”

Meaning: Easy, requires little effort

This phrase originated with the “cake walks” of the 1870s. Cakes were awarded as prizes during competitions where couples would promenade around a cake. The couple who walked with the most grace and style was awarded the prize. Since the effort involved was relatively easy, the terms “cake walk” and “piece of cake” entered our parlance.

6. CHEESE: “The Big Cheese”

Meaning: An important person or the most influential person in a group

Although today “cheesy” indicates something cheap, in the early 19th century, “cheese” was used to describe something top-rate. The phrase evolved from an Anglo-Indian term, “chiz.” Related terms: big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big shot, big wheel [of cheese].

7. COOKIES: “That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles”/”Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk”

Meaning: Bad things happen

There’s no hidden meaning behind this one: Sometimes a cookie crumbles before you can properly eat it, or a glass of milk gets knocked over. You may lose out but don’t despair: There will be another cookie and another glass of milk.

8. CUCUMBER: “Cool As A Cucumber”

Meaning: Calm and collected

It’s a fact: The inside of a cucumber is actually 20 degrees cooler than the outside.

9. EGGS: “A Bad Egg”

Meaning: A person who’s no good

This phrase originates from the use of “bad egg” to mean something that disappoints (as an actual bad egg certainly does). Today, it’s someone who disappoints through bad character and actions.

10. FAT: “Chew The Fat”

Meaning: To chat or gossip

This phrase comes from the practices of the Inuit natives of Alaska, who used to chew whale blubber. It took a long time for the blubber to dissolve, so there was plenty of time for light conversation. Another theory believes that the phrase comes from sailors who were forced to chew salt pork when supplies were low.

11. GRAVY: “It’s All Gravy”

Meaning: It’s all good

This phrase originated from an Old English saying that explained, life is meat and potatoes, and the luxuries are gravy.

12. NOODLES: “Use your noodle”

Meaning: Use your brain

Noodles kind of look like brains. Originally “using your noodle” was an insult, implying that someone’s head was filled with wet, floppy noodles. Nowadays, it simply means “to think about it.”

FOOD HOLIDAY: 30 Favorite Ways To Enjoy Raisins On National Raisin Day

admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:01:41 +0000

It’s a big day for one of the world’s smallest fruits, the raisin. Long before processed foods became the snack of choice in America, people would snack on healthful* raisins, or nut and raisin mixes. Much as we enjoy chocolate-covered raisins, National Raisin Day, April 30th, is the day to return to raisins’ roots.

Raisins are a great grab-and-go snack, but are also so much more. So we’re paying homage to the humble dried grape by sharing 30 ways in which it is elevated to something quite special.

If you don’t like raisins (there are some of you out there, and one of you works at THE NIBBLE), you can use the following recipe concepts with dried blueberries, cherries or strawberries.

BREAKFAST

1. BREAKFAST CEREAL. Just as Skinner’s Raisin Bran first added raisins to its bran flakes back in 1926, you can make Raisin Cheerios, Raisin Chex, Raisin Rice Krispies, Raisin Special K, raisin granola, raisin oatmeal or other mix.

2. PANCAKES. After making a disappointing batch of blueberry pancakes (the berries were way too tart), we fished out the berries and substituted raisins. Delicious!

Mixed raisins. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

*Raisins are good nutrition: A 1/4 cup serving has 9% DV of fiber and potassium and 6% DV of iron, no cholesterol; no fat and no added sugar. The USDA ranks raisins as the most economical dried fruit.

3. MUFFINS & DANISH. If you enjoy a raisin bagel, how about raisin toast (from a loaf of raisin bread) or homemade raisin muffins? A cheese danish without raisins is a disappointment. If you buy raisinless baked goods, simply add your own. They affix nicely with the tiniest dab of honey. If it’s a cheese croissant, cut it in half and sprinkle in the raisins (and some sliced almonds, too).

LUNCH

4. CARROT RAISIN SLAW. It’s delicious with sandwiches or cottage cheese and yogurt. Here’s an easy recipe: 4 cups shredded carrots, 1-1/2 cups raisins, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons milk. Combine carrots and raisins in a mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and enough milk to achieve a dressing consistency. Thoroughly coat carrot-raisin mixture. Yields 8 servings.

5. COTTAGE CHEESE & YOGURT. Whether for breakfast, lunch or snacks, add some raisins to your yogurt and cottage cheese. We love an artistic mixture of black raisins and golden raisins (sultanas), and some sliced almonds.

6. SALADS. Raisins are delicious in a mixed green salad, spinach salad or arugula and endive salad; the sweetness plays well against bitter greens. Toss raisins into cole slaw or even a fresh fruit salad; dried fruits add an interesting counterpoint to the fresh ones. Raisins are de rigeur in curried chicken, tuna and egg salads.

7. WRAPS & SANDWICHES. Sprinkle a few raisins into just about any wrap, from ham and cheese to turkey to grilled vegetables. Raisins add sweetness in the way that chutney (which often includes raisins) and cranberry sauce do. Then there are peanut butter and raisin sandwiches, cream cheese and raisins, grilled cheese and raisins and one of our favorites, goat cheese and raisins on a toasted baguette.

Curried roasted cauliflower with raisins.
Photo courtesy Dole. Here’s the recipe.

SNACKS

8. ANTS ON A LOG. This retro snack is as much fun today as it originally was in the 1950s. Celery stalks are filled with peanut butter, and raisins placed atop like a line of ants. Our mother preferred cream cheese to peanut butter.

9. ENERGY FIX, HUNGER FIX. Keep boxes of raisins in your desk drawer, glove compartment, gym bag or locker. They’re yummy alone, with a cup of tea, cinnamon-accented coffee or other drink.

10. RAISIN “S’MORES.” Instead of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows, grill thin slices of baguette with a piece of chocolate bar and some raisins.

11. TRAIL MIX. Long before the term trail mix was coined (in the 1950s), middle class families would keep a candy dish of mixed nuts and raisins on the coffee table. If you had an especially good grandmother, she would toss M&Ms or chocolate chips into the mix when you were visiting.

DINNER

12. BEANS & LENTILS. Stir raisins into bean and lentil dishes. For baked beans, cut the sugar in half and add a half cup of golden raisins (a nicer color contrast with the beans).

13. CALVES LIVER, FISH, CHICKEN PAILLARD. Use the rum raisin sauce in #15 below; cut the sugar in half and substitute wine for the rum.

14. CHILI. Do you know the trick of adding chocolate to chili to bring out new dimensions of flavor? It works with raisins, too.

15. CURRY. Raisins accent any curry dish, or any dish seasoned with cinnamon, ginger or turmeric,

16. HAM OR PORK. You can substitute (or add) raisins for prunes in pork/prune recipes. Or, top ham or pork roasts with a rum raisin sauce: In small saucepan, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup raisins (we like to mix black and golden raisins); bring mixture to boil. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons flour; add slowly to raisin mixture, stirring constantly until thickened. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons rum; stir to blend and remove from heat.

17. MEAT DISHES. Pot roast, heavy casseroles and stews of meat and/or poultry get a lift from 1/4 cup of raisins.

18. RICE & GRAINS. Go Middle Eastern and add raisins to your hot rice dishes or rice salads. Do the same with whole grains: barley, brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur, farro, quinoa, etc.

19. STIR FRY. Along with your protein and garlic, add a sweet touch of raisins.

20. STUFFED CABBAGE. One of our favorite ancestral foods, we recently purchased a prepared dish of stuffed cabbage at Zabar’s in New York City. There was so much sugar in the recipe, we couldn’t eat it until we’d fixed a work-around with vinegar. Zabar’s took the cheaper route with sugar, when naturally sweet raisins were the proper ingredient.

21. STUFFING. A packaged bread stuffing comes alive with some raisins and fresh herbs.

22. VEGETABLES. Add raisins and nuts to bitter greens like chard and kale; definitely try them with Brussels sprouts and bacon.

DESSERT

23. CAKES & QUICK BREADS. Add raisins to carrot cake and zucchini bread. They’re delicious in pound cake; even more so when they’re pre-soaked in rum. We put those rum-soaked raisins into brownies, too.

24. COOKIES. Make classic oatmeal raisin cookies, with or without chocolate chips. Butter cookies and shortbread with raisins are also delicious.

25. PIE. Add to apple or other fruit pie or pecan pie; make a sour cream raisin pie. Other popular combinations include cranberry-raisin, pumpkin-raisin and rhubarb-raisin.

26. PUDDING. Add raisins to bread pudding, custard, rice pudding, tapioca or any flavored pudding (butterscotch, chocolate, pistachio, vanilla, etc.). They work nicely in applesauce, too.

27. RUM RAISIN ICE CREAM. Marinate raisins in rum and sugar for several hours or overnight. Remove the raisins from the liquid and stir into softened vanilla ice cream; return to the freezer to harden. Or use them as a topping on scoops of ice cream, or interspersed in a parfait.

28. STEWED FRUIT. We love to make our grandmother’s stewed fruit compote: seasonal fresh fruits accented with a scattering of raisins.

COCKTAILS & WINE

29. MULLED WINE. Toss raisins into mulled wine, while it’s warming or as a garnish. And supply an espresso spoon or cocktail pick so they can be easily eaten.

30. MARTINI. Garnish a Martini with vermouth-soaked raisins. You can drop them into the glass or serve them skewered.

VISIT LOVEYOURRAISINS.COM FOR HUNDREDS OF TASTY RECIPES, HEALTH & NUTRITION INFORMATION.

RAISIN TRIVIA: California is the raisin capital of the world. Almost all California raisins are grown within a 60-mile radius of Fresno, in California’s sun-drenched San Joaquin Valley.

EARTH MONTH: Choosing Sustainable Sushi

admin — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 20:45:26 +0000

It’s Earth Month, leading up to Earth Day on April 22nd. We try to live a sustainable life, and sushi is our favorite food. So we took note when these tips arrived from Genji Sushi’s corporate chef, Takao Iinuma:

To determine the most sustainable sushi choices, Chef Iinuma advises, it helps to remember four “S” words: small, shellfish, seasonal and silver:

Small fish. Small fish are lower on the food chain, so there are usually more of them. They also don’t live as long, so they replenish their own stocks more quickly. Arctic char (iwana), salmon and striped bass (suzuki) are better choices than tuna and yellowtail.

Shellfish. Mollusks like clams, oysters and scallops actually filter water and make the environment cleaner. Thus, farming them doesn’t carry the environmental impact that other types of aquaculture (farmed fish) can have.

California roll with a yellow Asian spice garnish. Photo courtesy Genji Sushi.

Seasonal fish. In Japan, seasonal foods are celebrated and enjoyed when they are at their peak. Not only does food that is in season taste better, but it naturally controls the supply because the seafood is not removed from its environment at the wrong time. A good way to eat seasonally is to eat locally, since what is being caught in your area is what is in season where you live. Check out what’s in season at SeafoodWatch.org.

Like mackerel? Enjoy lots of it: It’s
sustainable. Photo courtesy Catalina
Offshore Products.

Silver fish. Many silver-skinned fish are also small fish—anchovies and sardines, for example—so they have two things in their favor. Mackerel (saba), Pacific saury (sanma) and Spanish mackerel (sawara) are examples of larger silver-skinned fish that are plentiful, healthy and delicious.

And don’t overlook all the wonderful vegetable sushi, masago and tobiko (smelt roe and flying fish roe). (By the way, “sushi” means vinegared rice, not “raw fish.” So foods other than fish can be made into sushi.)

HOW TO IDENTIFY SUSTAINABLE SUSHI

There are numerous factors that the experts consider when they determine the sustainability of a fish species, such as where the fish lives (and the health of that environment), the supply of wild stocks, how the fish was caught, etc.

The best bet is to buy your fish from a responsible source, and ask questions at the fish market and the sushi bar.

And, start by looking for a rating from a reputable foundation such as the Marine Stewardship Council or the Blue Ocean Institute.

If you haven’t been to a Genji sushi bar, they are located in 158 Whole Foods Market locations in 18 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in the U.K.

FIND ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUSHI IN OUR SUSHI GLOSSARY.