Nibbles

New Ghirardelli LUXE Milk Chocolate

Nibbles

Have you heard? Those lovely chocolatiers, Ghirardelli, have come out with a new line: LUXE.

In clean, white packaging (these bags are paper instead of the traditional foiled-printed plastic) the banner touts what should be a reassuring label, “All Natural,” but what it really makes me wonder is–what wasn’t natural about the regular Ghirardelli we’ve been eating all these years?

In CVS, the other day, I happened upon a display that featured bags of both the LUXE line as well as a variety of classic squares. Unfortunately, of the unfilled variety they only had a dark chocolate (which showed no additives different than the LUXE line’s soy lecithin, a common emulsifier) and the rest were filled with various goos (tasty goos, as goos go, and I don’t make a habit of turning them down when offered). This made direct comparison of milk chocolate to milk chocolate impossible. The filled chocolates (caramel was the one I examined) did show corn syrup and other ingredients that some consider unnatural, but that’s just as likely to be from the filling as the chocolate (separating the components out would have helped).

Another unfortunate fact is that I’ve been unable to find a shred of nutritional data on Ghirardelli’s website, or even a complete ingredient list for each of their products–the individual packages give a mailing address to send off for the information.

So, what’s a girl to do? Luckily I had to go grocery shopping last night so I scouted every Ghirardelli package I could find, searching for the nasty un-naturals. Um, I don’t get it: I looked at dark chocolate squares, milk morsels, semi-sweet morsels and on down the line. The white chocolate baking chips did contain palm kernel oil, for what it’s worth, and the Vanilla Dream squares did have an extra preservative for the vanilla itself. Curious.

But how does the new line taste?

Ghirardelli LUXE Chocolate Samples

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a sample of each of the LUXE Classic Milk, Almond and Hazelnut chocolates. Todd and I gave them a thorough tasting the other night and this is what we thought:

Todd Jenn
Milk -Smooth
-Kind of different flavor compared to Hershey or Dove		 -Creamy
-Rich
-Definitely different, but that’s to be expected
Hazelnut -Nutty flavor
-Chocolate itself tastes different
-Nuts dominate (not necessarily a good thing)		 -Very nutty
-Like a crunchy Nutella
-Chocolate really sticks to your teeth, doesn’t dissolve as quickly
Almond (Todd’s allergic to almonds so Jenn got this one all to herself) -Almond flavor is present (of course) but not overpowering
-Nuts seem to be more finely chopped than the hazelnuts were
-Flavors blend so well!

I’m not sure Todd would choose this version of Ghirardelli over the styles we’re used to but I absolutely loved the Almond flavor, enough to buy a bag at the store. At approximately $0.53 a piece, it’s an indulgence worthy of the name, but perhaps that’s as it should be.

Back to that whole ‘All Natural’ thing for a moment. If (as far as I can find) the current Ghirardelli chocolates are not all that un-natural, what’s the point of this new line? Is it lacking those fillings that require all the preservatives and syrups and so forth? Is there a difference in the chocolate itself? Maybe, there could be a formulation change but if ‘All Natural’ is what they’re selling, this sounds like an advertising gimmic and not a new, innovative product line.

What still concerns me is the lack of nutritional data and ingredient lists on the website. Sure, I found most of what I needed in the store but only because I was already planning on going–and it was hardly their entire product line. I shouldn’t have to send away for this data or do more than a few mouse-clicks on their site to find the information I required to fully evaluate this product.

As far as I can see, they have nothing to hide but the omission makes me suspicious. I would encourage (as much as one, lone blogger can) a company with as rich a history as Ghirardelli has, to consider updating their site to tell the consumer exactly what she needs to know.

You want your customers to think how great your product is, right? Not wondering what you’re not telling them.

~~~oOo~~~

As stated, I was provided 3 pieces of chocolate to sample and review. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own except where expressly noted (seriously, do you think they would pay me to say what I just did?).

When a Cup is Not a Cup

Nibbles

Or, rather, a tale of unequal cups.

As I mentioned earlier, the Indian Cooking Challenge recipes were even more of a challenge because the recipes are coming from the UK or India, where British Imperial units aren’t exactly the same as US Customary, even if they do carry the same names. For those first few recipes, logic was telling me that certain quantities just weren’t going to do the trick and I would have to adjust until things looked right.

The ‘duh’ moment came when I was flipping through Polly Clingerman’s The Kitchen Companion (great book, out of print but if you find a used copy for under $30 snap it up!) and found this short list of common differences. If you do any sort of across-the-pond cooking or even historical recreation, these conversions might help things come out a bit more correct the next time you’re in the kitchen.

British US
Teaspoon 1 1/2 teaspoons
Dessertspoon 1 tablespoon
Measuring tablespoon 1 1/2 tablespoon
Coffee cup (demitasse) 1/3 cup
Gill 2/3 cup
Teacup 3/4 cup
Cup or breakfast cup 1 1/4 cups or

10 fl ounces
Pint 20 fl ounces

The most common substitution I’ve had to make were the cup conversions and the teaspoons. Still, when you’re dealing with small measurements and not everything is different by the same proportion, little differences can make a big impact on the results.

Or, when in doubt, use metric!

ICC: Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

Nibbles

It’s that time again–time for us to go tripping over ourselves in the pursuit of success in the Indian Cooking Challenge! And it’s finally something I recognize… sorta.

Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

When we go out to our favorite Indian restaurant we generally order the sampler appetizer to split, so we’ve had pakoras before–several versions of them, too. Granted, they usually come without the Kadi (yogurt sauce) and, at leas the onion variety, resemble more of a hush puppy, but at least we knew what we were shooting for this time around.

My version of the recipe below is based upon the recipe provided by Simran of Bombay Foodie, though the main changes are adjustments required to the measurements. (US cups and British/Imperial cups are NOT the same thing–only took me  a few rounds to remember that little fact!)

Ingredients
Pakoras:

1 medium Onion, sliced lengthwise
5/8 c Besan/Gram Flour
2 t Salt

 3/4 tsp Chili Powder
1/3-1/2 c Water
Oil for deep frying
Kadi:

1 1/2 c Plain Yogurt
1/3 (heaping) cups Besan/Gram Flour
3-4 cups Water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 1/2 tsp Ajwain (Carom or Oregano) Seeds

 1 1/2 tsp Methi (Fenugreek)
1 large Onion, diced
1 pinch Turmeric
3/4 tsp Chili Powder
Salt to taste
3/4 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 1/2 tsp Amchur (Dried Mango) powder
Slicing onions lengthwise The first step is to slice the onions lengthwise.

Now, I don’t know about your onions, by my onions are usually pretty round so slicing them lengthwise is a neat trick. Based on that whole concentric circles thing, I’m betting you could slice them diagonally and still be fine.

Luckily I did have one onion that was more oval than round. Though I still think lengthwise is anyone’s guess.
Batter Ingredients Start heating your frying oil while you mix up the batter. I set my electric fryer to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and that seems to work well for this sort of light item.

Combine the dry ingredients (besan, salt and chili powder) and mix together, well, before stirring in the water.

Go a little at a time with the water–you want something that’s thinner than paste but thicker than soup–something that will stick to the onion strips!
Battering up the Onion slices As always, depending on how wet your flour is (or how much humidity you’ve got) you may need more or less flour for your batter.

My batter was a little on the thin side, in hindsight–it’s just something you have to get a feel for, I suppose!

Toss your onion slices into the batter and give them several good turns until coated. If you’re still waiting for your oil to come to temperature, they can hang out in the bowl while you prepare the ingredients for the sauce.
Onion Pakoras Fry the battered onions until crispy, then drain on paper towels while you make the sauce.

Since I’m used to these being similar to fritters, I dropped the onion strips into the oil in small clumps. They cook fast, so they will stick together but they’ll also stick to the bundles you drop in nearby. No worries, though: you can always do some separating after they cool off a little bit.

If you stop right here and eat all the onions up, I wouldn’t blame you! I’m impressed that there were enough left for the sauce as Todd and I kept stealing tastes. This is now my official onion-ring recipe and, hey, it’s gluten free!
Kadi paste For the sauce (Kadi), combine the yogurt and besan into a paste, then whisk in water for a very thin batter.

Now, the recipe suggests that what makes this Punjabi is the thick sauce that the pakora are served in, and that a thin, watery sauce is actually a hallmark of Gujarti style dish.

With that in mind, 2 cups seems like more than enough to get a “very thin batter” but, take it from me, you want at least 3 cups of water in there.
Spices and a hot pan Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (larger than I have here, hint!) and add the mustard, cumin, carom and methi seeds.

The instructions said to let “sputter” for a few seconds.

Folks, if you’ve got one of those splatter screens handy I’d use it at this point. Those little seeds (I’m looking at you, mustard) did NOT like being in the heated oil and took their revenge out on me like popcorn. But without the fluffy white puffs.

It was duck-and-cover mode for those few seconds.
Adding the onions to the spices Seriously, though, heating the spices does bring out the flavors, so it’s worth it–just be prepared.

Next, add in the diced onion (cooling down the pan a bit in the process) and cook until nice and golden brown.

Once golden add in the turmeric, salt and chili powder, give it a good stir before adding the besan and yogurt mixture.

This is when I realized that 2 cups of water wasn’t enough. Once in contact with the heat it immediately firmed up and I ended up whisking in another cup of water, slowly. This was also when I discovered the pan I’d chosen wasn’t really big enough.
The finishing spices--amchur and garam masala Messes were made. It’s not the end of the world.

Let this simmer for 30 minutes and don’t skimp on the time! The seeds need time to soften and impart their savory goodness. Don’t believe me? Taste the mixture after 5 minutes (but tread carefully so an not to bread a tooth on a fenugreek seed) and then after 30–exactly!

Finish the sauce by stirring in the amchur and garam masala powders.
Adding the pakoras Now stir in the reserved pakoras (or what’s left of them–seriously, those onions were amazing!) and cook just long enough to heat them through.

Serve with rice, naan or whatever else you like. It was Todd’s night to cook so we had this as an additional side dish with kebabs that night.

The next day we made sandwiches out of the leftovers in naan with a little drizzle of olive oil and some kosher salt on top. It makes for an amazing lunch.

The test.

So, we’d had pakoras before, but not the sauce. While shopping for ingredients we came upon a heat-and-eat packaged version of Punjabi Kadi Pakoras and thought it would be interesting to try them side by side to see how mine compared.

Purchased and Homemade Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

Purchased and Homemade Punjabi Kadi Pakoras

Right off we could see that the sauce in the packaged dish was deeper-colored and thinner. The purchased pakoras were small, tight dumplings and the fact that they contained spinach and quite a lot of heat were not the only differences. They had a peculiar texture that rang a distant bell. It took several small bites before I figured out what they reminded me of: the meatballs in canned Chef Boyardee Spaghetti. It was the mealy texture that just didn’t suit our palates, and I was very glad that no other pakora I’d ever had had tasted like that!

The only thing I would change about this recipe, if I were to make this Kadi again, would be to leave out the ajwain (oregano) seeds. As I opened each of the spice packets we’d picked up that afternoon I gave each a good sniff. What we discovered was the fenugreek was a major source of that comfort feeling we get from the curries that make us melt into our chairs. And that ajwain has a somewhat antiseptic smell that I did not like. It was less prevalent in the finished sauce but I could still detect it and I think the dish (for me) would be better served without it in the future.

Can’t wait to see what comes up to try next month!

Update: The rest of this month’s participants can be found at the Link-Up over on Spice Your Life.

Country-Fried Procedural

Nibbles

Chances are you’ve heard of chicken-fried steak. You may have even heard of it’s cousin, chicken-friend chicken. Or maybe you know the thin, breaded and pan-friend delicacy as country-fried.

Chicken- or Country-Fried Chicken with Pepper Gravy, on Buttermilk Biscuits, with Turnip "fries"

Chicken-Fried Chicken with Pepper Gravy, on Buttermilk Biscuits, with Turnip "Fries"

It’s all the same thing, really, and if you’ve ever wanted to make your own here’s the good news: you don’t need a recipe. It’s more a technique than an absolute science.

The Meat

You want it thin. End of story.

Except it’s never that simple–you probably want to know why you want it thin. There are a two reasons:

  • Thin meat cooks quickly, meaning the coating won’t burn before the center of the meat is cooked.
  • Traditionally this is done with tougher cuts of beef and pounding it thin breaks up a bunch of those tough muscle fibers, meaning you can eat it without your jaw getting tired.

You can use a mallet or one of those gadgets with all the sharp needles and make a pincushion out of the protein, but I like to place whatever I’m smashing between two sheets of wax paper (the deli-style pop-up packs are great for this) and go to town with my stainless steel omelet pan.

1/4-inch is your goal–thinner and it’ll start to fall apart on you, thicker and you’ll burn the breading.

The Breading

Speaking of which, there are 2 very important parts when it comes to a proper chicken-fried breading:

  • 3-step breading
  • let it stand 10-15 minutes before frying

The 3-step bread goes dry-wet-dry. The first dredge in seasoned flour sticks because of the natural moisture in the meat. This is enough if you’re just going to sear or brown something, but if you want a good coating, you need a little more.

Dry isn’t going to stick to dry, so you have to dip it into something wet in between, For this, 2 eggs & a couple tablespoons water whisked together does the trick. Buttermilk is not a bad way to go, but I save that for regular fried chicken.

Regular, plain, all-purpose flour is what you’ll see referenced most often, and the seasoning is up to you but you do want to season it, otherwise your chicken or steak is going to be bland. After a few months participating in the Indian Cooking Challenge, I’ve become quite enamored of the properties of gram flour (aka besan)–it’s got a great flavor, is high in protein and low in carbs (compared to wheat flour) and makes a great coating and batter.

Using half gram flour and half all purpose, I seasoned my flour with salt, pepper, dried parsley, garlic powder and a little chili powder. Make sure you’re using dried herbs and powdered spices–they disperse through the flours evenly and stand a better chance of making contact with the food and your palate.

The resting times allows the coating to dry out a little and grab hold of the meat. If you were to immediately put it into the hot oil the coating would fall off, you’d have bare spots and the particles left in your flour would burn, smoke and ruin the pan drippings you’ll need for the gravy, later.

The Frying

Pick the oil of your choice (I went with olive oil–not the usual for cooks down here in the South, but I like my comfort food slightly healthier where I can make it) and pour about a quarter of an inch in your pan, give or take a little. We’re not deep-frying, here, folks, you just need enough to convey that heat up into and through the breading and meat.

The actual cooking should take no more than a few minutes on each side. Flip it once, let it cook through the second side, then set it on a spare plate while you cook the rest, covered and stored in a warm oven if your’s isn’t otherwise occupied (mine was–buttermilk biscuits and turnip “fries”–so I popped a dome on it and set it in the microwave just to keep the heat in one small space).

Portion control folks get all flustered when they see an entree of country-fried steak. It looks huge. It takes up most of a good-sized plate. But most of the time it’s a standard 3 oz piece of meat. Pounded to within a quarter-inch of it’s life, sure, but it’s still 3 oz. At least our chicken breasts were, and they still covered some serious real estate in the pan.

The Gravy

Yes, you can eat chicken-fried chicken without the sawmill gravy but why would you?

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons or so of the fat left in your pan and whisk in 1/4- to 1/2-cup of flour to make a paste. One thing I’ve learned making olive-oil roux is that it sometimes takes a bit more flour than the 50/50 ratio you need with butter and other animal fats, so add it in until it looks right.

The more flour you add, the more milk or cream you’re going to need. I started off with 1 cup heavy cream (because we had it in the house) and 1 cup fat free milk (our usual supply–it balances). This worked well to form a stiff sauce but I knew it was going to need to simmer and I still wanted it spoonable by the end, so ended up adding, I think, a cup more milk. You can also use stock for part or all of the liquid, it just won’t be the creamy white gravy that’s the usual.

Season with salt and LOTS of freshly ground black pepper. Now, from the frying you’re going to have some great flavor already, but it’s still going to need salt. Pepper, on the other hand, is what makes this gravy sing so grind a little, stir, taste and repeat until it tastes like what you remember. Depending on the grind of your pepper and the age of your peppercorns it could take a little or a lot. Give it what it needs.

The Verdict

The gram flour was a total success: the color on the chicken was vibrant instead of drab, the coating was thick and crunchy without being tough and the flavor was enhanced by the new ingredient. I think I could go as far as 75/25 next time and still come out with a fabulous country-fried chicken. I would have tried it in the gravy, too, but the color difference (besan is a light yellow that deepens when wet) might have been too much for me. We had leftovers the next day and the breading had not gotten the least bit gummy nor did it fall off–I attribute this to the gram flour, as well.

In Search of Comfort & Good Grilled Cheese

Nibbles

(I have a feeling that I’ve written about this sort of thing before…)

Last week was a little rough around the edges: new schedules, unfortunate news, changing weather and a lot of things up in the air. When the going gets rough, the rough start craving foods that make them feel safe, warm and cuddled.

Remember, everything is fine in moderation: even comfort food.

So when it was my turn to grocery shop this weekend I loaded my list with comforting food that fit the change in the weather and were sure to sooth. Dishes including pot roast with potatoes and carrots, sausage with peppers and onions, chicken and broccoli roulade and stuffed meat load with glazed carrots will grace our table this week and  get us through the bumps in the road.

But to start things off, Sunday was soup and sandwich night.

I pulled out a container of the Borscht I’d made too much of while testing the recipe for Raiding Party and left it to defrost and simmer on the stove while I prepped the sandwiches. (This borscht, by the way, is based on a medieval Russian sour soup recipe and features 3 types of meat, lots of vegetables and a wine broth–it’s very hearty!) I can’t fully explain why (other than the general craving for comfort foods), but I’d been wanting a good grilled cheese sandwich for a couple of weeks.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are fairly simple, right? Butter both sides of two pieces of bread, place cheese between and cook until golden brown and melty.  Still, sometimes the simplest things can use a few tips…

Grilled Cheese Confidential

  • Make things easy on yourself, soften your butter first. Or, if you prefer, use a butter spread (we like Brummel & Brown yogurt spread). Point being, if you’re fighting with the bread there could be holes and holes mean the cheesy goodness can spill out (the horror!). Just 20 seconds in the microwave can soften a stick of unsalted butter, it’s worth the effort.
  • Speaking of bread, use a nice bakery bread. If you don’t want to bake your own, that’s fine, but some nice Italian sandwich, potato or honey wheat can really bring the sandwich up a bit, not to mention handle a wider variety of cheeses.
  • White bread and American singles might be what we were raised on, but there’s a lot of cheese out there deserving of the Welsh Rarebit treatment. Choose a cheese that melts well and has a good flavor. Stouter breads (such as rye or pumpernickel) can stand up to a good sharp cheddar or even a blue cheese while Havarti melds almost seamlessly with Italian or French breads (that’s what we had Sunday–delicious!).
  • If you like grilled cheese but think it might need just a little something extra, spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on the inside of one of the buttered slices. You don’t need much, just a little will impart a tang that’s better than salting your sandwich.
  • Keep the heat low and slow to allow the cheese to melt as the outside of the bread turns golden. Too high a heat will scorch those butter solids and turn your toast black before the cheese has had a chance to get nice and gooey! I like to use our electric griddle set at 200F-250F since it’s much easier to control the temperature plus you get a larger surface than the usual frying pan.
  • Finally, if you’re prone to include anything else in your sandwich (crispy bacon, deli ham or tomatoes), keep a half-inch border of cheese around any inclusions so that the edges will seal and your sandwich won’t go to pieces in your hand when you try to eat it.

How do you like your grilled cheese?