A trio of recent USA Character Approved Blog posts, Vermont-made croutons with a cool back story and our favorite hot sauce now actually comes in four flavors. Who knew?
Thomas Edison once said that, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Not one to miss an opportunity, Amanda Hesser wrote the 932-page, 1,400-recipe New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century while working full time for the Times and giving birth to twins. For the herculean six-year project, Hesser scoured through recipes published in the Times since it began covering food in the 1850s and took suggestions from hundreds of Times readers. She then cooked and updated every recipe that made the cut. To read more of the project and what makes the resulting book essential for your kitchen bookshelf, check out my post on the USA Character Approved Blog.
Delicious Mexican heat in four flavors
At last count, there were approximately a bazillion hot sauces out there. We have maybe a half dozen or so on hand at any given time. But the one that always seems to make it from the cupboard onto the table—or into the ingredient mix—is Cholula. It combines piquin and arbol peppers with a blend of spices with a nice vinegary kick and can add a lively touch to chili, soups, omelets and more.
Made in Mexico, this hot sauce with the distinctive wooden cap is more about flavor than punishing heat. I don’t know about you, but we are so over testosterone-driven, fiery hot sauces. You know the ones we mean, the kinds with death, insane, bomb, Satan or ass in the name. Cholula brings respectable heat to the party to liven things up—it’s rated about 3,600 on the Scoville Heat Scale—but it has so much more going for it.
Which is why we were excited to learn of three new (to us) flavors. All three start with the original recipe, then use fresh ingredients to add something extra. Chili Lime’s tangy hint of fresh lime juice, for instance. Chili Garlic adds plenty of fresh, coarse ground garlic. And fresh Chipotle peppers give Cholula Chipotle Flavor Hot Sauce an unmistakable smoky, slightly sweet taste. We only see Original in the stores, but the others are available online. For more information, visit the Cholula website.
Old-fashioned brittle gets an artisanal makeover in Boston
Chocolate has been hogging much of the attention in the small-batch, handcrafted candy arena for too long. Now Fig & Kindle, a self-described “interdisciplinary food and design workshop, run by food photographer/stylist Sarah Goldschmidt and a rotating cast of characters that come from culinary and art/design backgrounds,” is fixing that, with its inventive glass brittles. Combining unusual flavors like walnut and rosemary and Saigon cinnamon with peanuts and wasabi peas, they’re creating treats that look like stained glass and can be enjoyed as candy, sweet/savory snacks or even toppings to liven up dinner. For more about Fig & Kindle’s treats—and a link to its Etsy shop—check out my post on the USA Character Approved Blog.
Croutons and stuffing mixes, pure and simple
With stuffing season upon us, it’s nice to know about some shortcuts that won’t cause guilt. Homemade is always best, except when it isn’t. Read the ingredient list on a package of Olivia’s Croutons and you’ll see what I mean. This is what’s in their Butter & Garlic Croutons: French bread (unbleached wheat flour, water, yeast, salt), butter, certified non-GMO canola oil, garlic, basil, pepper and parsley. No artificial anything, nothing partially hydrogenated. Just real ingredients.
Francie and her husband David (Olivia’s parents) have been making croutons just like this in Vermont since 1991. They started in their home kitchen with the Butter & Garlic flavor, sold in brown bags hand labeled with rubber stamps. Business quickly grew and they moved a number of times to accommodate the growth. In 2006, rather than build a factory, they bought an old farm and converted the 1912 barn into their commercial kitchen. And they began raising their own wheat on the farm, using organic practices.
Now, besides five flavors of their popular croutons—Butter & Garlic, Parmesan Pepper, Multi Grain with Garlic, Vermont Cheddar & Dill and Organic Garlic & Herb—they make stuffing. Well, the toasted bread cubes, Original and Cornbread. There are recipes on the sides of the boxes to help you turn the crunchy cubes into stuffing (or dressing, if you’re reading this in the South). The recipes are as pure and simple as the bread cubes—five extra ingredients, not one of them sounding like something you learned in chemistry class. To find out more about Olivia’s croutons and stuffings, including where to find them and more back story on the farm, visit the Olivia’s Croutons website.
The food truck trend is on a roll
Blame it on our need for instant gratification or street food’s growing street cred, but food trucks are here to stay. And as with any trend that becomes even semi-permanent, food trucks are showing up everywhere and evolving in some exciting directions. Some are going green, like DC’s zero-emission plug-in On The Fly smartkarts shown above. And some unexpected players are taking to the streets, including mainstream food chains. For more about street smart gourmet dining trends, check out this USA Character Approved Blog post.
Oh, aside from you, Hesser is one of my favorites. In fact, did I bring The Cook and the Gardener to your attention, or is that wishful thinking?
Not only did you bring it to my attention, Altadenahiker. I cooked Braised Chicken with Scallion Purée, based on a recipe in that book, and gave you props for the recommendation. And bonus, Amanda Hesser left a comment on the post!