Filed under: Raves & Reviews , Lists , Slashfood Ate , Comfort Food What is the best hot dog? We're not talking about the best places to get a hot dog, because not everyone is going to travel around the country to find a great one. Sometimes, you only want to travel as far as your local market. Not a problem - you can find some great hot dogs there! Just as with the frozen pizza review , these are rated on a scale of 1-10. Since all the brands seem to be popular, there are not "worst" picks on this list because even the mild tasting Ball Parks have appeal. In general, when choosing dogs, you wil generally be better off paying for an all-beef dog in terms of quality and flavor. Just remember one thing: don't boil your dogs. You'll get a much better flavor and texture through grilling, frying, broiling or even toasting  them.

Filed under: Magazines , Raves & Reviews , Stores & Shopping , Food Gadgets New York Magazine recently had chef Masayoshi "Masa" Takayama review 10 santoku knives. Takayama is the namesake of the much talked about, high-dollar sushi restaurant Masa in New York City. It follows that he'd be able to give some opinions on Japanese-style chef's knives. At the top of the list was the Shun Classic 6.5" knife (right), which NYM says retails for around $95. At the bottom was the Rachel Ray Füri Coppertail 7", for around $70. (It's worth mentioned that Shun has a line of knives endorsed by Alton Brown.) In between were offerings from J.A. Henkels, Global, OXO and Wüstoff, among others. Masa tested the knives without sharpening them, using them to chop onions, boneless chicken and parsley. He then tested them as he tests his own knives, by seeing how well they cut through a sheet of parchment paper. [Via Saute Wednesday ] Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Raves & Reviews , New Products , Soda I know that it's been a while since our original post about its release , but I finally got to try a can of Dr. Pepper Berries & Cream. Actually, I have to admit that it was the diet version, and not the regular. No matter. The soda really exceeded my expectations. I thought that it would be overly sweet, perhaps a bit cough-syrupy, but the soda was perfectly sweetened and the berry flavor wasn't overwhelming. You can definitely tell that the flavor is raspberry, though, which was a nice change from all the vanilla/cherry vanilla/ black cherry vanilla sodas going around.

Filed under: Snacks , Food Porn , Grains , Pop Food , Microwaving , Raves & Reviews A lot of that popcorn   I have eaten in my life has come from microwave bags, and the rest has come from popping corn the old fashioned way: on the stove. To my knowledge, most of the popcorn has been of the hard, yellow-kernel variety. I now think that I was missing out.

Filed under: Dairy , Baking , Raves & Reviews , Newspapers , Food Quest Some people have to avoid butter in their diets and to the die-hard butter fans, this seems like a sad thing. There are many valid reasons to do this, though, such as a doctor's orders to reduce cholesterol intake. There are also some people who simply prefer the taste of margarine, but though it might make an acceptable substitute on toast, margarine can't really compare to butter in baked goods - particularly in a butter cookie. Or can it? The Wall Street Journal baked up a few batches to find out.

Filed under: Breakfast , Grains , Fruit , Raves & Reviews , New Products In the market, sometimes you win and sometime you lose when you are picking out a new product to try. The Strawberry Yogurt O's from Trader Joe's, unfortunately, fall into that later category. I am a big fan of their other O's, both the plain and the honey-nut. They are light and flavorful and the honey variety has a fantastic honey taste. These, on the other hand, are small and dense, with little to remind the eater of the delicious taste of the other O's cereals. Instead of tasting vaguely oaty, they taste like whole wheat flour.

Filed under: Snacks , West Coast , Grains , Raves & Reviews , Newspapers The San Francisco Chronicle did a taste test of 9 store brands of prepopped, bagged popcorn that they found around the Bay Area. While microwave popcorn doesn't really take that long to make, the bagged stuff offers even more convenience and instant gratification. Not to mention the fact that opening a bag of it will not leave your kitchen smelling like popcorn for the next 24 hours. The Chronicle's criteria? They looked for flavor and appearance, but the most important quality for the popcorn to have was crunch. If it wasn't crispy, it wasn't worth eating, and not all the brands stacked up. Their top two picks were Whole Foods 365 Organic and O Organics, which is the Safeway store brand. Following the top brands were Erin's (from Andronico's market), Bearitos Lite (from Rainbow) and Trader Joe's. The other four finishers? Let's just say that if the taste tester didn't want them, neither do you.

Filed under: Food Porn , Vegetarian , Cheese , Raves & Reviews , Light Food I have my suspicions when it comes to cheese substitutes or alternatives. Cheese is a dairy product, through and through, and I don't think that making a comparison to "real" cheese with any alternative "cheese" is really fair. A non-dairy "cheese" should be evaluated on its own merits of flavor and texture, not as though it were cheese, but as though it is similar to cheese.

Filed under: Newspapers , Lists , America The folks at Zagat recently compiled a list of the top 100 hotel restaurants in America for an article in USA TODAY. Ratings were based on food quality, décor and service. The French Room in The Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas, made the top of the list, which is available here . The list, complete with reviews, addresses and phone numbers, is also available for download as a notes file for your iPod. I went ahead and loaded it onto my iPod and, indeed, I was able to browse the list with my little scroll wheel. I'm not sure why this list needs to be on anyone's iPod, but nevertheless, it's available. Of the 100 restaurants listed, 20 are in California and 13 are in Massachusetts. At number three on the list is The Dining Room at Little Palm Island Resort (right), a luxury resort in the Florida Keys that can only be reached by boat. More complete Zagat guides are also available for other mobile devices like PDAs and cell phones. Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Dinner , Snacks , Grains , Dairy , Baking , Raves & Reviews , Lists , Food Quest , Slashfood Ate , Comfort Food , Meat