Diets and Recipes - review

Slashfood Ate (8): Best Hot Dogs

Sun, 21 May 2006 14:08:18 +0000

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.

Masa Takayama rates santoku knives

Fri, 19 May 2006 13:02:21 +0000

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

Soda Review: Dr Pepper Berries & Cream

Thu, 11 May 2006 10:01:45 +0000

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.

Fireworks' red and blue popcorn

Mon, 01 May 2006 07:01:45 +0000

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.

WSJ tests butter vs margarine

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 11:13:42 +0000

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.

Strawberry Yogurt O's review

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 09:02:41 +0000

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.

SF Chronicle tastes Bay Area pre-popped corn

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 15:06:54 +0000

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.

A soy cheese review

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:05:47 +0000

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.

Zagat's top 100 hotel restaurants for your iPod

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 18:24:26 +0000

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

It's not delivery its… Slashfood's Ate (8): best and worst frozen pizzas

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 06:56:13 +0000

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

Cook's Illustrated tests egg white substitutes

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:04:17 +0000

Filed under: Magazines , Raves & Reviews , Eggs In this month's issue of Cook's Illustrated , the editorial team took on the challenge of evaluating a bunch of egg white substitutes, all commercially packaged egg whites. Egg whites are low in fat and calories and can often be substituted for whole eggs in recipes and dishes like omelets, though there is the annoyance of separating a whole egg and having to dispose of (waste) the yolk with this method. Sold in individual bottles and hermetically sealed packaging, the pasteurized egg white products sound like they have all the benefits of shelled egg whites and none of the drawbacks - and Cook's Illustrated wanted to see if they would really stand up in performance.

Soda Review: Coca Cola Blak

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 07:01:16 +0000

Filed under: Coffee , Raves & Reviews , New Products , Soda I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about tasting Coca-Cola Blak . After I mentioned its release a few weeks ago, the amount of hype seemed to go through the roof. People loved the idea or people hated the idea; there was no middle ground. I assumed that I would not really like it before I tried it. After all, a drink that was hyped as much as Blak couldn't be good - could it? The thing that I failed to take into consideration is that I love coke and I love coffee. I also really liked Coca Cola Blak.

Bunnymallows, a Peep alternative

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 09:03:10 +0000

Filed under: Snacks , Food Porn , Raves & Reviews , New Products , Sugar If the sugary coating on Peeps is too much for you, the Bunnymallows made by Kraft may be the perfect solution. Smaller and more colorful than their large Jet-Puffed cousins, the Bunnymallows are seasonally shaped into miniature bunnies. They seemed to be lighter and less dense than regular Jet Puffs, but it is possible that, because they are a seasonal item, the package was simply much fresher than the bags of marshmallows I usually encounter in stores. Whatever the reason for their wonderfully light texture, they were delicious.

USA Today tastes tests popular coffees

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 06:56:10 +0000

Filed under: Coffee , The Best ... in All of New York , Raves & Reviews , Newspapers , Coffee shops