Bite of the Best » Past Bites

Annie Chun’s Pork & Ginger Mini Wontons

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:59:50 +0000

Bonnie: Annie Chun’s recently introduced frozen mini wontons are something that I can rave about. I’m as surprised as you that I’m recommending a convenience food. But one look at the ingredient list of these small, round dumplings with a savory pork and ginger filling assured me that these contain the same ingredients I’d use if I were making them myself: wonton wrappers filled with...

Bryan: If you haven’t heard of them before, Annie Chun’s is a San Rafael, Calif.-based company that offers a wide selection of shelf-stable pan-Asian foods. I’ve tried a number of its products before and have always been wowed by the strong flavors. It’s a great thing, as I’ve come to rarely expect...

Eric: I love Asian food – or more specifically, I love American-Asian food (as well as European-Asian food). I enjoy eating Asian-inspired cuisine so much that I have my very own pair of chopsticks, and an endless supply of Asian cooking sauces and a wok that’s probably been around since...

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Melissa’s Steamed Blackeyed Peas

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:59:08 +0000

Bonnie: My love for beans grew when I penned a cookbook by that name with my friend and co-author Joanne Lamb Hayes. We created recipes using beans in every possible way — including white bean ice milk! And during that time, I had bean-tasting parties to sample the foods that I was testing. I needed testers as oddly at that time — in the early ’90s — neither Bryan nor Eric ate beans.

Blackeyed peas are a medium, kidney-shaped, off-white bean with a purplish-black color in its keel. They have...

Bryan: I often do a bit of background research on the food products we review on Bite of the Best. I am a foodie at heart, intrigued by the nutritional value of different foods, their cultural significance, history, etc. I just find that a better understanding of a food at its core gives me a greater appreciation for the unique variations and presentations I get to sample… whether it’s foie gras, Kobe beef, a beet, or...

Eric: It’s ironic, but the diet of a hospitality worker (i.e. restaurant employee, hotel clerk, banquet server, etc) is not comparable to those of the people they are “serving.” The combination of long hours and short breaks leaves little time for a healthy diet; sandwiches, coffee and the occasional piece of fruit seem to be the standard staples, as well as the cause of any malnutrition.

I like to...

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Corazonas Whole Grain Squeeze of Lime Tortilla Chip

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:59:55 +0000

Bonnie: With February being American Heart Month, we decided to feature these lime-flavored Corazonas Whole Grain Tortilla Chips that actually are a heart-healthy snack. Seriously.

These chips are fortified with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols and contain 18 grams (or more than one of the three recommended daily servings) of whole grains. Corazon, by the way, is the Spanish word for heart. Although Corazonas has many...

Bryan: To be honest, I’m not really a big fan of the “hint of lime” craze currently sweeping its way through a number of different supermarket products. It seems that everything from beer to cookies is getting some sort of dose of lime flavor, and most of the time, at least to me, the flavor bears very little resemblance to anything actually lime.

That being said, you can imagine I was not overly excited to find we were testing Corazonas ...

Eric: I nervously taste-tested these chips, accompanied by a spicy mango salsa, at our latest Super Bowl party. I write “nervously” because I, like my brother, am not a fan of the “hint of lime” craze. Ever since Diet Coke with Lime made its debut in 2004, every supermarket product vying for a spot in the Hispanic (Latin America/Caribbean) consumers’ cupboard has attempted to integrate the taste of lime. Not many have successfully...

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These chips are now available in the Bite of the Best shop.

GoodyTwos Toffee

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:59:05 +0000

Bonnie: My holiday gift from Robin Miller — of Food Network’s Quick Fix Meals and my client when I don my talent agent hat — was a box overflowing with a plethora of her favorite local Phoenix-area foods.There were lots of goodies including spicy nuts, hot sauces, honey, olive oil, Parmesan crackers, jellies, mustard, tomatillo salsa and small bags of GoodyTwos Nutty-Twist, Traditional and Double-Crossed fresh toffee.

The toffee was the easiest to sample, so I reached into....

Bryan: GoodyTwos Toffee Company. “Who?” I asked. “They’re a mother/daughter team based out of Arizona,” Bonnie said. “It’s very small-batch stuff. They’re a specialty producer, and I think we should try them out. Just let me know what you think.”

I definitely let her know what I thought — and quickly. I got the toffees in the mail and was in my email only minutes later. “These are...

Eric: My brother already has boasted about these delicious (and I repeat, delicious) pieces of toffee, and I would be doing the same if it were not redundant.

I’ve never been a fan of toffee — it usually sticks to my teeth or has this chewy quality that leaves me unsatisfied — but GoodyTwos Toffee was almost like a new ...

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For the month of February, Stacey — the daughter in the mother-daughter duo behind GoodyTwos — is offering Bite of the Best visitors a 15% discount on all orders. Shipping, BTW, is $10.95 for up to 2 pounds to anywhere in the US.

Mary’s Gone Crackers Original

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:59:43 +0000

Bonnie: “What are those?” asked a guest in my home when I put out a bowl of Mary’s Gone Crackers to accompany my cheese and hummus nibble platter. Obviously from her tone, she thought the thin, seeded crackers looked odd.

It took but one bite to turn her into the fan that I am.

Mary’s are thin, crisp and nutty...

Bryan: Mary Waldner originally started going crackers in 1994, when she made the unfortunate discovery that both she and her son had a gluten allergy. Gluten allergies are actually more common than you might think, with a whole host of foods causing problems for sufferers. The dietary difficulties are caused by a...

Eric: Mary’s crackers are not just crackers, they’re an experience. Sure, they cater to those with celiac disease with a wheat-free, gluten-free, organic mixture, but as a “mere” cracker, they’re a powerhouse of rich, nutty flavor. The crunchiness is unsurpassed, and the...

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Just BARE Chicken

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:01:51 +0000

Bonnie: I like everything about this new Just BARE Chicken from Gold’n Plump Poultry, a family-owned company.

Its chickens are raised humanely, vegetable-fed, contain no antibiotics or hormones and come in easy-open, clear, recyclable plastic trays, allowing you to see what you’re purchasing; the whole chicken is in see-through plastic. The company is also transparent about its chicken sourcing. Next to the manufacturer’s freshness-date code on each package, there is also

Bryan: Just BARE Chicken. Could there be a more simple or straightforward product name? It’s a pure concept; Just BARE chicken is simply chicken. That might seem overly simplistic, but in a world where even our bottled waters have additives, that’s unique!

Just BARE Chicken has no added hormones or antibiotics. All of the chickens raised for Just BARE Chicken come from family-run farms, with each package of chicken coming with a three-

Eric: What a concept – take one chicken, add fresh drinking water, all-you-can-eat natural locally sourced feed and a loving farmer. Sound surreal? What’s amazing is that this concept doesn’t only exist – but it goes the distance in incorporating a sustainable mentality, from 100% recycled packaging to the use of bakery and brewery “leftovers” as part of...

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McCormick Black Peppercorn and Sea Salt Grinders

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:01:13 +0000

Bonnie: What a difference a few grindings make!

Seriously. Freshly ground pepper provides so much more of an intense, bold flavor punch to food than does the preground regular. Same with freshly ground sea salt. To me, it’s like the fresh-taste contrast between freshly squeezed vs. pasteurized...

Bryan: Properly seasoning your food is an art. You will notice that many recipes call for you to “salt and pepper to taste.” What does that mean, I always thought? To taste? To taste what? Well the answer is, to taste good. Bringing ingredients together to create a dish is great, but if you forget to salt, or even worse, over...

Eric: How do you explain the obvious? It’s always been a trial for me to do so, having always being under the impression that what is of value and wisdom to one man can seem nonsense to another. McCormick salt and pepper grinders are the obvious, and I implore you to heed our advice in...

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Campbell’s Select Harvest Zesty Tomato Bisque Soup

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:01:22 +0000

Bonnie: Growing up, tomato soup always made me feel better when sick, and is one of my comfort foods — especially on a cold winter’s day. This new chunky Tomato Bisque with its zesty flavor is no exception.

This soup is part of Campbell’s campaign to reduce sodium. In fact, Campbell’s reformulated its entire Select Harvest line of soups to give them a better nutritional profile. The line is now 100 percent all natural, defined by the...

Bryan: To Americans, the word Campbell’s is just about synonymous with the word soup. When you have such dominant brand recognition, what can you really do to grab attention? Well, you can continue to improve — and that’s just what Campbell’s has done. Over the past few years, Campbell’s has launched one of its most comprehensively...

Eric: Soup is synonymous with winter, and nothing (aside from a homemade chicken soup) can compare to the taste of a hearty tomato soup on a cold winter’s day. Campbell’s has stepped up the game on its newest line of 100% all-natural mmm, mmm good Select Harvest soups, and it shows with the flavor.

I was reluctant to try the new line from Campbell’s, as in the...

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Jif Natural Peanut Butter Spread

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:01:34 +0000

Bonnie: Jif is now offering Natural Peanut Butter Spread containing only five ingredients, half the sodium of regular peanut butter and three grams of saturated fat.

This new, natural product cannot be called “peanut butter” because it does not...

Bryan: You’re probably asking yourself right now: “Why wouldn’t I want to eat the ‘natural’ variety of Jif? Why wouldn’t I want to eat the ‘natural’ variety of anything?” And then the memory comes rushing back of your childhood peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the big glass of milk accompanying it and everything being...

Eric: As a peanut butter aficionado, Jif Natural reminds me of the freshly ground peanut butter I used to get from the local health food store when I was younger. I would always look forward to pulling the lever on the machine (with the giant smiling peanut), watching the heaping pile of peanuts begin to disappear only to ...

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Happy Holidays from the BOTB Team

Bonnie from BiteoftheBest.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:41:55 +0000

Don’t forget to enter our tagline contest to win a A KitchenAid Artisan® Series Stand Mixer (model KSM150PSER) valued at $349.99. (KITCHENAID and the mixer shape are registered trademarks of KitchenAid, U.S.A) Click here to enter.

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