Editor's Choice: Braswell's

As the newest editor here at Fancy Food, it probably goes without saying that I consider myself something of a foodie. Or an indiscriminate eater, in any case. Maybe it was the years I spent devouring anything deep-fried that came out of my mother’s kitchen, or the fact that I lived in Florida during the first half of my childhood, but Southern food will always stake claim on a piece of my heart. Grits, pecan pie, anything smothered in gravy — I love it all, which is why I was delighted to try Braswell’s — a Georgia-based condiment company — as my first Editor’s Choice.

The company's all-natural line of salad dressings come in perfectly Southern flavors, such as Vidalia Onion & Summer Tomato and Peach Vanilla. The slim, attractive bottles have one especially brilliant feature: They’re reusable. The smart folks over at Braswell’s incorporated a durable cap that snaps easily back into place, and each carafe holds nine ounces of product. Braswell’s even offers Carafe Companions, small packets of dry dressing mix for refilling empty bottles.

But onto the taste: Unable to choose between the Vidalia Onion & Peppercorn and the Raspberry Vinaigrette, I divided my lunch in half and drizzled the dressings over leafy greens, sliced chicken breast, thinly sliced apples, raisins, toasted walnuts and lots of crumbled bleu cheese. The Vidalia Onion dressing had the perfect amount of savory to accompany the sweetness of the salad, and I found myself wondering what other uses I could glean from this dressing. A marinade for chicken or fish, perhaps? Or mixed into a potato salad for a little extra bite? I hope to exhaust all the options.

The tangy sweetness of the Raspberry Vinaigrette paired well with the crunchy walnuts and sliced chicken breast. Unlike more subtle vinaigrettes, the tart raspberry flavor was undeniable. My thoughts soon drifted to bite-sized toasts smeared with creamy Brie, topped with a dollop of this sweet raspberry condiment.

Whether you dream up something more imaginative or stick to a well-crafted salad, these Braswell’s dressings are a great tool to add to your culinary arsenal — or simply the fridge.

—Melody

Editor's Choice: St. Lucia Bread Company

They say that bread is the staff of life. It’s certainly been true in my family where I grew up appreciating a great slice or two of bread. So I was a happy camper when several loaves of bread arrived at the office a few months back. The bread from the St. Lucia Bread Company (www.stluciabread.com) has all natural ingredients with no preservatives and they recommend keeping it in the freezer. You take it out two hours before you serve it.

I recently tried the Berry Blueberry Bread with Walnuts. The first thing you notice as you open the bag is the great scent. The bread has a full rich taste. The blueberries are just sweet enough and accented nicely with the crunch of the walnuts — a great combination. I first tried the bread along side some soup. Then again with some peanut butter spread on it. The third tasting, open face with a slice of baked ham, was my favorite. It was a good combination of the salty and sweet tastes. The bread would, of course, be great with a cup of tea. Or I could see it served with some cheeses.

The bread comes in a variety of flavors including: Apple Cinnamon Nut Bread, Pear Bread with Walnuts, Banana Nut Bread and others. The company is based in Texas and the breads come in a commemorative Texas Flag Tin that is reusable. This also makes them great gifts.

-Barbara

The Pot and How to Use It

This was a fascinating article. Perhaps I'm biased, as Roger Ebert is somewhat of a Chicago hero. Regardless, it's definitely a testament to the fact that food experiences are inevitably tied to memories and feelings. Would love to flip through this cookbook, if only for Ebert's witty words, enviable sense of humor and clear passion for food.

-Ashley

Editor's Choice: Equal Exchange

I’m a big proponent of fairly traded goods. I appreciate companies that recognize their power to make a difference in the world through their products and their contributions. When I received samples from Equal Exchange, a company that creates fair-trade chocolate, I was blown away — not only by the decadence of their chocolate bars, but also by their impressive marketing materials that delve into their strong support for cacao farmers.

Equal Exchange’s farmers belong to co-ops, which empowers them and allow them to be actively involved in business and make decisions about projects that will improve their communities. The company makes their chocolate products with cacao supplied from these farmers, located in the Dominican Republic, Peru and Panama, as well as sugar from co-ops in Costa Rica and Paraguay and vanilla from a farmer association in Madagascar. All ingredients are organic and fairly traded, and the bars contain to additives or artificial flavorings.

Through their partnerships with these local farmers, Equal Exchange has helped impoverished communities make improvements, such as installing wells for drinking water. The company also works toward eradicating child labor in the chocolate industry. (Visit www.equalexchange.coop/child-labor-in-the-cocoa-industry for more information.)

These sweet facts make the chocolate taste that much better. I have so far tried the Organic Orange Dark Chocolate bar — needless to say, it was love at first bite. I’m eager to try the other flavors as well. Visit www.equalexchange.coop to learn more.

-Ashley

Good news

Good news for anyone who loves magazines as much as we do. Can't wait to pick up a copy!



-Ashley

Post-Katrina food culture

We are approaching the the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this weekend.

Although I have no true personal ties to New Orleans, the event and its aftermath have always been intriguing to me. In 2005, I was just starting out as a news reporter, and one of my first stories was about the arrival of Katrina refugees. Hitting the five-year mark puts a number of things into perspective, both on an individual and large-scale level.

I can't help but feel that so many of the stories, photos and video clips being posted across the media are a little haunting, and the results of this year's oil spill certainly add to the sting. Add in a growing list of complex political implications, and the news coverage can become overwhelmingly disheartening.

This article by a writer from The Times-Picayune was an honest, if not bittersweet, profile of how the food culture has changed in New Orleans since Katrina. While there are indeed triumphs, such as the increase in urban farming and the opening of specialty food stores, there are also pitfalls, such as the "food deserts" across the city. I found this list thought-provoking and thought foodie readers would appreciate it.

-Ashley

Editor's Choice: Yumnuts Naturals

Cashews are one of my favorite kinds of nuts. Sure, growing up there were peanuts at baseball games and pieces of walnuts in homemade brownies, but cashews were special. Maybe others knew that as well, since there were always so few of them in those nut mixes. Plus they were from Brazil, so that gave them a certain panache. So imagine my delight when packages of cashews arrived at the office recently.

Yumnuts Naturals (www.yumnutsnaturals.com) are dry-roasted cashews coated with all kinds of tasty flavors. I immediately zeroed in on the one marked chocolate.

It was a great choice. The cocoa powder coating is a great beginning to the crunchy nut. The light coating blends perfectly with and doesn’t hide the taste of the cashews. Incidentally, there are no preservatives or artificial stuff. And bonus points: Nuts are good for you.

The other flavor choices are Sea Salt, Honey, Spicy Cajun, Toasted Coconut and Chili Lime. Yumnuts come in a resealable 5-oz. bag. They are the right size to fit in an office drawer or take with you for a yummy snack. And for retailers, they are the perfect size to put in a gift basket or other gift packages.

-Barbara