Category Archives: New Products

Soup Starters for the Cold Season Ahead & A Food Gal Giveaway

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By adding a handful of ingredients, I made my own tom yum soup in the time it took to heat up the broth.

Is it me or is everyone pretty much coughing up a lung these days?

Cold and flu season is definitely here, unfortunately.

Thank goodness for hot, steaming bowls of soup to make us all feel better. I know it sure did the trick when I was felled by a cold a couple of weeks ago.

Luckily, I had just received samples of new Pacific Organic Soup Starters to test out from the Oregon-based company.

They’re soup bases packaged in shelf-stable cartons for easy use. Last year, the company debuted its beef, chicken and vegetarian Vietnamese pho Soup Starters. This year, it added two more varieties: Tom Yum and Tortilla.

The new organic soup bases.

With my stuffy nose leaving me talking like the Snuffleupagus, I reached for the Thai-style Tom Yum for relief.

It couldn’t be easier. You just empty the broth base into a pot and heat. Instructions on the back of the box give advice on what other herbs or protein are good additions. I added chunks of chicken breast, sliced shiitakes, a chopped tomato, broccolini, cilantro and slivers of jalapeno. The instructions recommended cooked rice as an accompaniment, but I went with rice noodles instead.

The soup came together in mere minutes. The chicken broth-based soup starter was flavorful with a faint tang from lime oil. I like my tom yum a little more assertive, so I squirted in more fresh lime juice to kick it up.

A half-cup portion of the soup base has 10 calories and 330mg of sodium. The package says it serves eight. But really, if you’re indulging in a ramen bowl-size portion, one carton serves more like two.

Of course, you could doctor up your own chicken broth to make tom yum. But it’s pretty convenient to have a starter already in your cupboard much like you would canned chicken or beef broth at the ready.

The Pacific Organic Soup Starters are about $3.49 each for a 32-ounce carton at Whole Foods, Sprouts, New Leaf, and select Save Mart stores.

Contest: Five lucky Food Gal readers will each win a trio of Pacific Organic Soup Starters, one each of Vegetarian Pho, Tortilla, and Tom Yum. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Nov. 10. Winners will be announced Nov. 12.

How to win?

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Dukkah It Out

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Savory Coconut Dukkah to dip your bread into.

Get a taste of Egypt with dukkah.

The pounded mixture of nuts and spices is traditionally served alongside bread and olive oil for an appetizer or snack. Dip a hunk of crusty bread into olive oil, then into the dukkah mixture. It makes for the world’s easiest hors d’oeuvre, especially with the harried holidays upon us.

Serving dukkah has never been easier, either, now that Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson have come up with ready-to-use packaged blends. You know Crawford and Erickson best as the founders of Clif Bars and Clif Family Winery.

Roasted spices, sesame seeds and pistachios are pounded to create this dukkah blend.

Gary & Kit’s Napa Valley Dukkah come in three varieties: Classic Hazelnut, Toasted Sesame and Pistachio, and Savory Coconut.

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Holiday Chocolate Bars

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The Holiday Cheer Eggnog Bar will have you thinking of Christmas already.

When is a candy bar not just your average candy bar?

When they’re holiday-inspired truffle bars from Seattle Chocolates that are just in time for Halloween and Christmas.

Recently, I had a chance to sample the new holiday collections of bars. Each 2.5-ounce bar is $3.50. They’re available at select stores nationwide or on the company’s Web site.

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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Orange & Black Attack in Honor of the SF Giants and Halloween

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Do you think of the SF Giants when you look at this risotto dish? You should! (Photo courtesy of Prospect restaurant)

Prospect’s Ode to the SF Giants

In honor of the San Francisco Giants’ winning streak, Prospect restaurant in San Francisco has created a new dish that sports the team’s trademark colors.

Black risotto with uni and a gently poached egg is a most appropriate dish to celebrate this classy baseball team’s triumphs, don’t you think?

The $16 dish is not on the regular menu. Those in the know just need ask for it.

Chef Pam Mazzola plans to make it available as long as the Giants keep winning or fresh sea urchin is available.

The "Humm Baby'' cupcake from Sift Cupcake + Dessert Bar. (Photo courtesy of Sift)

Sift Cupcake’s Sweet Salute to the Team

Starting today, Sift Cupcake + Dessert Bar in San Francisco, will be baking up the “Humm Baby” in honor of the Giants.

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New PopChips Tortilla Chips and A Food Gal Giveaway

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New Ranch tortilla chips from PopChips.

If you’re like me, you find it dangerous to have a bag of PopChips anywhere in your house.

That’s because the air-popped potato and sweet potato chips are so crunch-a-licious. Plus, you can convince yourself that they’re actually kind of, sort of healthful because they’re all natural and have half the fat and fewer calories than regular chips. It’s enough to make you inhale the bag, which I admit I have done on occasion.

Well, your will power is about to be tested again because PopChips has introduced its newest product: tortilla chips.

Yes, made the same way with little oil in a proprietary popping process.

The triangular-shaped tortilla chips are made with stone ground masa. They come in four flavors: Nacho Cheese, Ranch, Salsa, and Chili Limon.

The texture is crisp but a little lighter and airier than a regular tortilla chip. They’re also a bit thinner than regular PopChips. The Nacho Cheese is plenty cheesy and the Ranch has the creamy-onion-garlic taste of the dressing. My favorites were the Salsa and Chili Limon because both have a little heat but still allow the corn flavor to shine through more so than the other two flavors.

They are available in four varieties.

A 1-ounce bag has 120 calories, no saturated fat and 135-190mg of sodium, depending on the variety.

Find them at Safeway, BevMo, Target, Costco and Jamba Juice. They’re also available on Amazon.com at $20.50 for 24 (1-ounce) bags.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win 12 coupons for 12 free (3-ounce or 3.5-ounce) bags of PopChips or PopChips Tortilla Chips. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Oct. 20. Winner will be announced Oct. 23.

How to win?

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