Progresso Foods has created two types of Japanese-style bread crumbs, called panko, that will be available at grocery stores in September.
Progresso panko-style bread crumbs, which come in plain and Italian flavors, are made from the soft, tender centers of bread instead of the crust, which gives the crumbs a crunchy texture. Panko has been a popular ingredient with chefs for a long time because of its larger, flaky crumb texture that gives a delicious crisp to foods.
Celebrity chef Michael Chiarello has created many panko recipes and wine-pairing suggestions, available at www.progressofoods.com .
Healthy snacks on the bill at Whole Foods
Whole Foods is planning at Back to School Tasting for Kids on Sept. 6.
Kids and their families can sample more than 20 different snacks sold at the store at 5880 Centre Ave., East Liberty. Also, each participating student will get a goodie bag of tasty and healthy snacks to take home.
The event is from 3-6 p.m. Sept. 6.
Instant mashed potatoes expand past white
Betty Crocker this month has released two new varieties of its boxed mashed potatoes lineup: Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold.
Both kinds of potatoes traditionally have been holiday favorites and restaurant specialties. Each package of Betty Crocker Sweet Potato or Yukon Gold mashed potatoes is made with 100 percent real potatoes and serves six people. The suggested retail price is $1.89 per box.
Premium chocolate is a growing market
Americans appear increasingly willing to pay a premium to satisfy their chocolate cravings.
Sales of premium chocolate continue to account for a growing percentage of the overall $16 billion chocolate industry, a figure that is expected to reach $18 billion by 2011, according to market research firm Packaged Facts.
By then, premium chocolate is expected to represent 25 percent of the market and produce $4.5 billion in sales, the firm says. That's up from 17 percent of the market last year, and just 13 percent in 2002.
"Even in categories such as gift box chocolates, which saw a notable decline in the last year, brands such as Ghirardelli and Lindt that are targeting a more hip and upscale clientele are seeing tremendous success," says Tatjana Meerman, publisher of Packaged Facts.
Dinner kits feature Oriental flavors
General Mills' new Wanchai Ferry brand Chinese dinner kits (sweet and sour chicken, spicy garlic chicken, kung pao chicken and cashew chicken) are not your typical new ethnic twist on a product line.
True, the concept is the same as their Chicken Helpers (add a pound of chicken), but the contents of the kits are a little more significant: Spicy garlic chicken includes jasmine rice, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, spicy garlic sauce (which includes oyster sauce) and seasoned cornstarch. And -- notice the seasoned cornstarch -- you're expected to do a little more work to put it together.
You boil some water and cook the rice for 20 minutes; meanwhile, you cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces, toss it in the cornstarch mixture, brown it in a little hot oil, turning, then add the sauce, water and vegetables, heat and serve with the rice.
The Wanchai Ferry kits cost more than Chicken Helper. At one discount supermarket, the about-21-ounce kits, which serve six, sell for $3.99, compared with $1.77 for a five-serving 6- to 9-ounce box of Chicken Helper.
