Category: food

Carb Options Peanut Spread vs Natural Peanut Butter

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

There’s an Albertson's nearby our office at work and and I occasionally stop by if I’m going out for lunch anyway. And, I recently needed some peanut butter which I figured would be an easy purchase — I’ve only had natural peanut butter for the past couple years but it’s readily available in stores these days. Or so I thought.

I walked over to the peanut butter aisle and looked for the big glass jars of natural peanut butter (for some reason, natural peanut butters always seem to be in glass jars). But, I didn’t see any. I was about to give up when I saw a jar of Carb Options Creamy Peanut Spread. It had a small “Skippy” banner in one corner so it appeared to have a reasonable pedigree. And, while my previous gripe with regular peanut butters had been their sugar content, this one was sweetened with Splenda :).

The other issue I originally had with non-natural peanut butters was their trans fat from partially hydrogenated oils. Now, as it turns out, I later learned that even regular peanut butter may have negligible trans fat content; but, by then, I had become quite accustomed to the full-peanut flavor of natural peanut butter.

Getting back to the Carb Options Peanut Spread, I checked its label and, even though partially hydrogenated oils were listed among the ingredients, the Nutrition Facts portion confirmed that it had no trans fat. I figured that it would probably resemble the taste of regular peanut butter but without all the normal disadvantages; so, I added a jar to my basket.

Upon returning home, I decided to put it to the test. I still had a jar of natural peanut butter in the fridge and so I could compare them directly. It took me a moment to come up with a meaningful procedure, but then I recalled that a peanut butter & jelly sandwich — in addition to being tasty — would work well as a testing platform. So, I pulled out a slice of low-carb bread along with sugar-free jam. Then, I spread some natural peanut butter on half the slice and Carb Options Peanut Spread on the other half. Finally, I spread jam across both sides.

This dual-testing configuration allowed me to directly compare peanutiness bite-for-bite. I also had a glass of water on hand to cleanse my palette in between tastings. I started on the Carb Options side of the sandwich and took a bite. At first, it seemed fine: I could taste both the sweetness of the blackberry jam along with the peanut flavor of the spread. From there, I moved on to the natural peanut butter side — and I couldn’t help but notice a more intense peanut flavor.

I soon finished the sandwich and, while neither side was bad, the natural peanut butter side was more organically peanutty. As I looked more closely on the Carb Options label, I soon realized why it was called merely a “peanut spread” — it only had “65% peanuts”. And, considering that the natural peanut butter (Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts, Salt) was probably 99% peanuts, it was a little disconcerting to ponder what the other 35% was within the peanut spread.

The second stage of my testing battery was the sliced-apple test. I had some apple in the fridge that I had sliced earlier and I had hunch that it could be more nourishing with a little peanut butter on top ;). Once again, I made use of both peanut spreads — some slices had one and some slices had the other. And, even though the natural peanut butter was more intrinsically tasty, the Carb Options spread did have a slight edge in one sense. As it contained partially hydrogenated oils, it was a semi-solid product. So, while the natural peanut butter tended to flop over the sides of the apple slices (and even ooze off), the Carb Options spread obediently remained affixed to the slices as if it was some kind of peanut Jell-o.

Finally, I had to taste the spreads alone, without the influence of other food items. Spoon in hand, I dove in. At this point, there was no contest. The natural peanut butter was creamy (yet grainy) with a pleasant saltiness. And, the Carb Options spread, while resembling peanuts, just didn’t compare. In fact, it was as if I was eating some other food — it seemed like a familiar flavor. Finally, I figured it out: the Carb Options spread tasted just like peanut-flavored butter. Really.

Nutrition line-item for nutrition line-item, these peanut spreads are fairly similar: 190 Calories each, 16g fat (natural) vs 17g fat (spread), 4g net carbs (natural) vs 3g net carbs (spread) and 8g protein (natural) vs 7g protein (spread). So, if I ended up liking the spread more, I could have eaten it without guilt. But, the natural peanut butter was the easy winner in this case.

Schlotsky’s Grilled Chicken Romano Panini

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

I was working late the other day and, by the time I got back to my apartment, it was a bit late to go about making dinner. So, I surveyed my fridge door for coupons. There were the usual items — pizza, wings and so on — but I wasn’t much in the mood for those. I briefly considered a burrito from Chipotle or Freebirds (both of which are nearby), but that seemed like too much food at the time.

A sandwich seemed like a good idea and I was about to go for Quiznos — if it weren’t for the fact that I had opened by credit card bill only moments earlier and noticed that I had been to Quiznos four times in as many weeks. In lieu of Quiznos, Schlotsky’s seemed like a good alternative. And, because I didn’t want to get there only to end up standing in front of the counter staring at the menu while I made my decision, I decided to check out their menu online ahead of time.

What I noticed on their front page right away was a new item, their “Grilled Chicken Romano Panini”. As it’s described on their home page, the panini has “grilled chicken breast and melted Gruyère cheese with sweet red peppers and fresh baby spinach on freshly toasted slices of Artisan bread”. That sounded pretty good to me, especially since I couldn’t even recall when last I had Gruyère on a sandwich.

The Schlotsky’s near me is only about a quarter mile away and it didn’t take long to get there. There was hardly anyone there, so I walked right up to the counter and ordered the panini. As I handed over my credit card to pay for it, the lady behind the counter verbally dispatched my order to the sandwich maker in the back (which wasn’t really “in the back” as the sandwich-making area was more to the side of the cashiers).

I could see him building the sandwich and I watched as he started with two slices of bread and added the chicken, red peppers and Gruyère. Then, to my horror, he omitted the most important part of the panini-making process: the panini press. In traditional panini-making, the sandwich is assembled and then placed between two hot metal plates which are pressed together. However, that technique was not employed this time; rather, my panini to-be was sent through the toasting-conveyor-belt just like any other Schlotsky’s sandwich.

Sure, the bread became toasted and crunchy, but it wasn’t really a true panini anymore. The distinction may seem subtle, but the benefit of the pressing process is that all of the ingredients meld together. In particular, the cheese oozes into the cracks and crevices within the bread to form a type of delicious hybrid cheese-bread. As it was, my Gruyère did melt, but only onto the surrounding chicken and peppers. I was denied any cheese-to-bread integration.

In fairness to Schlotsky’s, the sandwich was still decent (by normal sandwich standards).There were plenty of morsels of lean chicken and the red pepper was tender and sweet. As a Chicken + Something sandwich, I might have even been inclined to recommend it to friends. But why would they assume the panini persona if they were only panini poseurs at heart? I can’t say that this has soured me on Schlotsky’s, but I could really go for a good panini after having almost attained one.

Roly Poly’s California Turkey — with Extra Sugar!

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

Since working at RD2, I’ve been enlightened to sandwichy-goodness of Roly Poly. I hadn’t even heard of them before working here, but I’ve probably had their sandwiches at least once or twice a week since I started. They make regular sandwiches but rolled in a tortilla. And not only are their sandwich recipes innovative, but their ingredients are far above what you’d normally expect from a quick food restaurant.

They have dozens of sandwiches on their menu and I’ve been working my way through the varieties. So far, the Cobb Salad sandwich may be my favorite (with both avocado and bacon, how can you go wrong?). In any case, I decided to get a Roly Poly sandwich for dinner a couple days ago and I wanted to give their turkey sandwiches a chance.

I settled on the California Turkey sandwich which has, among other things, turkey, cheddar, bacon and avocado. I placed my order over the phone for pick-up and it was ready as soon as I got there. So, I paid and headed back home. I unwrapped the sandwich from its paper and grabbed a plate.

As I ate the sandwich, I couldn’t deny that it was full of turkey — it definitely had plenty of turkey flavor. However, there was another flavor that I couldn’t quite identify — a subtle sweetness that I couldn’t ignore. At first, I thought it might be a honey mustard, but there was no honey mustard listed on the menu for this one. I then considered whether perhaps I was encountering the natural sweetness of a ripe vegetable, but that didn't seem to be be it either.

After a few more bites, I realized that it wasn’t just a general sweetness, it was a soggy sweetness — from the dressing itself. Some of the dressing had already began to seep out the back of the sandwich (onto the plate) and I took a closer look to see if that would provide any clues. As I looked over the dressing, I noticed that it was mostly clear but thick and full of colored specks. Aha — Italian Dressing!

So, that resolved the dressing conundrum, but the sweetness? I soon realized that Roly Poly must be using a mass-market Italian Dressing: I hadn’t realized it until I started cutting my sugar intake (and reading more about hidden sugars in foods) but Italian Dressing is full of sugar. Right after water, oil and vinegar on the ingredients list — and before any of the actual spices — is high fructose corn syrup (bleh). So, that must have been what I was encountering in my sandwich.

The sandwich, perhaps contrary to what its creator intended, ended up as a sugary turkey sandwich. That’s not to say that it was bizarre enough for me not to eat the rest of it, but I pondered giving up on it a few times. And, if you’re particularly astute, you may have already noticed that Roly Poly’s menu specifies ”ranch dressing” (and not Italian) with their California Turkey sandwich (I only just noticed this myself). I'm certain that the dressing in my sandwich was Italian, so I can only figure that they gave me #11 by mistake.

In that case, maybe their California turkey sandwich is still worth trying after all. Still, don’t get the wrong idea about Roly Poly — their sandwiches are fantastic. I mean, I wouldn’t be eating them every week if they weren’t. But, if you’ve reduced your sugar intake, perhaps avoid the sandwiches with Italian dressing — they may end up tasting a bit like they've had a sugar marinade.

Recipe: Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ashley Bischoff8 Comments

The Dallas Camera Club meets twice a month and members take turns bringing in snacks (chosen by rotating through the membership list). Tuesday’s meeting was my turn to bring in snacks and so I decided to bake some cookies. Sure, some people just stop by Kroger and buy a box of cookies, but I figured that baked cookies would be much nicer.

I stopped by AllRecipes a few days ahead of time to select a recipe. Once in their Cookie section, I headed straight for the subsection on Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's not that I had ruled out other cookie types, but I thought I had a good chance of finding a workable chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Fortunately, all the recipes at AllRecipes are rated (on a scale of one to five). With dozens of chocolate chip cookie recipes, I just ignored all the non-5-star entries. And, I had in mind more of a soft cookie (rather than crunchy) and that further narrowed the playing field. And one that I finally settled on was called (simply) Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. In particular, the tagline sounded enticing: “Crisp edges, chewy middles”.

As the recipe called for chocolate chips (as you would expect) but also chopped walnuts, I thought I'd have to make a special trip to Super Target for sure. But, I glanced through my pantry beforehand and it turned out that I had all the ingredients already.

When it came time to bake the cookies, the recipe was actually a little easier than I expected. There was no melting of any kind (neither butter nor chocolate) and there're only three steps in total (the first of which is “preheat oven”, so that one hardly counts, even). The one nebulous portion of the recipe was the baking time — “Bake for about 10 minutes […] or until edges are nicely browned”. I don’t like guesswork when it comes to recipes and so I just went with an even 10-minutes for the first batch (well, actually 5 minutes + 5 minutes, as I swapped racks halfway through).

After that first batch, the edges were slightly browned, but who was I to say if that meant “nicely”? To be sure, I baked the second (and third) batches for 11 minutes (5 minutes + 6 minutes) and those were slightly more golden-brown around the edges.

Once they were baked, I set them aside on cooling racks and, as soon as they were cool enough not to burn my tongue, I snarfed one. It was still gooey, of course, but rather tasty. In some ways, it still even had that cookie-dough flavor (as opposed to most other recipes where the cooked product is decidedly different from the raw edition). But, I made a mental note that I'd have to allow them to cool fully before forming a final opinion.

So, the next day, I had one with breakfast (ooh, decadence) and it wasn’t quite the cookie that I recalled from the night before. It was soft, to be sure, but the edges never hardened. Really, it was just soft the whole way through — and some people like it that way, but not me. I wanted that delicate ying & yang of crispiness and softness, but to no avail. So, sure, these cookies are good in the general sense that all cookies are yummy, but I get the feeling that there may be a better chocolate chip cookie recipe out there.

In any case, here’s the recipe.

“Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar [or Splenda, natch]
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175 degrees C).

  2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

  3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. [11 minutes was an improvement for me, and 12 minutes may be even better]

Recipe: Thick and Chewy Triple-Chocolate Cookies

Ashley Bischoff11 Comments

I brought along some chocolate chocolate-chip cookies to the Independence Day party on Sunday and I thought I’d share the recipe here. Back when I first received the Evite to the party, I noticed the request for desserts and side dishes and I immediately began to ponder what I could bake.

Being the chocolate nut that I am, I decided fairly early on to go with something chocolate-based, but it was only after watching some TiVod episodes of America’s Test Kitchen that I happened upon the idea of chocolate chocolate-chip cookies. (For those not aware, America’s Test Kitchen is a cooking show on PBS which goes through dozens of iterations for each dish before publishing the recipe that works best).

Fortunately, their recipes are also online (for the recent couple seasons, anyway). And, while the as-televised recipe is for Double-Choclate Cookies, their site also lists a varation which I could not ignore: Triple-Chocolate Cookies. For those keeping score, the double chocolate cookies include Dutch-processed cocoa along with a pound of melted bittersweet chocolate. The triple chocolate cookies include those ingredients plus chocolate chips. Well, on to the recipe:

Double-Chocolate Cookies, Thick and Chewy Cookies

Makes about 3 ½ dozen cookies

To melt the chocolate in a microwave, heat it at 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir it, then continue heating it at 50 percent power for 1 more minute. If it’s not completely melted, heat it for an another 30 to 45 seconds at 50 percent power. We recommend using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop to scoop the dough. Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear underbaked at first, but they’ll firm up as they cool.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups (10 ounces / 284 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (56 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

    Some—but not all—supermarkets carry Dutch-processed cocoa. If your local supermarket doesn’t have it, one place where you can definitely find it is at Penzeys Spices, including their store just off Preston & 635.

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
  • 16 ounces (454 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 4 large eggs (Or for a vegan version, I’ve had success with Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, which I found at Target.)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
  • 10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks / 140 grams) unsalted butter, softened (Or for a vegan version, I’ve had success with Miyoko’s Vegan Butter, which I found at Target.)
  • 1 ½ cups packed (10 ½ ounces / 297 grams) light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (3 ½ ounces / 99 grams) granulated sugar

Directions:

  1. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl; set that aside.

  2. Melt the chocolate in medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth; remove from the heat. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve it, and set that aside.

  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until it’s smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until they’re combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until it’s incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until it’s combined, about 40 seconds.

  4. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With your mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until they’re just combined. Do not overbeat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudgelike, about 30 minutes.

  5. Meanwhile, adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Leaving about 1 ½ inches between each ball, scoop the dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets with a 1 ¾-inch ice-cream scoop.

  6. Bake, reversing position of baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until the edges of cookies have just begun to set but their centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes. Cool the cookies on sheets for about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with the cookies onto wire racks, and let them cool to room temperature.

  7. Cover one baking sheet with a new piece of parchment paper. Scoop the remaining dough onto the parchment-lined sheet, bake, and cool as directed. Remove the cooled cookies from the parchment with a wide metal spatula and serve.

Variation — Thick and Chewy Triple-Chocolate Cookies:

If you like bursts of warm melted chocolate in your cookies [and who doesn’t? —A], include chocolate chips in the batter. The addition of chips will slightly increase the yield of the cookies.

Follow the recipe for Thick and Chewy Double-Chocolate Cookies, adding 12 ounces (about 2 cups or 340 grams) of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter after the dry ingredients are incorporated in step 4.

The only downside to the recipe is that it can take longer than other cookie recipes (especially including the 30-minute wait-time after mixing the dough). All the same, I was really pleased with the results and I think these Triple-Chocolate Cookies may be my new favorite cookie :).