We’re ready to elect another Democrat as the 45th President of the United States in 2016, and today we’re taking a big step on our path toward doing that.
After much buildup and very careful consideration over which city will host our 2016 Democratic National Convention, I’m pleased to announce that we’ll nominate the next President of the United States in Philadelphia — the City of Brotherly Love.
We’re going to have a great time together come July 2016 in Philadelphia — and many more details are coming soon. But there’s plenty of work for us to do before we reach Philadelphia, and Democrats will need your help to keep the White House blue.
So if you’re committed to electing the Democrat we’ll nominate next July, then add your name here and I’ll make sure you stay in the loop:
1 bunch green onions
1 Tbsp. Bertolli® Classico™ Olive Oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
3/4 lb. red snapper, cut into 2 (6-ounce) pieces
Bertolli® Extra Light™ Tasting Olive Oil
1/4 cantaloupe, cut with melon baller
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 to 2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
Bertolli® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Directions:
Brush onions with 1 tablespoon Bertolli Classico Olive Oil; season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Preheat grill or grill pan.
Brush green onions with additional Bertolli Classico Olive Oil and grill until tender, slightly brown and caramelized, approx. 5 to 10 minutes.
Season fish with salt and fresh ground black pepper on both sides. Heat 2 tablespoons Bertolli Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat and cook skin-side down, approx. 4 minutes, pressing lightly with spatula to crisp the skin. Turn and cook 4 minutes or until snapper flakes with fork and is nicely browned on both sides. Let rest.
Combine melon balls with crumbled feta. Season with a touch of salt, fresh ground black pepper and white balsamic vinegar to taste; set aside.
Plate grilled onions, place snapper on top and finish with melon salad. Season with fresh ground black pepper to taste, drizzle with Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil and serve.
Recipe courtesy of Fabio Viviani, owner and Executive Chef of Cafe Firenze in Moorpark, California and Firenze Osteria Italian Restaurant and Martini Bar in Toluca Lake, California.
Go to the freezer section of your local supermarket and you’re bound to find a number of brands peddling vanilla ice cream. Sounds fine, right? However, there’s a problem lurking among the labels: Brands that print phrases like “natural vanilla” on their packages may actually be pushing products that contain anything but.
In our America’s Test Kitchen TV taste test segment for supermarket vanilla ice cream, Jack Bishop explains that counterfeit vanilla is a bigger problem than one might think, and implores smart shoppers to read labels before buying a pint of the stuff.
“Vanilla extract is the key to buying ice cream with good vanilla flavor,” says Bishop. “If it doesn’t say vanilla extract, walk on by.”
Bishop explains to co-host Christopher Kimball that shoppers might see the words “natural vanilla flavor” printed on ice cream cartons. “Sounds pretty good, right? It’s actually imitation extract made from wood pulp.”
Vanilla flavoring was all over the map in the 8 ice creams we included in our taste test, ranging from barely detectable in some to overpowering in others. We looked on the back of the cartons and noticed that each brand seemed to list vanilla in a different way—as Bishop explained—from the wordy and virtuous “fair-traded certified vanilla extract” to “natural vanilla flavor” to simply “vanilla.” Dairy expert Scott Rankin, a professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explained that the different wordings on the labels amount to an industry shorthand for specific kinds of natural or artificial flavorings. As he helped us break the code, we looked at our favorite (and not-so-favorite) ice creams according to the type of vanilla.
First, a little background: The flavor in vanilla beans is predominantly due to the presence of a compound known as vanillin. Vanillin is produced three ways: from vanilla beans, from wood, and from resins. The first two types are considered natural, while the vanillin from resins is synthetic. Not surprisingly, our top three top-ranked brands all contained the real deal—“vanilla extract”—natural vanillin extracted from vanilla beans, just like the real vanilla extract in your pantry. Less favored brands were made with vanillin extracted from wood (“natural vanilla flavor”), which is chemically identical to the synthetic vanillin found in artificial vanilla extract. Simple “vanilla” turned out to be code for a combination of synthetic and natural vanillin, while “natural flavors” (with no mention of vanilla at all) indicates just a trace of natural vanilla (there’s no required level) and other flavorings such as nutmeg that merely trigger an association.
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