Craving For Inexpensive Alternative To Nutella

Lately I’ve been craving for the taste of hazelnut chocolate spread. Nutella automatically pops into your head. The consistency is like the chocolate dip of Yan-Yan sticks but it’s got a sharper nuttier taste to it that just hits home run.

First time I tried hazelnut chocolate spread it was Crumpy Duo. With its white cream mix, it left the hazelnut taste almost unrecognizable. And its consistency was a bit thicker than Nutella. With Nutella being way over priced as usual with everything imported in the Philippines, I began to experiment with different chocolate hazelnut spreads that are a lot cheaper. I came across one called Nusica. It comes in a glass bottle, with the color of its printed paper really dull, so you’ll miss it if you’re not really looking for it. It’s made in Holland which is a country that produces fairly decent if not good chocolate. A 400 gram bottle costs P102 as against a 400 gram bottle of Nutella which costs around P250. The consistency is almost the same, if not as creamy. It has a less prominent hazelnut flavor, but all in all, it’s a lot better than the other chocolate hazelnut spreads available. And you save over P140.

So next time you’re thinking twice about indulging yourself with Nutella, try Nusica. It won’t hurt your pocket, but it will surely satiate your craving.

The Perfect American Breakfast Sausage

A few years back, I always thought that to get the perfect American breakfast, everything had to come from the States. So I either had to spend double or even triple the cost of anything American I was craving for or wait until someone from the States brought me some. One such example is Jimmy Dean’s Sausage Links. For anyone who ever ate at Denny’s or International House of Pancakes (IHOP), any one of these two restaurants are my first stop as soon as the plane lands. Nothing beats a hearty American breakfast whatever time you get there.

To save me a plane ticket, one day, I finally got tired of spending too much on something that I know only costs 97cents at Albertsons. Everything that you ever tasted and tickled your taste buds can be made. It takes a lot of trial and error when you’re trying to get the perfect bite. But eventually you’ll get there.

I will be sharing this very simple recipe, because I’ve tried a number of them and only found this one to be the closest in taste to Jimmy Dean’s Sausage Links. The secret is not to over mix it to get the perfect texture to your sausage. The tedious part is trying to shape it into something that looks like a sausage link. I prefer doing the rolling and shaping myself lest you don't mind other people fondling your sausage. No pun intended.

Ingredients:

1 kilo ground pork (preferably not lean, because it's the fats that makes the sausage juicy)

2 teaspoons rock salt

1 1/2 teaspoons roughly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons sage

2 teaspoons thyme

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( I always use the packet that is leftover from pizza deliveries)

Directions:

Just combine ground pork with all other ingredients and roll them into links, or if you prefer, mold them into patties.

Breakfast links also comes in maple flavored packages. If you are looking for the maple taste you can try substituting the brown sugar for maple syrup, it'll make the sausages smell really good while frying them. I on the other hand tend to have sausages with pancakes topped with maple syrup, so I don't really mind the original recipe. But as I always say, it all depends on how you like it.