Panel’S Picks For ‘98

Every year about this time, we think back on all the supermarket products we’ve served to The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel over the previous 12 months … and we start feeling a little nauseous.

So we lie down for a few minutes, then get back up to tell you about the best items the panel tasted throughout the year for snacks, side dishes, entrees, drinks and desserts.

Actually, the 1998 list looks a lot like last year’s. Once again, a hot chocolate was the top-rated drink: Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Hazelnut, following in the 1997 footsteps of Carnation Double Chocolate Meltdown. Once again, a chocolate ice cream was the top dessert: Haagen-Dazs Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Brownie, a worthy successor to Starbucks’ beloved Biscotti Bliss.

Once again, a Lloyd’s meat product had the highest score among all entrees: Lloyd’s Slow Roasted Chili With Beef Steak and Beans, inheriting the title from an older brother, the original Lloyd’s Barbecue Sauce With Sliced Beef.

And once again - in a ringing endorsement of our panelists’ judgment - one of the winners disappeared from area stores during the course of the year. Last year, it was the Double Chocolate Meltdown; this year, the Lloyd’s chili.

When we revisited the best of 1998 as a special menu at a recent panel meeting, we substituted the most similar Lloyd’s product we could find, Cowboy Beans with barbecue sauce and ground beef. Panelists thought the sweetish concoction was OK but no comparison to the spicy chili.

The other, actual winners all fared well the second time around. In the snack category, Kellogg’s high-scoring Smart Start Cereal, which tastes just as good without milk, showed why it edged a couple of more traditional munchies, Crunch ‘n Munch Toffee Pretzels and Nacho Cheez-Its. Home Fresh’s frozen Classic Sourdough Bread, which reheats in minutes, was again a big hit as a side dish.

And the Haagen-Dazs ice cream, surprisingly rich for a relatively low-fat item, managed to average a perfect five-star rating in the retasting - something no product had achieved all year.

There were, however, seven one-star items in 1998, ranging from a low-fat corn dog to an obscenely obese oyster cracker to a trans-fat-free margarine that jiggled more than a flabby bicylist on a bumpy road.

One can only wonder what’s in the stars for 1999.

Kellogg’s Smart Start Cereal

Price: $3.59 for 13.3 ounces, or 8 (1-cup) servings.

Nutrition: 180 calories (3 percent fat calories); 310 milligrams sodium per serving.

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments: “Yum! My favorite cereal. This is great stuff, and crunchy enough to wake you up.” - Sandy Davidson

“Good stuff. Good dry - good wet. Good for you.” - Bob Bates

Maple Leaf Home Fresh Classic Sourdough

Price: $2.99 for 13.5 ounces, or 2 small loaves (6-7 slices per loaf).

Nutrition: 120 calories (4 percent fat calories); 270 milligrams sodium in 2 slices.

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments: “Hearty, thick slice of bread. Tastes like mom made. Fresh, warm, homemade taste.” - Ann Finke

“Great sourdough taste with a thin, crispy crust. I still like this one!” - Tina Johnson

Lloyd’s Cowboy Beans

Price: $3.99 for 20 ounces, or 4 (-cup) servings.

Nutrition: 190 calories (11 percent fat calories); 370 milligrams sodium per serving.

Taste: ***

Value: **

Comments: “Odd but strangely compelling; has a citrus, barbecue zing to it.” - Rich Clemson

“Extremely tangy, which is a good thing; a bit too sweet, which is not. Lots of different beans.” - Catherine Lunt Greer

Ghirardelli Chocolate Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Price: $2.81 for 16 ounces; makes 20 (1-cup) servings.

Nutrition: 80 calories (19 percent fat calories); no sodium per serving (mix only; does not include nutrition values for the milk used).

Taste: ****

Value: ***

Comments: “Loaded with sugar! Good strong chocolate flavor and a fair price. A little on the sweet side.” - Rob Jasperson

“A yummy grown-up chocolate taste, made to curl up with in front of a fire.” - Karen Buck

Haagen-Dazs Low-Fat Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream

Price: $2.99 for 1 pint.

Nutrition: 190 calories (13 percent fat calories); 110 milligrams sodium in cup.

Taste: *****

Value: ***

Comments: “This is worth its weight in gold. Unbelievable to be low-fat!” - Eileen Bakken

“Turn the TV off to enjoy every bite of this multitextured delight.” - Helen Span