"campbells" news and stories

It's been a long time since store brands were relegated to the bottom shelf of the grocery store, saddled with those generic black-and-white labels ("Ketchup," "Pickles") that made them look like provisions in a Soviet commissary.

Still, despite fancier labels, a lot of shoppers are leery of anything that doesn't sport a name brand. "That's just plain silly," your penny-pinching grandmother might have said. "You're just paying for the name."

According to the findings of a recent study by Consumer Reports, it turns out that she might have been right.

The consumer watchdog that's better known for road testing cars and troubleshooting cell phones has turned its attention to the grocery store. The group had tasters sample 21 different food products and compare national brands with their store-brand equivalents.

The results?

Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs!

Both Campbell's Soup and ConAgra are issuing recalls on processed foods because of potential food safety issues.

Campbell's is recalling about 15 million pounds of canned SpaghettiOs with Meatballs because they contain meatballs which may be under processed, Examiner.com reported.

ConAgra issued a national recall of all Marie Callender's Cheesy Chicken & Rice frozen meals because of a potential link to an outbreak of salmonella Chester that has left 29 sick in 14 states, USA Today reported.

We're pretty sure that when you hear "Campbell's soup" an image of a bowl of steaming tomato soup or chicken noodle soup with a side of crackers being slurped down by some cherubic kid on a blustery winter afternoon instantly comes to mind. (And through the window you can catch a glimpse of the snowman that above mentioned angelic child built. Okay, okay, we're willing to concede that Campbell soup conjures up Rockwellian fantasies for us).

It's pretty safe to say that Campbell's soup does not invoke images of haute cuisine or fancy-schmancy dining. But might change in the near future.

The giant soup company just appointed Thomas W. Griffiths, 49, to a newly created position as senior executive chef and director of Campbell's Culinary Institute.

Griffiths is no slouch in the culinary world. He was the associate dean for culinary arts at the C.I.A. (No, he wasn't whipping up dishes for cunning secret agents. It's the other C.I.A - the Culinary Institute of America). His extensive and impressive resume includes medals at the International Culinary Olympics, a stint at Le Cirque in Manhattan, and the prestigious post of executive pastry chef at the United Nations.

Honey baked ham gets a maple makeover when basted with a maple syrup and Dijon mustard mixture.

Get the recipe to this classic along with many others after the jump.

"Apple planet." Photo: leoncillo sabino, Flickr.

• All about apples -- their appeal, how to pick them and what to use them for.
• A chat with Ruth Reichl about her new 1,000-page cookbook "Gourmet Today."
• Jeff Corwin talks up his new Food Network show, "Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin."
• "The Bear and Fish Family Cookbook" is a mother-daughter effort on family cooking and "modern Asian fusion."
• Toast Mexican Independence Day with a tequila-spiked El Grito.
• Use of the sweet and sticky pomegranate molasses is on the rise in kitchens.
• Campbell's is releasing 100 percent natural soups!
• Placing measured mounds of dry ingredients on a piece of waxed paper before adding them to a meal can prevent measuring mishaps.
• Recipes: Chicken and Black Garlic Linguine and Almond Date Macaroons and Curried Corn and Crab Cakes.