Blog Archives
CaJohns Flavor and Fire Store Video in the North Market in Columbus
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ShareNever been to the CaJohn's Flavor and Fire Hot Sauce Store in Columbus, Ohio's North Market? Here's a quick video showing you the goods.
Best In Smoke to Debut on Food Network May 8th
As you may have heard, the new Food Network series Best in Smoke on which Tim Love will be one of the judges, premieres Sunday, May 8th at 10 pm Eastern/9 pm Central (it will air at 9 pm/8 pm Central in subsequent weeks, as stated in the TV spot above), and it features six of the best barbecue masters in the country. The contestants meet in New York to face off for a $50,000 grand prize and the right to claim the title of "Best In Smoke". This competition tests the competitors’ endurance and skill as they take on multiple challenges in a day with limited resources and cook for vastly different audiences. From barbecue desserts to single bite hors d’oeuvres, no food is off limits. Contestants show off their personal style and quick wit throughout the competition, but a final mad dash to three separate venues around Manhattan and Brooklyn will determine which competitor will be awarded the coveted title of "Best In Smoke".
The first episode is titled "Best Bite in BBQ" and the six teams are challenged to create their best "single bite" for the judges panel, which includes Tim Love. Once the clock starts, it’s an all-out scramble to the meat truck, and the competitor who cooks up the best "single bite" wins immunity from elimination and joins the judging panel for the next round. Then, the competitors devise the ideal BBQ hors d’oeuvre for an upscale art gallery opening. The fate of the finalists hangs on the opinions of the gallery guests who decide which competitor is safe from elimination.
Introducing Susie Q Sweets
We love the Huddlestons here in our little internet circles. This family of chileheads has tried their hand at whipping up spicy products in their kitchen - Betty with her awesome Blue Ribbon Salsa and David aka Hudd with his Hudd's Fury Sweet Onion and Garlic Hot Sauce. Now Betty is venturing out under the Susie Q Sweets brand (called this after a nickname Betty gave her mother) and making Peanut Butter and Chocolate Buckeyes, Peanut Brittle and Assorted Hard Candies! They're currently available around their geographic area of Indiana. We wish Betty the best of luck, and if you're on Facebook I urge you to "like" the Susie Q Sweets page.
Crazy Steve's Pickles and Salsa Looking For Backers
From time to time we spicy food bloggers may take a "me too" approach to posting site updates that have already been splashed all over the other blogs, but when it's for a good cause I don't mind repeating others.
Buddah mentioned this latest cause on ILoveItSpicy.com, and the intent of this is to help out Steve Zielinski of Crazy Steve's Pickles and Salsa fame. I didn't go bonkers over his products when I reviewed them last year, but I thought Steve conjured up some very unique flavor concepts and think that he was far more deserving of more attention in the specialty foods world.
Now Crazy Steve is looking for some cash infusion through Kickstarter in order to increase production through a pair of co-packers.
Interested in helping out? Please watch the following video. Steve outlines the details, and begins his message somewhere around the 3:45 - 4:00 minute mark.
Steve has also provided lots of pledge levels on his Kickstarter page starting as low as 5 dollars!
Second Annual Beef Jerky Contest
Do you make jerky that you think out-rivals the store bought variety?
Do you think your jerky is the best you have ever tired?
Do you think if there were a jerky competition you would win it?
It’s back! We’re talking about the Second Annual Jerky Contest...
Review - Heartbreaking Dawns 1841 Ghost Pepper Sauce
I don't normally throw around accolades with any sort of casual frequency. I'm cautious to declare any food product I try - whether it be a barbecue sauce, a salsa, a mustard, a seasoning, or a hot sauce - to be "great". I have to know for sure that it has the culinary spunk before it rises above the level of an agreeable but generic item.
When I gave the lofty moniker of best sauce (so far) of 2011 to Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Hot Sauce, I didn't think that title would be usurped so quickly. I believe it was "Firehead" Thomas Gately who informed me that Heartbreaking Dawns' Johnny McLaughlin had sent him a test bottle of the new ghost pepper sauce on which he was working and proclaimed that this newer sauce was even better than 1498. At this year's ZestFest, Johnny told me his plans of releasing additional sauces to fit in with the "year" naming convention, so of course the then-upcoming one would be another year...this one being 1841 (which the bottle explains as the year Reverend Miles Bronson arrived amongst the Naga people in India, ending the widespread practice of headhunting).
So back to the point: did I agree with Firehead Thom's assessment? I have to give...
Review - Flaming Joe's Buffalo Dust, X-Hot
Yes, believe it or not, this is my first formal review of any Flaming Joe's product. I've been a fan of his jerk sauces and jellies since I sampled them at the Weekend of Fire a few years back yet have not gotten any of my thoughts of them on paper...er...I mean on a computer monitor for the world to see. Nonetheless, as I have promised, here is the latest food enhancer created by the Joe Leicht. This one called Buffalo Dust is a dried, powdery concoction that approximates a general "buffalo"/hot sauce taste in whatever you shift it on. Does it do any justice to your dishes? Well, read on and find out...
Hot Girl Made Hotter with Ghost Chile Pizza Prank
I have no idea who Nikki and John are, but Nikki's reaction is pretty funny after eating a piece of pizza spiced up with the former world's hottest pepper, the bhut jolokia:
Review - Island Girl Gourmet Pepper Sauce and Gourmet Sauce & Marinade
Here's an interesting pair of sauces I acquired a few months back: Island Girl Gourmet Pepper Sauce and Island Girl Gourmet Sauce & Marinade. Upon studying the labels I deducted a few things. One, with a name like "Island Girl", perhaps these would evoke some sweet, tropical tastes, either by thinking of the Caribbean and its distinctive style of hot n' tropical flavorings; or on the Pacific Ocean side of things, by conjuring up Polynesian, Hawaiian or even teriyaki-esque blends. Two, these had nearly identical ingredients lists, so I assumed a heavy similarity in tastes for them. And three, the main ingredient was soy sauce, therefore my expectations changed from these being tropical-style liquids to maybe more of Asian-style condiments....
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T - The World's Hottest Chile Pepper Coverage
Most of you chile pepper fanatics know that the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T strain was ranked as the World's Hottest Chile Pepper recently. Named after Butch Taylor of Zydeco Sauces, who was the main propagator of the Trinidad Scorpion seeds, these potent n' pungent little pods have been tested thanks to Neil Smith of the Hippy Seed Company and are now the Capsaicin Kings topping out at an amazing 1,463,700 Scoville Units - although other Scorpion pods have clocked in at a few hundred thousand SHU less, which is still higher than the averages for the bhut jolokias or "ghost chiles".
Below is a bulk of the coverage and mentions of Trinidad Scorpions over the past year and a half on my blog, for your reading purusement.
 1498 SauceMy review of Heartbreaking Dawns 1498 Trinidad Scorpion Hot Sauce, arguably the first commercial U.S. sauce featuring the Trinidad Scorpion. |
 Jim Duffy InterviewMy interview with Jim Duffy, who grew Trinidad Scorpions that were submitted to Guinness - "San Diego Chile Grower Grows World Record Hot Chiles" |
 The Chile Pepper RaceContenders to the Throne: What is Really the World's Hottest Chile Pepper? |
 Skobiyan Sauce ReviewI review The Hippy Seed Company's Australian- made Skobiyan Trinidad Scorpion Sauce on video: |
 Neil Smith InterviewHere's my interview with Neil Smith of The Hippy Seed Company, who over a year ago predicted that the Trinidad Scorpion would become the heat king. |
 Coon & Bosland InterviewDanise Coon and Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute speculated about the Trinidad Scorpion's heat level: |
Nacho Cheese Doritos Taco Shells at Taco Bell - The Best of Both Worlds?
Apparently in some test markets, Taco Bell has introduced crunchy taco shells made out of, yep, Nacho Cheese Doritos. One person had told me that this idea originated on the Facebook fan page "Taco Shells made from Doritos Movement". Interesting. Called Doritos Locos Tacos, these are either the next level of awesomeness or another step closer to Armegeddon. What do you think?
Open Fields is Officially Returning!
Jim Campbell Trapping Horrible Haggis Inside the Porta-Potty with His Pickup at Open Fields 2010
Jim Campbell had planned on last year's Open Fields chilehead celebration to be the final one; he felt he no longer was able to dedicate the time to holding the event due to time constraints with his firefighter job and with life in general.
So it was with a very heavy heart that pepper lovers and sauce freaks from around the United States and the world amassed in Jim's secretive chile pepper fields in central Indiana last September to join in what they thought was the final gathering. There had been murmurs of others picking up the torch and running with it - perhaps moving Open Fields to a new locale - just to continue with the beloved tradition of chileheads congregating and camping out in the early fall.
Well, it has just been announced that...
Review - Scoville Brothers Rockin' Red Hot Sauce and Heavy Metal Heat Hot Sauce
Music and Hot Sauce? Now there's a combination I can always go for! If you know me well, then you'd know I'm a past and future guitarist (if that even makes a lick of sense) and well naturally gravitate to anything having to do with guitars ans stinging fretwork.
The Scoville Brothers are comprised of Doug Lins and Jeff Young and together they rock Indiana as a fiery acoustic duo. They're also hardcore chileheads and have been diligently working at producing three different hot sauces. I'll review two of these products for you today - Rockin' Red Hot Sauce and Heavy Metal Heat Hot Sauce...
Frito-Lay Turns Up the Heat With New Tapatio Hot Sauce-Inspired Flavors
New Tapatio-Flavored Doritos, Fritos and Ruffles Hit Store Shelves in Western and Central U.S.
PR Newswire
PLANO, Texas, April 5, 2011 - PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division and the family behind the renown Tapatio hot sauce brand today announced a new partnership in which Frito-Lay will sell and distribute Tapatio hot sauce-flavored Doritos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips and Ruffles potato chips. Aimed at consumers looking to add a zesty kick to their snacking, the new Tapatio-flavored products are rolling out in grocery and convenience stores in the western and central regions of the U.S. this month.
All three Tapatio-flavored Frito-Lay products include a unique combination of red chili peppers, spices and a hint of garlic – the same ingredients used to...
From Baked Beans to Vodka, the Smoky Spicy Flavor of Chipotle is Everywhere
TORONTO - Chipotle is a flavor that is everywhere these days - not just in southwestern and Tex-Mex dishes, where you would expect to find the dried, smoked pepper, but also in cupcakes, pizza - even vodka.
On grocery store shelves, you can find it in tortilla chips, marinades, dressings, canned soups, fresh salad kits and even good old baked beans.
Kraft Canada recently came up with a chipotle-flavored cream cheese. Loblaw's President's Choice brand has more than 30 products containing chipotle.
"It's everywhere. It's in everything," says chef Michael Smith, who often features the chipotle in dishes as varied as jerk chicken, salsa and even desserts.
The dried and smoked jalapeno pepper even has a restaurant...
