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Review - Chili Lime Yumnuts Cashews
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This blog was due for another spicy snack review, and I was hoping this one would not disappoint. Yumnuts Naturals markets their nut products (which also include Sea Salt, Spicy Cajun, and Toasted Coconut flavored items) as being no artificial anything, cholesterol-free, no preservatives...you know the drill...but do they flat out make a dynamite snack? I recently tested out Yumnuts' Chili Lime Cashews hoping to find some answers.
The Best Hot Sauces According to RachaelRayMag.com
I just caught this a few minutes ago. The editors of RachaelRayMag.com taste-tested dozens of hot sauces found in grocery stores and online to find they favorites. The results are their choices for tops in six different categories. There are a couple of expected picks that are commonplace and safe (Sriracha, Frank's RedHot), but I was excited to see one of my personal faves in Captain Thom's Thai Monkey on their list.
To read the selections, go here: Taste Test: The Best Hot Sauces
Scott Roberts BBQ Central Radio Show Appearances and Reviews
The BBQ Central Radio Show - hosted by Greg Rempe, this is the premiere show of its kind on the world of barbecueing. I'm a recurring guest the first or second Tuesday of every month, and give reviews of three BBQ-related food products, and include barbecue sauce, rubs, seasonings, spices, or pepper sauces. Click on the links to download the episodes directly; I appear approximately 34 minutes into the show...
Scott Roberts Hot Sauce Weekly Podcast Appearances and Reviews
There's a brand spankin' new episode of
Review - Heartbreaking Dawns Dry Rubs
Johnny McLaughlin and Nicole Ramsperger of Heartbreaking Dawns shipped me their three hot sauces this past Winter and I was pleased overall with their offerings. While I wasn't blown away by their efforts, I found something positive about each sauce and considered Heartbreaking Dawns to be an up-and-comer in the fiery foods industry to keep an eye on.
Some time after I had met Johnny and Nicole at the Fiery Foods Show in March, they had sent me another trio of products, this time out it was some dry spice blends. I am extremely pleased to report that while I thought their sauces were good, these dry rubs are even better. I truly believe they are hitting their stride with these seasonings.
Just reading the names of these products - Dr. Bird Jerk Blend, Memphis Belle BBQ Blend and Storyville Cajun Blend - will tip you off to their flavor and utility. Seeking to test these all out once, a uniform base of grilled chicken breasts seemed like a good candidate for a meat that would bring out the flavor of these. More on that in a bit....
Info on ZestFest 2011 Sweepstakes and Hotel Packages
For those of you planning to attend ZestFest 2011 next January, here's some information that might be of interest to you.
I received this PDF flyer a few hours ago from Judy Magouirk. It contains some photos and a lot of promotional copy about the new Irving Convention Center, but there's also some new developments.
There is going to be a ZestFest Weekend Getaway Sweepstakes, with airfare, accomodations and more provided for the winner and a guest. It states in the flyer that details can be uncovered at facebook.com/IrvingTexasCVB. The PDF also mentions that special ZestFest hotel packages will be made available, with info at irvingtexas.com/Meetings/HotDeals. While I can't say how much money (if any) these packages would save you, these may be worth looking into. I do have to add that since Super Bowl weekend occurs the week following ZestFest, it would be advisable to book your hotel sooner rather than later.
You can click here to download the PDF (it's 3.6 MB in size).
Review - Scovilla's Hot Gourmet Fiery Bandito Chipotle Gourmet Barbecue Sauce
Make no mistake, anyone anywhere in the world can make a great sauce. This goes to say that Americans can produce dynamite Asian-style sauces, Brits have come up with nice Caribbean-style condiments, and in this case, Germans have produced a blissful American/Mexican-style chipotle barbecue tonic. Scovilla Hot Treats, from whom I had reviewed their surprisingly good Wild Habanero Hot Sauce, have done it again with another offering from their Hot Gourmet line, Fiery Bandito Chipotle Gourmet Barbecue Sauce.
Morning Update
FireTalkers: Interview with Chip Hearn of Peppers
Chip Hearn, along with his sister Randi and his father Luther, were all involved in the culinary world by being regionally-renown chefs and co-owning eateries in Delaware. Inside the the Hearns' Starboard Restaurant, their then-flagship business (they've since sold it to new owners), what began as an abnormally large hot sauce collection for their weekend Bloody Mary smorgasbord soon blossomed into one of the local draws. The growing number of hot sauces became so popular (patrons would request bottles to take home) that the Hearns decided to erect their own structure in which to store and sell their spicy wares - a building that was literally a metal shed planted outside in the Starboard's parking lot. This was the genesis of the Peppers shop.
Since then, the Peppers store has since been renovated and moved thrice. It is now located in roomier digs at Rehoboth Beach, just a short car drive from its original location. It houses one of the largest sauce collections on this little blue orb, and because of that fact it's turned into one of the true chilehead meccas in the United States.
An even larger hot sauce collection was accumulated over the years by Chip and family. The bottles started as the display at the Starboard, surpassed Chuck Evans' own previously-held record and twenty years later boasts far and away the most bottles of different pepper-based sauces owned by anyone in the world - over 9,000.
Chip has also entered the competition...
Review - Jake Albert's Fuego Azul
Fuego Azul Wild Blueberry Habanero Glaze is Jake Albert's Specialty Foods' latest invention. It's Jay Calvert's, the company's founder, follow up to the overall admirable Fuego Rojo Pomegranate and Habanero Glaze. I honestly believe that everything promised by Fuego Rojo (Spanish for "Red Fire") has been fulfilled by the newer Fuego Azul ("Blue Fire"). It certainly does not mean that the older product is not worthy of your attention; it might have had tiny little deficiencies here and there, most of which might have partially stemmed from the fact that I'm not bonkers over pomegranates.
Not Fuego Azul. With this beauty of a sweet and spicy glaze, it's as if all the truant puzzle pieces have been recovered and fit snugly into place. What's that mean? This is a solid, complete sauce, with nary a metaphorical crack or flaw in it. I love it!
An odd thing happened. While the Fuego Rojo straddled several classifications, I would consider the brand spankin' new Fuego Azul more of a full-fledged dessert sauce. Read on to find out why....
NOLA Hot Sauce Show This Weekend
Here's a friendly reminder to any lover of spicy food that lives in the New Orleans vicinity...get your butt over to the 1st Annual NOLA Hot Sauce and Gourmet show this weekend! There'll be tons of tasty grub, numerous vendors including Cin Chili, Ole Ray's, CaJohn's, Zydeco Spice, 2 Brothers Salsa, Bacon Hot Sauce, Intensity Academy, Deano's Jalapenos, Joy's Peppers, Big Daddy's Hot Sauces and more, and food contests! This is your chance to say that you have attended the inaugural fiery foods event the region of the country where a lot of hot n' zesty cuisine was born!
The NOLA Hot Sauce Show is going to be held from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday and from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM on Sunday, June 27th at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, LA. What's it cost to get in? Only $5.00 per day.
The official show website has been set up at http://www.nolahotsauce.com with more info including maps, directions, and vendor info.
Popie's Hot Sauce Makes a Return
I had just received this press release in an e-mail yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it yet...
THE ORIGINAL POPIE’S HOTTER’N HELL SAUCE IS BACK!
Legendary Hot Sauce Once Again Produced by Cashio Family
Pensacola, Fla. – June 23, 2010 – Doug Cashio, great-great grandson of the legendary Popie DeVillier, has reclaimed his family heritage and relaunched the “Hotter’n Hell” hot sauce originated by his great-great grandfather in 1893.
“I grew up with Popie’s in my blood and learned to make my great-great-grandfather’s sauce when I was just a kid,” says Doug Cashio. “It’s been my lifelong dream to bring it back into my family and restore the integrity of the original sauce that built its legacy.”
The recipe was passed down the family tree for more than 90 years until Doug’s father Kent launched it commercially, to great acclaim, in 1992. The sauce, endeared by the lumberjacks of the former French-owned Louisiana Territory, was introduced to the public as Popie's Hotter'n Hell Sauce and...
Smoking Gun BBQ Grill Creators Found!
Remember that photo I posted a while back of the BBQ grill shaped like a Smith & Wesson Magnum 500 revolver? It appears that the people responsible for that beyond-cool barbecue have been discovered thanks to ScottRobertsWeb.com blog reader Mike (MJE1979).
This smokin' gun grill was architected and constructed by five welding students from Sandpoint High School in Idaho for a local firearms dealer.
If you click on the above link, you can see the five young welders standing with the nearly-completed 15-foot long grill before it was painted (I've also posted a thumbnail image to the right). You can read more about the project and more of what the students do at http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2010/02/17/news/doc4b7b9c7cca614755102078.txt.
As an aside, I think that these gentlemen should consider beginning a career designing and building these types of grill and smokers. Could you imagine how rabid the marketplace would be for these?
Photo by RALPH BARTHOLDT
Review - Loganville Shake Hot Chili Pepper Spice
Yet another crushed chile seasoning? While there's a little variance of flavors in dried, ground-up pods, we can pretty much guess what's mainly brought to the table - heat. Here is Loganville Shake's Hot Chili Pepper Spice, throwing down its gauntlet in the fiery foods arena in hopes that it will tickle the taste buds before it decimates them with a furious burn. Sounds like just the answer to add an instant smattering of flamage to your meals...
Peppahead Releases New Chile Powder, BBQ Sauce and Rub
Chile pepper grower, photographer and sauce & seasoning meister Larry Noggle has recently debuted a trio of products through the famous Peppahead brand aimed at flavor lovers and heat freaks alike. The first, Big Red BBQ Sauce, looks to be an all-purpose grilled and barbecued meat slatherer with a smokey edge to it. Big Red BBQ Rub is a Southwestern roasted chile seasoning that's billed to be "a rich roasted blend of Mexican and New Mexican chiles and spices" Both of the Big Red products are made with natural ingredients and are gluten free. Lastly, Smokey Santa Fe Chile Powder is a blend of Northern New Mexico Chiles, smoked with premium hard woods.
I have not tasted these new offerings from Peppahead, so I can't personally comment on their taste or versatility. But look for my review of these products coming soon to ScottRobertsWeb.com!
If you would like to try out these products, they are now available at Peppahead.com.
