Best-Selling Meats & Cheese at Carolina Sauce Co. for 2013

Sure, our name might be Carolina Sauce Company, but we're not just another seller of zesty sauces and condiments: We also offer a delectable selection of unusual, hard-to-find and full-flavored meats and cheeses ranging from specialty bacon and spicy beef jerky to imported cheeses and peppery cheese dips. Here are our top-selling meat and cheese products for 2013:

1. Crazy Jerry's Hot 'n Chili Cheese Dip is a velvety blend of creamy cheeses with just enough fiery chili peppers, savory spices and ripe tomatoes to deliver a big, bold flavor that will have you coming back for more. Perfect for dipping all sorts of chips, crackers, pretzels, carrots, celery sticks or even bread cubes, you can also pour this hot and spicy restaurant-style chile cheese dip over nachos, burritos, tacos and even breakfast eggs, hash brown potatoes and sausage. Try it on hot dogs and hamburgers as a cheesy topping with a peppery kick!

2. Bone Suckin' Beef Jerky is a high-quality, all-natural, high-protein snack made from real American beef and boasting the flavors of one of America's most popular barbecue sauces, Bone Suckin' Sauce. A favorite among hikers, back-packers, athletes, students, and anyone looking for a healthy, satisfying snack that's lightweight, nutritious and full of rich flavor, the mouthwatering savory-sweet flavor of this beef jerky is incomparable. It's a great item to include in care packages, Christmas stockings and gift baskets, and to keep in your pantry or desk drawer for those times when you don't have time to prepare a midday meal or go out to lunch, or you just need a handy pick-me-up.

3. Bacon & Bacon Gifts: Through our wonderful partner Bacon Freak, we're thrilled to be able to offer a huge variety of bacon ranging from traditional cuts to gourmet, flavored, and nitrite-free bacon, plus a mind-boggling array of bacon gifts including bacon gift boxes, bacon bundles, bacon-themed novelties, bacon-scented cologne and toiletries, bacon t-shirts and other apparel, bacon cookbooks, and pretty much anything else bacon-y that you can imagine.

4. Blair's XXX Sudden Death Beef Jerky is for serious chileheads with a penchant for meat, and for adventurous carnivores who get a thrill out of fiery foods. Protein-rich dried beef is generously seasoned with super-hot peppers including red habaneros, cayennes and the ultra-hot Red Savina. But that's not all: savory herbs and spices add complementary "steakhouse rub" flavor for a deliciously devilish snack that will satisfy your taste buds as well as your craving for fiery heat.

5. Blair's Original Death Beef Jerky is similar in flavor to Sudden Death Beef Jerky, but not nearly as hot, which broadens its appeal and makes it more practical as a backpacking, camping or hiking snack when water and liquids might be at a premium. If you enjoy hot and spicy snacks and are ready to feel alive, treat yourself to a bag of this spicy, savory-sweet and protein-packed meaty snack. One bite and you'll wish you had gotten more -- so plan ahead and order several bags while they're on sale at the Carolina Sauces online store!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Best-Selling Meats & Cheeses for 2012

You probably already know that the Carolina Sauce Company offers a huge selection of hot sauces, barbecue sauces, condiments and other zesty seasonings -- but did you know that we also offer a wide variety of meats and cheeses? We've partnered with specially selected producers, distributors and importers of country ham, bacon, specialty meats and even exotic & game meats plus fine cheeses from the US and around the world. Below are the top five best-selling meats and cheeses for 2012 at the Carolina Sauce Company:

1. North Carolina produces some of the best country ham in the nation, so it should come as no surprise that NC country ham was top-selling meat last year. We are proud to offer award-winning, traditionally cured country ham from Johnston County Hams in Smithfield, NC, renowned for its rich and complex depth of flavor and buttery texture. From whole hams to sliced, bone-in or boneless, cooked or uncooked, and even rare Mangalitsa ham, they have something for every taste and budget.

2. Gourmet & Specialty Bacon from our partner Bacon Freak came in second place. They offer a seemingly infinite variety of bacon, including traditional hickory smoked, nitrite-free, cracked pepper garlic, maple smoked, honey BBQ rubbed, spicy chipotle, mesquite smoked, vanilla bourbon, cinnamon sugar, applewood smoked, summer herb and other flavors & seasonings. They also carry specialty cuts including old-fashioned country bacon, center-cut Canadian style bacon, gourmet Private Reserve and even all-natural lamb bacon.

3. For years Spanish cheese remained in the shadow of better-known cheeses from France, Italy and England. But recently, people have begun discovering the wonderful flavors and textures of cheeses from Spain. Last year, our Spanish Cheese Assortment was the third most popular meat or cheese product (and the #1 best-selling cheese) at Carolina Sauce. This gift set comes with a half-pound portion of each of the following classic cheeses from Spain: Manchego, Mahon, Idiazabal and Murcia al Vino.

4. Bacon Bundles & sampler packs were a very popular gift last year, no doubt making many a baconista very happy. From themed bacon bundles and gourmet sample packs to gift boxes that also contain bacon apparel and bacon novelties, and even "bacon of the month" clubs, you can find a bacon gift for virtually any occasion and holiday.

5. Curemaster's Reserve Ham from Johnston County Hams has won national and international accolades for its incomparable flavor and texture. Ham connoisseurs familiar with Iberian ham and other fine pork delicacies will appreciate the deeply nuanced flavors in this gourmet smoked ham from North Carolina. It's the perfect special-occasion ham for celebrations, elegant parties and fine dining experiences at home.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Bacon-Wrapped Feta Bites

Bacon-wrapped feta cheese bites are a deliciously decadent appetizer or hors d'oeuvres that are a guaranteed hit at any party or gathering. They're ridiculously easy to make, and all you need is thinly-sliced bacon, a good-quality feta cheese, and a frying pan.

Feta cheese works well not only because its tangy flavor complements the savory-smoky meatiness of bacon, but also because it melts somewhat slowly, thus allowing the bacon to cook fully without the cheese turning into a greasy puddle.

The following recipe and photos are from my sister-in-law Cathy Aki.

1. You need one strip of thin-cut bacon per cube of feta cheese. Cathy used a block of herbed feta cheese from Belgium, and she says that a good cheese makes a big difference.

2.  Cut the feta into small cubes so that you can wrap a slice of bacon completely around all sides of the cheese. Place a cube at the end of a strip of bacon, then begin rolling at that end to wrap the cheese with bacon, turning as needed to cover all sides.

3. Place the bacon-wrapped feta cubes in a frying pan, leaving space between them and placing each with the end of the bacon facing the pan--this will help "seal" it as it fries so that you don't need to use toothpicks to secure.

Fry until all sides of the bacon are cooked (a few minutes per side, turning carefully with tongs). Cathy says that some of the cheese will melt out, but that's just extra goodness. When fully cooked, remove from pan and allow to cool on paper towels for a couple of minutes because the cheese will be HOT and could otherwise burn your mouth.

Enjoy "as is" or dip in your favorite dipping sauce if you wish.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Best-Selling Meats & Cheese for 2011

We began offering meats and cheese on the Carolina Sauce Company website through our new partners in the latter half of 2011. Here are the five most popular meat and cheese products for last year.

1. Bone-In Whole Cooked Country Ham: These award-winning country hams come from Johnston County, NC, and come ready to serve.  Slow-cooked, fully-trimmed and finished with an old-fashioned brown sugar glaze for succulent flavor, whole hams range between 7 to 10 lbs each.  Smaller "buffet" style hams are also available, as well as boneless whole hams and packs of pre-sliced country hams. You can find these and more on our Country Ham page.

2. Dry-Cured NC Bacon:  Hailing from Johnston County, this thick-cut bacon is dry-cured and hickory-smoked for succulent, mouthwatering favor and irresistible aroma. The special aging process keeps this bacon from shrinking as it cooks, unlike the cheap mass-produced commercial bacon from the supermarket. This dry-cured North Carolina bacon is available pre-sliced for convenience, or in 2 lb. slabs if you prefer to cut your bacon as needed.

3. Boneless Buffet Style Cooked Country Ham: This is THE ham you'll want to serve for Easter, Christmas and any other special occasion, and it also makes an impressive choice for Sunday dinner.  Averaging about 3 lbs in weight, it's perfect for smaller families.  The old-fashioned flavor is deep and rich, and the buttery texture is sublime. Each ham comes ready-to-serve, vacuum-sealed and in a traditional cloth bag.

4. Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese:  One taste of this remarkable, robust cheese and you'll never reach for the green can again.  Imported from Italy, this authentic parmigiano-reggiano cheese is made from unpasteurized part-skim cow's milk and boasts a full, pungent flavor that will enhance all of your favorite Italian dishes from pasta to pizza to chicken or eggplant parm.  The firm texture is perfect for shredding and grating, and you can also serve pieces as part of a cheese plate with walnuts and pears, or drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar or honey.  You can find other fine cheeses, both domestic and imported, on our Cheese & Cheese Gifts page.

5. Bacon Gift Certificate from Bacon Freak:  Every bacon-lover will appreciate a gift certificate redeemable for bacon, bacon-flavored condiments and foods, bacon-themed apparel and accessories, and even bacon-scented cologne. These electronic bacon gift certificates are available in a wide range of amounts to fit any budget, can be printed out if you prefer to give a paper certificate, and they never expire.  We also offer gift certificates for many other types of foods, including hot sauces & BBQ sauces, gourmet imports and more, and you'll find them on our Gift Certificates page.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  All of our best-seller lists are conveniently available for your browsing on our Best-Selling Products page.

Spicy Chili-Cheese Beer Bread

Spicy Chile-Cheese Beer Bread

I was seriously craving some homemade bread yesterday but had only a two-hour window of time to bake, so what did I do?  I turned to an old beer-bread recipe that requires no yeast or rising time, and jazzed it up with some dried de arbol chilies and sharp NY white cheddar cheese.  You could probably substitute other dried chiles and vary the amount so as to change the heat level to suit your taste.  The 8 de arbol chiles made the bread about a medium in heat, by bread standards.  And feel free to use a different cheese, such as Monterey Jack or pepper jack, or even hoop cheese.  The beer you select will make a noticeable difference in the taste, so choose a beer you enjoy drinking.  I used a bottle of Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest.  Very important:  You need to add the full bottle of beer to the recipe, so no sipping (at least not from that bottle)!

Dried De Arbol Chilies

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use half whole-wheat and half white, for a heartier bread)
3 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 to 8 dried hot chiles such as de arbol
4 oz. cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 12-oz bottle beer
1 egg, beaten

Diced sharp NY cheddar

Soak the dried chilies in hot water for a few minutes to soften, then drain and coarsely chop or cut with kitchen shears.  While the chilies are soaking, start preheating the oven at 375° F and combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Stir in the cheese and chopped chiles, then pour in the beer and stir until just combined (the dough will be somewhat stiff and dry-looking).  Turn dough onto a very lightly floured surface and knead just enough to form a ball.  Place on a baking sheet and use a sharp knife to slit an X across the top of the bread.  Brush the top with the beaten egg, then place baking sheet on the lower-middle rack of your oven.

Interior view

Bake at 375° F for about 1 hour or until the loaf turns golden brown.  Remove bread from baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool for several minutes before slicing.  Enjoy plain or with your favorite savory spread.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  When I made this recipe yesterday, I removed the bread from the oven after only 50 minutes and it was slightly under-done (see interior view photo on right).  Interestingly, the toothpick I had inserted to test for doneness had come out clean, which is why I assumed the bread was done baking in under an hour as it normally would be without the cheese and chilies.  If you make this bread recipe at home, please leave a comment here to let us know how long you baked it for, and also whether you made any modifications to the ingredients.

PPS:  I made this recipe again but used sharp yellow cheddar, milder dried Ancho chiles (two large ones), and a hefty doppelbock (Weeping Radish Christmas  Bier), and baked the bread for just a couple of minutes over an hour.  The bread came out perfectly cooked, darker in color (see photo on left) and with a more pronounced, earthier beer flavor.  In addition to being less spicy than the De Arbol chiles, the Ancho chiles were also a little sweeter, which provided a pleasant contrast to the sharper cheese and heartier beer flavor.  Feel free to experiment with other chile, beer and cheese combinations, and leave a comment with your results.

We Have Cheese!

The Carolina Sauce Company is now your source for fine domestic and imported cheese. From creamy brie to tangy blue cheese, rare aged gouda to classic Cheddar, hard-to-find Irish cheeses and of course classic Italian hard cheeses, we probably have what you're looking for. If you enjoy cooking with cheese or slicing it for sandwiches, or sprinkling grated or shredded cheese on your favorite dishes, or serving a well-appointed, palate-pleasing plate of cheeses before or after dinner, make sure to visit our brand-new Cheese and Cheese Gifts page.

We list just a small sampling of the wide variety of individually-packed cheeses and special cheese assortments you can order through our carefully-selected cheese vendors. For more information about a specific selection, or to browse the full offerings available from our partners, simply click on any link on the page and you'll land on the page for that product at our vendor's site--and from there, you can explore what they have to offer.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Carolina Sauce Newsletter: Grand Re-Opening Sale, Coupon & New Products!

Grand Re-Opening Sale & Coupon!

We're thrilled to announce that the Carolina Sauce Company is open for business again, and we're having a huge sale to celebrate our Grand Re-Opening! Use the coupon code Launch2011 to get 10% off your product total at the Carolina Sauces online store, no minimum purchase required! No order is too small, and the coupon is good even on already-discounted sale items. This coupon will expire at midnight EDT on Friday, July 29th.

We've successfully completed our move, and we're pleased to announce the launching of our new order fulfillment facility located in NC and operated by one of our longtime partners for hot sauces, BBQ sauces and other fiery specialty foods. This partnership will allow us to expand our entire product line and offer more hot sauces and gift items than ever before. We're also in the process of bringing back popular North Carolina products and other old favorites that are not yet in stock again, so stay tuned for future announcements on this blog and in future newsletters, as more products become available. And if you don't currently receive our FREE monthly e-Newsletter, with special sales and coupons, recipes, new product info and other zesty news, simply sign up for the Carolina Sauce newsletter.

In addition to expanding our product offerings, we will be transitioning to our new FedEx shipping and fulfillment system to offer our customers even better values on Ground and Express Shipping. We're working on USPS shipping options and hope to resume shipping with the US Postal Service to APO, FPO and other addresses later this year.

If you have questions about your order on the Carolina Sauces store, or about specific products or other customer service needs, our new customer service email is service@carolinasauces.com.

***Don't forget to enter the coupon code Launch2011 for 10% off your product total, good through Friday, July 29, 2011.***

NEW PRODUCTS: Meats, Cheeses, and Food Art

The Carolina Sauce Company is now THE place to shop for the best deals on meats and cheeses from North Carolina and around the world, including country ham and bacon from Smithfield, NC; naturally raised buffalo from South Dakota; Italian, Spanish, and other European cheeses & deli items; and even all-natural, farm-raised exotic meats and game from Fossil Farms. We've partnered with carefully selected producers, importers and distributors of hard-to-find specialty meats and cheeses to deliver straight to your home or business, at a reasonable price and with outstanding customer service. Here's just a sampling of what you can now order:

*Country Ham, honey-cured ham, aged prosciutto, bacon, country sausage and more from North Carolina's famous Johnston County Hams, shown in the margin on the left of this blog

*Kosher deli items, foie gras, gourmet cheeses & butter, smoked salmon, Russian, Spanish & French foods and more from Your Gourmet Food Store, a comprehensive source for fine international delicacies at affordable prices

*Imported pate & gourmet fish products from around the world, courtesy of our new partner www.CyberCucina.com

*Busseto Dry Cured Salami and award-winning Parmigiano-Reggiano Stravecchio cheese from Italy, authentic Serrano Ham from Spain, assortments of Cheddar cheeses and French Cheeses, plus other mouthwatering imports from OliveNation

*Grass-fed, grain-finished buffalo from Dakota Buffalo Company

*Alligator meat and other exotic meats from Fossil Farms, a family-owned and operated farm

Make sure to visit our brand-new Meats and Cheese page to see our current partners and their products, and make sure to return regularly as we'll be expanding our offerings in this new category.




If you appreciate food art, including classic posters, chili pepper art, food photography and more, you'll love our new selection of food-related Art & Posters, brought to you in affiliation with art.com and AllPosters.com. We even have officially licensed Harry Potter wall art, including Every Flavour Candy Beans Wall Art and other confections from the books and movies, Various Assorted Magic Potions Wall Art, and more! Our whimsical wall art, beautiful art prints and eye-catching posters make great gifts for your favorite foodie, chilihead or Harry Potter fan.

Please note: Orders for meats, cheeses, art, posters and other partner products are fulfilled by our partners, who may offer their own special coupons and sale offers, so Carolina Sauces coupons do not apply.

Find Recipes, Special Coupons, Product Reviews, Zesty News & More

The Carolina Sauce Facebook Page is your source for Carolina Sauce news, interesting food articles, and exclusive Facebook-only coupons. For access to these special coupons and the latest zesty news, simply visit our Facebook page and click on the "Like" button to become a Fan. You can then click on the Coupons tab and access special offers. And if you're looking for new recipes, grilling tips, product reviews, and the occasional chuckle, visit this blog on a regular basis. Here's where we post delicious recipes, review new products as soon as they arrive, announce any discontinued or unavailable products, warn of possible product shortages, run special sales and discounts, and provide other useful information. Subscribe to our free RSS feed and you won't miss a single zesty thing! Just fill in your subscription info in the spaces provided in the left-hand column of this blog.

Follow SaucyGlo on Twitter for additional exclusive coupons, the latest food news, & for sharing zesty tips!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria