Tips for Flawless Flank Steak

Flank Steak by thebittenword.com on Flickr

Flank steak can make a delicious and inexpensive meal, but because it's relatively lean it can be a bit tricky to grill or broil without drying out or unattractively curling. Here are some tips for flawless flank steak, grilled or broiled:

*Score the steak:: Using a sharp knife, make several shallow cuts in a crisscross pattern on both sides of the flank steak. Scoring the steak in this manner will prevent it from curling during grilling or broiling.

*Marinades with oil are best: A flavorful marinade that includes a little oil will help keep flank steak tender and prevent it from drying out while it grills or broils. One of my favorites is Bone Suckin' Yaki, which is also great for basting and grilling. If you like a marinade that doesn't already have some oil, simply mix in a tablespoon or so before marinating the steak. That's what I do when I use Ole Ray's Steak & Brisket Sauce, which is fabulous on venison as well as flank steak.

Bone Suckin' Yaki

*Marinate overnight: This will allow the marinade to penetrate the entire flank steak and give it the best flavor, as well as tenderize the meat. If you weren't able to plan ahead, then marinate for at least 2 hours.

*Use a cold broiler pan or grilling grate: If broiling the flank steak, place the meat on the rack of an unheated broiler pan. If grilling, remove the grill grate if possible (and make sure it's clean!) before lighting your coals so that it stays cool, and then carefully replace it when you're ready to place the flank steak on the grill. Using a cold pan or grill grate will help keep the meat from sticking.

*Don't over-cook: For best results, broil 3 to 4 inches from heat for 4 to 5 minutes, then baste with marinade and broil for another 4 to 5 minutes for medium-rare doneness (and only a little longer for medium). If grilling, follow the same directions and grill over indirect heat. Remove the meat from the broiler or grill just before you think it's ready to come off, because it will continue to cook a bit due to residual heat. Let the meat "rest" for at least 5 minutes to set before you slice it.

*Slice across the grain: To serve, use a very sharp knife to thinly slice the flank steak across the grain.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

How to Make a Flaming Sauce

A flambeed dessert can be a stunning ending for an unforgettable meal. If you want to try making a flaming sauce at home, here's how:

First, make sure the dessert you want to flambee is served in a fireproof bowl - no plastic!

Use brandy or other liquor that is at least 70 proof, and don't dilute with any other liquids. Pour 2 to 4 Tablespoons into a small deep saucepan, or into a large metal ladle. Don't use a skillet because its large flat surface makes it very hard to pour flaming liquid (and it's harder to control than a deep saucepan or ladle, and the last thing you want to do is to pour flaming liquid all over the kitchen or table!)

Use either a long match or a wand lighter to ignite the liquor, and then carefully pour it over the food. After the flames die down, you can stir the liquor into the dessert if you wish.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company

Spicy Italian Layered Dip

This zesty party dip is great with crackers or raw veggies. Not only does it taste good, but it's pretty, too! It needs at least an hour to chill, or you can make it the night before and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Ingredients
Dried oregano, or dried Italian herb blend (salt free)
8 oz cream cheese (regular or low-fat), softened at room temperature
6 oz goat cheese, softened at room temperature
6 oz basil pesto
2 cloves hot pickled garlic, drained & minced
8 oz oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained & chopped
Red pepper flakes, to taste

Mix the softened cheeses with the minced garlic and set aside. In a separate small bowl, mix together the sun-dried tomatoes and a pinch (or more, to taste) of the red pepper flakes. Line a casserole dish with plastic wrap, and very lightly sprinkle with just a bit of oregano or dried Italian herbs. Using a spatula, carefully spread one-third of the cheese-garlic mixture in the dish, spreading evenly to the sides of the dish. Then layer the following ingredients in this order: tomato-pepper mixture, one-third of the cheese-garlic mixture, pesto, and remaining third of the cheese-garlic mixture. Make sure you spread each layer to the edges of the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. To serve, remove top layer of plastic wrap, place serving plate face down over the casserole dish and hold in place while turning the casserole dish upside down so that the dip comes out onto the plate. Remove the remaining plastic wrap and serve with crackers and/or crudites (raw carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini sticks, etc.).

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Outta The Park BBQ Sauce

Outta The Park BBQ Sauce is a unique new barbecue sauce that's made with real ingredients (nothing artificial or engineered in a lab), and is remarkably delicious. Beginning with a pleasantly sweet tomato base that's enhanced with a touch of vinegar and mustard, the flavor evolves with the careful addition of garlic, spices and zingy ginger, and finally finishes with a satisfying hot pepper kick (about a mild-medium heat level) from a dash of jalapeno peppers and hot sauce. This full-bodied sauce will make your mouth sing: Thick and rich like any self-respecting tomato BBQ sauce, but with a velvety feel thanks to some creamy butter plus little bits of fresh ingredients to add interest. The main ingredient in this robust barbeque sauce is organic ketchup, and there's no high-fructose corn syrup or MSG or GMOs. The butter is made from non-rBST/rBGH treated cows, the spices are non-irradiated, and there are no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or additives. In sum, Outta The Park BBQ Sauce truly is a barbecue sauce that will please foodies and regular folks, and anyone who's looking for natural foods that actually taste good.

Perhaps what I enjoy the most in Outta The Park BBQ Sauce -- in addition to how good it tastes -- is its versatility: Slather it on ribs, chicken and other meats & poultry during the last 15 minutes of grilling or broiling and the sauce will keep your food moist and tender while adding amazing flavor and creating a seductive slightly caramelized coating that's irresistible, especially with the little bits of ginger and jalapeno pepper. Heat up some Outta The Park BBQ Sauce and use it as a warm condiment for hearty sandwiches, hamburgers, veggie burgers, grilled portobellos, and even as a sauce for steamed green beans or fish. Use it as a dipping sauce for fries, onion rings, hush puppies, chicken fingers or nuggets, jalapeno poppers, fish sticks... heck, even fried zucchini and tempura veggies. Cook up some chicken wings and then toss in a bowl to coat with this barbecue sauce for an amazingly delicious variation on Buffalo wings. Add some Outta The Park BBQ Sauce to your meatloaf recipe, baked beans, and ground meat for burgers to ratchet up the flavor. You can even pour it on pulled pork BBQ as an alternative to thin vinegar-based sauces, or use it in the crock pot with venison and other tougher cuts of meat. I hear it even makes a good sauce for homemade BBQ chicken pizza, but I haven't tried that recipe yet.

So if you're looking to hit a home run with friends and family at your Labor Day cookout -- or if you need a tasty gift for a baseball fan who likes to grill or eat good food -- make sure to order some Outta The Park BBQ Sauce from the Carolina Sauce Company, where it's currently on sale.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Durn Good Zesty Beef-Horseradish Sandwiches

This easy recipe makes 4 hearty sandwiches that can be enjoyed warm or cold, depending on your preference. For gourmet results, you want to use the best deli-sliced roast beef you can get, and fresh bread from a local bakery, but these sandwiches are still "durn good" if you simply use good supermarket cold cuts and bread. For some variety, you can substitute thinly sliced deli ham or roast turkey for the roast beef.

Ingredients
12 oz thinly sliced roast beef (or ham or turkey)
4 thin slices of Swiss or Provolone cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise (you can use low-fat)
1 Tbs prepared horseradish
1 Tbs Durn Good Hot & Spicy Mustard
2 bell peppers, sliced into rings
2 Tbs butter or margarine
4 Kaiser rolls, OR 8 thick slices of hearty dark bread like Pumpernickel or Rye
Several leaves of green leaf or red leaf lettuce

In a small bowl, stir together the mayo, horseradish and mustard. If desired, add salt to taste. Set aside in fridge until ready to assemble the sandwiches.

Melt the butter or margarine in a medium skillet and saute the bell pepper rings until slightly softened and almost tender ("al dente"). Remove the rings onto a paper towel on a plate to drain.

For warm sandwiches: Wrap the deli meat in microwave-safe clear plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 2 to 4 minutes or until warm, being careful to check because microwaves can vary greatly. For cold sandwiches, simply omit this step.

To assemble the sandwiches: line the bottom half of each roll (or one slice of rye or pumpernickel) with lettuce, then place 1 slice of cheese and 1/4 of the deli meat. Top with some of the sauteed peppers and a dollop of the mayo mixture. Add the roll tops or the top slice of bread, and enjoy.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

America's Best Pepper Jelly: The "Revenooers" Smoked Habanero Pepper Jam

Race City Sauce Works, a Charlotte NC sauce company, won two top awards at the America's Best Gourmet Food Competition in Anaheim CA earlier this summer. In particular, their amazingly delicious (and fiery-hot!) The "Revenooers" Smoked Habanero Pepper Jam was named America's Best Pepper Jelly in this prestigious national competition. Made with all-natural ingredients and North Carolina grown chile peppers, The "Revenooers" Smoked Habanero Pepper Jam delivers a devilishly delicious peppery punch, starting with a seductively sweet & smoky flavor and ending with a seriously hot habanero finish. This gourmet pepper jelly is thick and rich, but also pourable, which means it makes a wonderful sweet & spicy glaze for ribs, pork chops, chicken, ham, and all sorts of grillable and broilable foods. It's also perfect for pouring over a block of softened cream cheese for a quick and zesty appetizer to be enjoyed with crackers. The "Revenooers" Smoked Habanero Pepper Jam not only tastes good, but is good for you: it's all-natural and very low sodium, with only 5 mg of sodium per serving. This award-winning gourmet pepper jelly from Race City Sauce Works is also on sale at the Carolina Sauce Company!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Pickapeppa Jamaican Jerk Seasoning is Back!

Fans of authentic Jamaican cooking rejoice: The Pickapeppa Company of Jamaica has brought back its Jamaican jerk seasoning, with a new & improved recipe that's truly a genuine Jamaican jerk paste! Pickapeppa Jamaican Jerk Seasoning is made with all-natural ingredients in keeping with time-honored Jamaican traditions, including fiery hot scotch bonnet peppers, aromatic Jamaican allspice (pimento) and thyme plus other herbs & spices, escallions, cane sugar and cane vinegar. There are no artificial preservatives or fillers in this recipe, and the flavor is intensely rich, complex, savory and subtly sweet, with a healthy peppery kick.

Legend has it that jerk originally was developed by Jamaica's first inhabitants, the Tainos, and was later enhanced and perfected by the "Maroons", escaped African slaves who fought the British in the 17th century. Pickapeppa Jerk Seasoning is a versatile wet rub or paste that can be used on pretty much anything: meat (pork, lamb, goat, beef, venison), chicken & other poultry, fish and shellfish, and even vegetables like summer squash, mushrooms, peppers & onions, and rice dishes. As a general rule of thumb, use between 1 and 2 tablespoons of this concentrated jerk paste per pound of meat or chicken or fish, adjusting the amount to taste. Rub on, place in your refrigerator to marinate (anywhere from 30 minutes for fish to a few hours or overnight for meat), and then grill, broil, roast, crockpot, etc. Enjoy with hot white rice for an authentic Jamaican meal.

Pickapeppa Jamaican Jerk Seasoning is now available online at the Carolina Sauce Company, and it's currently on sale!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Pickapeppa Jamaican Jerk Seasoning has 0 grams of sodium per serving, in case you're looking for a very low sodium jerk paste...

Quick Tips for Avocado Lovers

Ripe, buttery avocados are one of my favorite treats. Whether you prefer the small but intensely rich Hass avocados from California or the larger, milder and lower-fat avocados from Florida, here are some tips for enjoying them at their best:

*How to tell them apart: Small avocados with a wrinkled, very dark (almost black) skin are Hass or California avocados. The ones from Florida are much larger, with smooth, bright-green skin.

*How to tell when an avocado is ripe: A ripe avocado will "give" a little when gently pressed, especially at the stem end. Avoid very soft avocados or ones with "mushy" spots, as they are over-ripe and/or bruised

*How to speed up ripening: Avocados ripen at room temperature, but to speed up the process simply place them in a closed brown paper bag to capture the natural ethylene gas that's released as the fruit ripens. Just remember to check it every day or two - I once forgot a ripening avocado in a bag on the top of my fridge, and it was not a pretty sight when I discovered it a couple of weeks too late!

*How to prevent browning of a cut avocado: Squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice over the surface, or sprinkle with vinegar as a last resort. Because cut avocado browns so easily when exposed to air, it's best to add to a salad or serve cut wedges or guacamole at the very last minute.

*How to store a cut avocado for later use: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, making sure to completely cover the cut surface to prevent browning. Store the wrapped avocado in your refrigerator. When ready to use, you can scrape off any surface browning with a knife - it won't affect the rest of the avocado.

*How to cut an avocado in half: Stick your knife in the stem end and gently insert straight in until you reach the pit, then run the knife lengthwise down and around the avocado using the pit as your guide. Remove knife, hold the avocado with a hand around each half and gently twist while pulling apart to separate. One side will hold the entire pit while the other side will have a "hollow" where the pit was.

*How to pit an avocado: After you've cut the avocado in half as described above, thrust the blade of a sharp paring knife into the pit. Then twist the knife gently to dislodge the pit, and lift it out (it will be "stuck" on the knife).

*How to peel an avocado: It's easiest to peel an avocado after you've cut it in half. Simply use your fingers to pull the skin off in strips starting at one end. A perfectly ripe avocado will easily peel this way. To cube an avocado to use the cubes in a salad, I first cut the avocado in half and remove the pit as described above. I then use a butter knife to carefully cut a cross-hatch pattern (several vertical cuts down the length of the half, then several horizontal cuts across) through the flesh of the avocado, being very careful to not cut through the skin. I then run a large spoon under the flesh at the skin while holding the avocado half over a bowl for the cubes to fall into.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company

Spicy Glazed Creole Shrimp

This is my fiery version of an old recipe from Better Homes & Gardens. Creole Shrimp is best served over hot cooked rice, and this recipe will serve 4. You can use regular ketchup for a milder dish, but I prefer the spicy, zesty flavors of jalapeno ketchup. If you don't have jalapeno ketchup, or if you want even more heat, simply add a minced & de-seeded fresh jalapeno pepper when you add the green pepper.

Ingredients
1 lb large shrimp, fresh or frozen & defrosted, peeled & deveined

1 Tbs butter (you can substitute canola oil but it won't be as rich)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp Slap Ya Mama Hot Cajun Seasoning*
1 cup tomato sauce
1 Tbs dry white wine
1/4 cup Jalapeno Ketchup (I recommend either Burning Asphalt Jalapeno Ketchup or Melinda's Jalapeno Ketchup)**

2 Tbs butter (don't use oil here)
2 Tbs light molasses
2 Tbs dry white wine
2 Tbs prepared mustard
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 cups hot cooked rice

To make the spicy Creole sauce, melt 1 Tbs of butter (or heat 1 Tbs oil) in a saucepan and saute the onion & garlic until tender, careful not to brown them. Add the green pepper, celery, Cajun seasoning and bay leaf, & stir to combine. The stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup and 1 Tbs dry white wine. Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is cooking, make the glaze by melting 2 Tbs butter in a medium skillet. Stir in the molasses, 2 Tbs wine, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium high, stir in the shrimp and cook until the shrimp is done, about 3 to 5 minutes.

To serve, place hot cooked rice on each plate and pour some of the Creole sauce over the rice, then spoon some of the glazed shrimp on top. Enjoy!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

*For a reduced-sodium version, use salt-free Louisiana Bayou Blend Seasoning and then add some ground red or cayenne pepper to add heat (the Bayou Blend Seasoning is not as spicy as Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning).

**Both the Burning Asphalt Ketchup and Melinda's Jalapeno Ketchup are currently on sale at the Carolina Sauce Company!