Pepper-Ring Fried Eggs

A photo from a friend of mine inspired me to make fried eggs inside of bell pepper rings. These are very easy to make: All you need is one or more large bell pepper of any color, raw eggs, and a very lightly oiled large frying pan (use cooking spray or a very light smearing of oil, butter or bacon grease). Garnish or season the eggs with salt, pepper, fresh or dried herbs, or even minced garlic, onion, or other minced veggies. I think it would be fun to "decorate" the egg yolk by carefully placing two whole peppercorns on the yolk as "eyes" and then using a curved sliver of red pepper as a mouth to make a smile. You could also sprinkle lightly with a pinch of ground pepper or dried thyme to make "freckles" or "razor stubble." I simply seasoned the eggs with seasoned pepper, Kosher salt and thyme, but go ahead and get as creative as you'd like.

To make pepper-ring fried eggs, use a sharp knife to cut the top off the bell pepper by slicing just below where the pepper walls begin to curve in at the top. Then slice rings approximately 1/4" to 1/2" thick, down the length of the pepper until it starts to get too narrow to hold an egg. You'll need 1 ring per egg. Try to slice the pepper so that cut edges are even and flat, so that the rings will lie flat on the frying pan and the eggs won't "leak" out via gaps.

Place the rings in a single layer in the oiled frying pan and heat over medium-high heat for a few minutes so that they'll finish cooking at the same time as the eggs when you add them. While the pepper rings cook, carefully break each egg into a separate cup or small bowl. When you're ready, gently slide each egg into a pepper ring--make sure the pan is very hot before you add the eggs into the rings so as to minimize any "leakage" if there are any gaps between the bottom of a ring and the pan. You want the pan hot enough for the egg to start setting almost immediately, and you can then lower the heat to cook without burning. If any egg white does leak out of a ring, don't panic because you'll be able to trim it after plating. After you add the eggs, season or decorate as desired, cover and reduce heat to medium or medium-low. Covering the pan will help the eggs cook safely while also "steaming" the peppers so that they're tender but firm when served.

Once the eggs are cooked to your desired level of doneness, uncover the pan and either carefully slide the egg-filled rings onto a plate or use a spatula to lift them gently from the pan and onto the plate. If any egg white leaked outside the rings while cooking, run the tip of a butter knife along the outside edge of the ring to trim the leaked white.

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment to let us know how it turned out!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: If you like to spice up your morning eggs, check out our selection of hot sauces ranging from mild to wild. And for Louisiana-style fried eggs, simply season with a sprinkling of Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning.

New Ghost Pepper Hot Sauces at Carolina Sauce

Buy Green Ghost Hot Sauce

It's been hellishly hot in North Carolina the past few weeks, so we've decide to run with the "extreme heat" theme in selecting new products to add to the Carolina Sauces online store.

Among the new hot sauces now available from us are several made with the Ghost Pepper (also called the bhut or naga jolokia pepper), which is widely regarded as the world's hottest pepper. While some ghost pepper hot sauces are solely about the heat level and don't even attempt to taste good, the following ones stand out from the crowd either because their heat-level is actually tolerable (assuming you're an experienced chilehead), or because they have intriguing and/or palate-pleasing flavors along with the extreme heat, or because they make good gifts or collector's items.

Buy Lethal Ingestion Hot Sauce

The first of the bunch is Green Ghost Hot Sauce, a curiously deep green hot sauce that combines jalapeno peppers, habanero peppers and naga jolokia chilis for multi-layered flavor and fire: The jalapenos lend their verdant color and trademark "grassy" flavor while the habaneros add citrus flavor notes that complement the intense heat and unique flavor of the jolokia. Somewhat tamer in heat than most ghost pepper hot sauces, Green Ghost Hot Sauce is a good choice when you want to add a jolt of lingering heat to foods you'd normally spice with jalapenos, including chicken, seafood, vegetables, rice, beans, stir-fry dishes, green curries and the like.

Lethal Ingestion Jolokia Hot Sauce is interesting in that it is made from the rare fatalii chile along with red savina habanero peppers and ghost peppers, pureed with just a bit of vinegar and no other ingredients for a firey-foods-fanatic's tasting pleasure. The three different peppers add their own characteristics and heat for a purity of true pepper flavor that's hard to find in other extreme hot sauces, making it an excellent choice for cooking and using at the table (in very small quantities of course). But even if you don't plan on actually using this sauce--and I consider it to be the most "food friendly" of the bunch--the eye-catching label and packaging make it quite popular as a collectible hot sauce.

Buy Da Bomb Ghost Pepper Sauce

Da Bomb Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce comes to us from the same pyromaniacs who gave us Da Bomb The Final Answer, which for years was the hottest hot sauce we sold (we now carry a few pepper extracts that deliver even more excruciating, weapons-level heat). What differentiates Da Bomb Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce from other jolokia sauces is its inspired base of mango, lime juice and water, and its omission of capsaiacin or pepper extract to boost the heat. The result is an intensely hot sauce that lacks the harshness or "chemical" aftertaste of other super-hot sauces. The subtle tropical flavor, enhanced by the use of habaneros as well as the fruit, means that this ghost pepper sauce will complement island cuisine or tropical recipes whether originating in the West Indies or in India.

Buy The Ghost Hot Sauce

Another unique jolokia sauce is The Ghost Hot Sauce, which combines ingredients common in Caribbean hot sauces--papaya, lime, carrots, onion and garlic--with a hefty amount of Indian bhut jolokia peppers, while again leaving out any extract. These ingredients help to bring out the natural flavor of the jolokia more so than with other ghost pepper sauces, so choose The Ghost Hot Sauce if you actually want to taste this unique pepper rather than simply experience its extreme heat. The Ghost is a good choice for heartier, more robust dishes especially grilled or broiled meat or poultry, chili or stews, curries, and the like.

Buy Mad Dog .357 Sauces

Finally, we've added a handful of new Mad Dog .357 hot sauces, which are always a big hit among hot sauce collectors as well as shooters and gun enthusiasts. The tamest of the bunch, Mad Dog .357 Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce, is nevertheless hotter than the other three hot sauces listed above, courtesy of a fair quantity of pepper extract. This powerful sauce stands out in that it blends peri-peri peppers (aka South African birdseye peppers) in with the jolokia peppers. Next up on the heat ladder is Mad Dog .357 Collector's Edition, which is available either with a golden bullet keychain or with a gun keychain. Both of these ultra-hot hot sauces pack 600,000 SHUs (Scoville Heat Units) of lethal firepower and rely on habaneros, specially-bred extra-hot cayenne peppers, and a healthy dose of pepper extract. Finally, the deadliest of the bunch is Mad Dog .357 Silver Collector's Edition Hot Sauce, sporting a bullet keychain with a secret compartment that hides a tasting spoon. This baby delivers a powerful 750,000 SHU wallop of heat and should be handled with the greatest of care.

All of these ghost pepper hot sauces are currently on sale at the Carolina Sauce Company, along with other new ultra-hot sauces that will be featured here in the near future.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Gloria's Cuban-Style Grilled Fish

I have a childhood confession: Other than bacalao, Mom never cooked fish unless it came from a box labeled "Gorton's" or "Mrs. Paul's." The only tuna I ever had came from a can, and I never even tasted salmon, much less anything more "exotic," until I went to college. It struck me as odd that, having lived in the island nation of Cuba until her 30s, my mother only knew one fish recipe, and it was for salt cod rather than fresh fish. Apparently her parents had preferred meat and poultry, and my mother never learned how to make any fish dishes other than Bacalao a la Vizcaina. I've since learned that there are plenty of fresh seafood dishes in Cuban cuisine. I came up with the following recipe based on my experience cooking and eating authentic Cuban food, reading Cuban cookbooks and being familiar with the ingredients and flavors used in traditional Cuban dishes.

For best results, use 1/2" to 3/4" thick fillets of a firm white fish like grouper, mahi-mahi, cod or halibut (I used amberjack, which worked fine but had a bit of a strong taste). Swordfish would probably also be a good choice. My recipe makes two generous servings but can easily be doubled.

Because citrus juice will "cook" fish (that is how ceviche is made), don't marinate for longer than 30 minutes or else the fish will dry out and toughen during grilling. Although I used lemon in my recipe, you could certainly substitute fresh lime instead. Finally, be sure to grill over indirect heat and remember to remove the fish from the grill a couple of minutes early while it's still not yet fully cooked--the residual heat will finish cooking the fish after you remove it from the grill. The fish in the photo was actually grilled indoors on our George Foreman grill, which did an excellent job and even produced nice sear marks.

Ingredients
Two 1/2" to 3/4" thick fish fillets (approx. 6 oz each)

Buy the Grip-Ez Zester

For the Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil, preferably Spanish
1/2 lemon (you'll use the juice AND the zest)
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper (I use white pepper)
For the Garnish:
Zest of 1/2 lemon (or of a whole lemon if you prefer)
1 Tbs small capers (drained if packed in liquid, or wiped of excess salt if packed in salt)
1 Tbs finely diced sweet red pepper

Zest the lemon and set aside the zest, then squeeze the juice from half the lemon into a small bowl. Whisk in the remaining marinade ingredients. Place fish in a shallow lidded container or in a resealable plastic bag, pour in the marinade, cover/seal and gently shake to cover fish completely in marinade. Marinate in refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes (max). While the fish marinates, combine the garnish ingredients in a small bowl. Make sure your grill grates are clean and well-oiled, then preheat grill to medium-hot. When ready to grill, remove fish from marinade and place fish on grill over indirect heat. Cover and cook for a few minutes, then carefully flip over and continue grilling until fish is *almost* done (the center doesn't yet flake). Remove from grill and let rest for a couple of minutes while the residual heat finishes cooking the fish. If it's still not done in the center, you can carefully place it back on the grill for another minute or so (or pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds), being careful not to overcook! To serve, place fish on plate and spoon some of the garnish on top.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Il Primo Giardiniera & Sport Peppers are Back!

Buy giardiniera online

BREAKING NEWS: Il Primo Giardiniera and Chicago-style Hot Dog Sport Peppers are once again back in stock at the Carolina Sauces online store!

After a protracted absence due to manufacturing problems, we're pleased to announce that our warehouse once again has these two popular Italian pepper condiments in stock and ready to ship. This is fresh inventory, just released by the manufacturer, and both products are on sale.

As you may know, Giardiniera is a sandwich condiment originating in Italy and comprising of marinated peppers (both mild/sweet and hot) and other vegetables including carrots, celery, cauliflower and olives. Often found in Italian delis in Chicago and New York, giardiniera is the ideal condiment for Italian subs and other cold-cut and meat sandwiches (call them heroes, hoagies, grinders, etc.). Giardiniera is also excellent on burgers or pizza, with eggs, in salads, and even as a snack on crackers, crostini, bruschetta or pita wedges.

Buy sport peppers online

As far as I can tell, pickled Sport Peppers are a specific variety of pepper and a Chicago specialty commonly enjoyed on hot dogs. In fact, some Chicagoans would argue that you can't have a real Chicago style hot dog without sport peppers. These long, slender peppers are pickled with vinegar and salt, and are also quite good as a condiment for sandwiches, pizza, salads, and anywhere else you'd use pickles or giardiniera. You can also chop or dice them to add to omelets, ground meat for burgers, egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad or potato salad, and other similar dishes.

You can order Il Primo Sport Peppers and Giardiniera from the Carolina Sauce Company on our Peppers, Pickles & Relish page.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

A Hot Sauce Gift Box for Shooters & Gun Enthusiasts

Do you love guns? How about hot sauce? If you or someone you know can answer "Yes" to both of those questions, the new Mad Dog .357 Hot Sauce Gift Box from the Carolina Sauces online store is a "must have," just like the .357 Magnum revolver for which this gift box--and the four hot sauces in it--is named.

Mad Dog hot sauces are coveted by fans of hot and spicy foods for their superior firepower, much like a good revolver is desired by a handgun enthusiast. In addition to their somewhat "tamer" basic product line which includes Mad Dog Inferno Hot Sauce, the folks at Mad Dog produce a line of high-quality, super-hot hot sauces made from 357,000 SHU (scoville heat units) habanero peppers and sold under the .357 name. Four of the most popular sauces in that line are included in this hot sauce gift box, one full-size (5 oz) bottle of each. These are:

*The original Mad Dog .357 Hot Sauce made with cayenne peppers, habaneros and pepper extract

*The Mad Dog .357 Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce, which adds naga/bhut jolokia (ghost peppers) to the original for a hotter burn

*Mad Dog .357 Hot Sauce Collector's Edition with a golden bullet keychain attached to the bottle

*Mad Dog .357 Hot Sauce Silver Collector's Edition, which is the hottest of the bunch and also comes with a bullet keychain attached to the bottle--but this bullet contains a secret tasting spoon hidden inside it!

The Mad Dog 357 Gift Box makes a great gift for the serious hot sauce collector, the seasoned fiery-foods enthusiast, and the person who's passionate about guns. Order it today from the Carolina Sauce Company while it's on sale.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Mad Dog makes a bunch of different gun-themed hot sauces and pepper extracts, named after the .38 Special, the 44 Magnum, and others...

Win Free Sauce: July's Crock Pot Game EXTENDED thru 10pm Tonight!

Want to win some FREE barbecue & grilling sauces and seasonings from the Carolina Sauce Company? You're in luck: We've extended our July Crock Pot Game through today, which means you still have time to play, and a chance to win our Cookout Prize Pack!

The photo on the left shows some of the zesty BBQ sauces, feisty hot sauces and condiments, and savory dry rubs included in the Cookout Prize Pack--and we're also going to throw in a couple of extra goodies not shown in the picture, as a surprise bonus.

To be eligible to win the free Carolina Sauce prize pack, here's all you need to do:

1.  "Like" us on Facebook to become a fan, if you haven't already done so

2.  Find our July 1 post announcing the July Crock Pot Game - the post  is pinned at the top of the Carolina Sauce Facebook page and has a photo of our crock pot, Grandma Gert

3.  Read and follow the rules in the July 1st post, and leave a comment on that post

We'll randomly select a winner at or around 10pm EDT tonight and announce the winner on our FB page thereafter, and will also message the winner to let them know. If you want to find out if you're the lucky winner, be sure to log onto Facebook sometime after 10pm tonight and also check your messages (the message will be coming from me personally).

Good luck, and have fun!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

June's Best-Selling Products at Carolina Sauce Co.

June's list of the top ten Carolina Sauce Company best-selling products includes several popular Father's Day gifts for Dads who like to grill and love all things barbecue. There are also a couple of first-time best sellers, and the return to the monthly top ten list of a couple of perennially popular sauces. Keep reading for the entire list, including "where to buy" links and brief descriptions of each product.

1. Wells Hog Heaven BBQ Sauce: This vinegar barbecue sauce from eastern North Carolina is our all-time best selling product, and it's ideal for making genuine Carolina style pulled pork barbecue. It's also quite good as a marinade for chicken, too.

2. Jamaica Hell Fire 2 in 1 Hot Sauce: Made in Jamaica using sun-ripened tropical peppers and a special blend of local spices, this feisty, all-purpose pepper sauce was our top seller in May and is a favorite of folks who enjoy splashing some Caribbean heat on pretty much any savory food.

3. Walkerswood Mild Jerk Seasoning: Made by Jamaica's best-known manufacturer of traditional Jamaican jerk products, this is the milder version of Walkerswood's fiery-hot traditional jerk seasoning. But don't worry, only the heat has been tamed--this authentic jerk wet rub delivers plenty of enticing, exotic Jamaican flavor to chicken, pork, beef, lamb, goat, seafood and veggies.

4. Melinda's Habanero Ketchup: As with June's third-place finisher, this seriously hot ketchup is making its debut on the best-seller list. Made with all-natural ingredients and plenty of Caribbean habanero peppers, this grown-up ketchup will please the palates of people who crave a fiery burn with rich tomato flavor.

5. Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce: Dropping two spots from its May finish is one of the most deliciously thick and richly flavorful scotch bonnet pepper sauces to come out of the West Indies. Made in Trinidad & Tobago using aged peppers in a traditional mustard base, Matouk's adds succulent papaya for a touch of sweetness that helps to mellow out the heat for a sauce that's beautiful with fish and seafood as well as chicken or meat.

6. Matouk's Calypso Sauce: Up a slot from its May position is the hotter, more savory sibling of the previous sauce on this month's list. Matouk's Calypso is more robust and is therefore an excellent choice for adding West Indian fire and flavor to grilled or roasted meats and other heartier fare.

7. Steak Branding Irons: We offer a variety of different styles of steak branding irons for anyone who likes to add their personal mark to their grilled steaks, including personalized branding irons custom-designed with your choice of up to three letters, political-party branding irons (your choice of the Democratic donkey logo or Republican elephant logo), and even a practical three-in-one Rare-Medium-Well branding iron that's indispensable for identifying steaks when grilling for family and friends.

8. Beer-Can Chicken Roaster: This deluxe grill-top chicken roaster is what the pros use when making beer-can chicken. The removable can-like cylinder is far sturdier than an aluminum can and can be filled with your favorite liquid, be it beer, wine or a marinade. Our beer-can chicken roaster also features four potato prongs which let you simultaneously cook potatoes or sweet potatoes to perfection.

9. Grill Sergeant BBQ Apron: This camouflage apron is the uniform of choice for the man who likes to take command of the barbecue grill. It features three enormous pockets to fit your BBQ weapons of choice, a bottle opener, four sauce/condiment pockets, special pockets to hold salt & pepper or spices, and a 6-can bandolier for your favorite "ammo" be it beer or soda. The Grill Sergeant BBQ Apron makes a great Father's Day or birthday gift!

10. Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce: This sweet and mildly spicy hot sauce returns to our top ten list and features luscious Georgia peaches and mellow Vidalia onions for a summery flavor that pairs beautifully with anything you grill, from chicken to pork, burgers to ribs, and even shrimp, fish and vegetables.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Happy Independence Day!

Flickr photo by Beverly & Pack

The Carolina Sauce Company wishes all of our friends, fans, customers and partners a safe and happy Fourth of July!

If you're grilling today, and especially if you're doing so in an area that's being hit with extremely hot and dry weather, please remember to follow these fire safety tips for barbecuing and grilling.

Likewise, don't forget to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, avoid cross-contamination of cooked foods with raw, and follow other easy but essential food safety tips for grilling, to ensure that everyone stays happy and healthy through the holiday.

No doubt you'll be ready to re-stock your BBQ sauces and seasonings after today--how would you like to do so FOR FREE?  That's right, we're giving away a bunch of sauces and more, to one lucky person!

All you need to do is visit the Carolina Sauce Company Facebook page and play the July Crock Pot Game posted on our page, and you'll be eligible to win a FREE barbecue cookout Prize Pack with a variety of zesty sauces, seasonings and condiments! It's easy to play: simply find the July 1st post on our page announcing the game, and leave your comment there. Full details are posted there, too.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Garlic Lover's Hot Sauce Gift Box

Spicy foods and garlic go together like bread and butter, rice and beans, chocolate and peanut butter, or other classic combinations of ingredients. So it's no surprise that garlic and hot sauce are often combined to produce a tantalizingly tangy, pungent and peppery burst of flavor that will enhance everything from pizza to pasta, burgers to sandwiches, stir-fry to grilled foods, plus chili, baked beans, roast beef or chicken, all sorts of vegetables, and more.

For the garlic-lover who also enjoys hot and spicy foods, or the hot sauce lover who enjoys the distinctive flavor of garlic--or the person with a vampire problem--the Carolina Sauces online store now has a brand-new Garlic Lover's Gift Box, also known as the "Garlic-O-Holic" Hot Sauce Gift Box. In this sturdy white cardboard gift box you'll find four full-size (5 oz each) bottles of the following fiery, garlic-infused hot sauces: Melinda's Garlic Habanero Pepper Sauce, which is a fiery hot sauce made with red habaneros, fresh garlic and other all-natural ingredients; Dave's Gourmet Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce, a medium Tabasco pepper hot sauce with mellow roasted garlic flavor; Tahiti Joe's Tropi Garlic Hot Sauce, which sports a unique mix of Italian ingredients like parmesan cheese, clam juice, garlic & red peppers with habaneros and jalapenos for tropical heat; and Chileheads Garlic Hot Sauce, a classic carrot & vinegar Caribbean style habanero hot sauce.

The Garlic Lover's Hot Sauce Gift Box is currently on sale at the Carolina Sauce Company.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria