Fizzy Green Tea, Berry & Ginger Cooler

This refreshing drink is a great way to cool off during the final hot days of summer. It's also a delightful and easy-to-make energizing alternative to iced coffee or plain iced tea, plus you get all the benefits of green tea and cinnamon.

You can multiply the ingredient amounts to make enough for a family or a party, and you can brew it ahead of time and store in the refrigerator before combining with the ginger ale. Its peach-blush color is quite lovely when served in clear glasses or a clear pitcher.

Ingredients
4 bags of green tea
1 bag of berry herbal tea
1 stick cinnamon
4 cups boiling water
Ginger ale (I use diet but you can use regular)

Place the tea bags and cinnamon in a large, heat-safe bowl (preferably glass) or a 4-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup. Pour in the boiling water, cover, and allow to steep for at least 30 minutes, or longer for a stronger, more concentrated tea.

When ready to serve, remove the tea bags and gently squeeze into the bowl to extract more flavor before discarding the bags. Also remove the cinnamon stick. Fill pitcher or individual drinking glasses with ice, pour about half-way to 2/3 full with the tea, then finish filling with ginger ale. Enjoy!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company

PS:  I haven't tried this yet but if you're planning a large gathering I bet you could make a double or triple batch of the tea, chill for a few hours or overnight, then when it's time for your party simply pour the tea into a punch bowl and add almost as much ginger ale.

Remembering the Fallen

Flickr photo by Twilight Taggers

NY... DC... PA... Benghazi...

We pause today to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11, their friends and families, the first responders and all other selfless individuals who served those in need, and everyone whose life was irrevocably altered by the tragic events of twelve years ago and just one year ago.

May we never forget, may we never give in to evil, and may we never give up the fight for freedom and justice in a peaceful world.

Respectfully,
Gloria

Grilled Sumac Chicken

This is the first time I've ever cooked with sumac, a popular spice in the Middle East and Mediterranean region. In those parts of the world, tart red sumac berries are dried and ground into a fragrant, burgundy-colored coarse powder with a distinctively bright and lemony flavor. Sumac is used to season chicken and fish before cooking, stirred into rice and salad recipes, and sprinkled over hummus and warm pita bread  that's first brushed with olive oil. In addition to its culinary applications, sumac is also used in tanning leather and dyeing fabrics.  **Note: Edible sumac is a different plant from poison sumac and does NOT contain the toxin found in poison sumac. You can buy ground sumac online or at Middle Eastern and specialty markets.

Recipes for sumac chicken are common in Lebanese, Moroccan, Persian, Palestinian and other Middle Eastern and Arab cuisinse. Traditionally, the chicken is coated with ground sumac and baked or roasted over sliced onions layered on top of pita bread rounds.  As the chicken cooks, its juices are soaked up by the pita bread, making for quite the delicious, if not exactly low-carb or low-fat, meal.  For a healthier dish that's very low carb (as well as gluten-free) and lower in fat, I adapted the traditional recipe for the grill and omitted the pita bread altogether. If carbohydrates or gluten aren't a concern, you can serve my grilled sumac chicken with or over pita bread, rice or couscous.

Click here to buy sumac online

Ingredients
Approx. 3 lbs cut chicken (I used leg quarters & removed most of the skin)
1 onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (approx. 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup ground sumac
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground peppercorns (I crush them using a mortar & pestle)
Optional garnish: Chopped parsley

Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a resealable 1-gallon plastic bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing. Shake and knead the bag to combine thoroughly and coat the chicken evenly with the marinade. Place in refrigerator to marinate several hours or overnight, turning and gently shaking the bag once or twice during that time to ensure even distribution of the marinade. When ready to grill, remove chicken from bag and place on grill grate over indirect medium heat, and transfer the onions into a grill wok or basket also over indirect medium heat. Pour any remaining marinade over the chicken at the beginning of the cooking time, then discard bag (do NOT baste during cooking with any used marinade).

Cook until the onions are golden and the chicken is fully done (the internal temperature reaches 165°F), turning the chicken once or twice and stirring the onions a few times. The chicken should be done in about 30 minutes and the onions in about 15 minutes so be prepared to remove the onions from the grill first.

Serve the chicken with the onions -- you can serve with or over couscous, rice or pita bread if you wish -- and garnish with chopped parsley or a light sprinkling of ground sumac if desired. Makes 4-5 servings.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Get FREE Safari Rub from Jim's Own - Here's How

During September, our partner Jim's Own Sauce is giving away FREE packages of their zesty, savory Safari Rub!

Jim's Own Safari Rub is a bright blend of dried peppers, spices and herbs inspired by the flavors of South Africa. Bright, lightly spicy, subtly exotic and with a refreshing citrus zip, this aromatic blend of coriander, pepper and lemon works culinary magic on everything from lamb and pork to chicken, fish and shrimp. It's also excellent on venison, in rice dishes, and even mixed into ground meat for burgers and meatloaf. Whether you're cooking indoors on the stove or in your oven or crockpot, or outdoors on a grill or smoker, simply pat some Safari Rub on your food and marinate in the refrigerator: Overnight or several hours for red meats, up to 1 to 2 hours for poultry, and 30 minutes to 1 hour for fish, seafood and vegetables.

Jim's Own is one of North Carolina's most popular and successful lines of BBQ sauces and seasonings. Makers of award-winning barbecue sauces and BBQ rubs, Jim's Own is giving away a different flavor of one of their mouthwatering all-purpose dry rubs with every online order of Jim's Own products over $25 (excluding shipping/taxes), featuring a different variety of free seasoning rub each month through November. All of Jim's BBQ dry rubs and seasonings are versatile and easy to use, and the whole family will enjoy their homestyle flavor.

If you want a FREE full-size package of Jim's Own Safari Rub, just place an order online for over $25 in Jim's Own products (exclusive of shipping & taxes). Click here to order. Our friends at Jim's Own will include the free dry rub along with the items in your order.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Grilled Sirloin Top Roast with Vegetables & Gravy

Did you know you can cook a beef roast on the grill? I didn't. Greg came up with this very simple method for grilled roast with vegetables. He also used the drippings from the roast to whip up a rich, satiny gravy to serve over the meat.

In my not-so-very humble opinion, this is the best way to enjoy a comforting "wintertime" roast during the summer without having to use your oven. Moreover, there's nothing to measure other than temperature and doneness of the meat. All you need is a few minutes to chop the veggies, sear the roast and wrap everything up, and then a few hours of unattended roasting time on the grill (and a few minutes to make the gravy if you want to), and you'll have a mouthwatering dinner with minimal effort and no residual oven heat competing with your AC in the kitchen. You can use any root vegetables you like if you're not crazy about one or more of the ones listed below.

Ingredients
1 sirloin top roast (or other roast)
Your favorite BBQ Dry Rub (we used Jim's Own Safari Rub)
Butter
1 or 2 Carrots, peeled & cut into chunks
1 Onion, cut into wedges or rings
1 or more turnips depending on size, peeled (or not) & cut into chunks (I used baby red turnips and didn't peel them)
Flour
Milk

Generously coat the roast with the seasoning rub on all sides -- pat it on, do NOT rub because rubbing will damage the meat fibers and increase the chances of drying out the meat. Place the roast on your grill directly over HIGH heat just to sear on both sides. Do not overcook -- all you want is a nice brown sear on each side without cooking the inside, and this takes only a few minutes per side.

While the roast is searing, cut a piece of aluminum foil that will be large enough to wrap the roast with the vegetables. When the roast is nicely seared on all sides, transfer to the foil (if grilling with gas, turn your grill down to Medium), add the vegetables and a couple of pats of butter, sprinkle with more of the BBQ rub, then wrap up.

Place the wrapped roast, seam side up, on your grill over indirect Medium heat -- if grilling with charcoal you may need to rearrange your coals to achieve. Roast for about 4 hrs or until done to your liking (the safe internal recipe for a beef roast is 140°F) and the vegetables are tender.

When the roast is done, remove from grill and pour the drippings from the foil package into a saucepan to make the gravy while the roast rests: Heat the drippings with a little bit of butter over medium heat until the butter melts. Gradually whisk in some flour, about the same amount as the butter & drippings in the pan, and cook until you have a light brown paste, whisking or stirring constantly (yes, you're making a roux so cook it to the color you prefer, anywhere from light to dark brown, keeping in mind that the darker the color the richer and deeper the flavor). Slowly whisk in some milk, just as much as you need to make a thick but pourable gravy, again whisking constantly. Keep cooking until the gravy will coat a spoon and it reaches the consistency you like. If you have any little pieces of "burnt ends" from the roast, go ahead and chop them up and add them to the gravy. You can also add butter-sauteed sliced mushrooms. Don't forget to taste for balance and season with salt/pepper or even a dash of the dry rub if desired.

To serve, slice the roast against the grain as you would a brisket. Arrange beef slices and cooked vegetables on a serving platter or individual plates, then pour gravy over the beef.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS:  During September, our friends at Jim's Own Sauce are giving away a FREE package of Jim's Safari Rub (which works really well in this recipe) with every online order of Jim's Own products over $25 exclusive of shipping & tax.

Fataliis, Scorpions & Ghosts, Oh My!

Serious chiliheads, fiery-foods fanatics and hard-core hot sauce addicts will know what the title to this post refers to.

For the rest of you, fataliis, scorpions (Trinidad AND Moruga) and ghosts (aka bhut jolokia) are the three types of peppers that provide the extreme heat and and deliriously delicious flavor of Heartbreaking Dawn's Mauvais Sang, newly released and now available at the Carolina Sauces online store.

Mauvais Sang -- the name means "bad blood" -- is easily one of THE HOTTEST all-natural, extract-free extreme hot sauces on the market. But it's also one of the best-tasting ones, sweetened with agave, spiced with coriander, and tanged with cider vinegar and lime. (Is "tanged" even a word? No? Well it should be.)

This ultra hot sauce is highly concentrated and best enjoyed either in recipes or with the very lightest of touch on served food. I don't care how tough you think you are: Do NOT simply splash it on with abandon as you would some Texas Pete or Tabasco Sauce, or you will be punished severely and will be begging desperately for water, milk, ice, ANYTHING to put out the fire in your mouth. Unless you are an experienced consumer of super-hot hot sauces (the watered-down wimpy supermarket stuff doesn't count), I strongly recommend tasting a very small amount on a toothpick first so that you can get a sense of the heat and more safely gauge how much to use.

If your tongue survives that test and you find the blissful pleasure hidden in the peppery pain, I won't be surprised if you start adding Mauvais Sang to chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, burritos or tacos, red beans & rice, your homemade hot wings or barbecue sauce, and other similar recipes. And if you are a culinary pyromaniac, I bet you'll apply it judiciously at the table to your sandwiches, pizza, chicken, pork, grilled shrimp, and even scrambled eggs or hash browns.

Buy Heartbreaking Dawn's Mauvais Sang Hot Sauce online while it's on sale, and let us know in a comment what you're using it on and how you like it.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Ktzitzot: Tasty Meat Patties that are Easier to Make than Pronounce!

I enjoy culinary challenges like experimenting with new ingredients (stay tuned for recipes calling for sumac and hog jowls - but not together) and exploring unfamiliar cuisines.

One recent kitchen "R&D" project involved researching traditional foods for Rosh Hashanah, and that led me to discover Sephardic recipes. Having grown up in New York City, I've enjoyed many different Jewish dishes but virtually all of them have come from the Ashkenazi or European Jewish tradition, which is heavily influenced by the cuisines of Eastern Europe and Germany. Sephardic Jews, on the other hand, trace their lineage back through Spain, northern Africa and the Middle East. Thus, while Sephardic recipes feature many of the same traditional foods found in Ashkenazi recipes, the seasonings usually are stronger and more varied due to the influence of Spanish, Middle Eastern, Moroccan and other north African cuisines.

One such Sephardic recipe is ktzitzot, or Israeli ground beef patties (I've read that they can also be made from ground chicken). Similar to the better-known kofta kabobs of Lebanon and Egypt, ktzitzot are formed into little meatballs that are flattened out into patties before frying. Ktzitzot can also be shaped into long "sausage-like" cylinders that are flattened out. Either way you shape them, the key is to fry them until they are crispy on the outside and well-done on the inside. You can serve ktzitsot as a snack with a spiced tomato sauce or tahini dipping sauce, or in a wrap or pita sandwich with lettuce, tomato and onions (you can add either of those sauces to the sandwich). For a low-carb meal, I served the ktzitzot on a bed of lettuce with sliced cucumbers and grape tomatoes, drizzled with tahini sauce. A pound of beef will easily make a dozen patties or kabobs, and you can serve any leftovers straight from the refrigerator or reheated.

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
2 to 3 Tbs olive oil for frying (used in 2 batches)
2 eggs
1 lb ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika* (mild or hot)
1/2 tsp sweet paprika*
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 to 1 Tbs matzoh meal or bread crumbs
Optional: Tahini sauce or dressing, chopped parsley as garnish

*If you don't have smoked Spanish paprika, or if you prefer a milder flavor that isn't smoky, omit the smoked paprika and increase the sweet paprika to 1 tsp (you can also do the opposite if you prefer a bolder, smokier flavor)

Heat a Tablespoon of oil (reserve the rest) in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then fry the onion until they turn deep golden-brown, being careful not to burn. If necessary, add a little of the reserved oil to the skillet to keep the onions from burning.

While the onions are cooking, beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients except the reserved oil and the matzoh meal or bread crumbs. Use a large spoon to combine everything that's in the bowl until thoroughly mixed, then begin adding in the matzoh meal or bread crumbs a little at a time until all excess liquid has been absorbed -- you want the beef mixture to glisten and still be very moist and "sticky" to handle, but without being wet or runny, and you might not need to use the entire Tablespoon. When the onions are nicely browned, stir them into the meat mixture.

Add reserved oil to the frying pan and turn heat down to low. Use your hands to take a small amount of the meat mixture and form into a relatively "loose" meatball -- handle the meat as little as possible and avoid compressing it together. Place the meatball in the pan and use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to flatten it out into a patty. Repeat this process with the rest of the meat, leaving a little space between the patties so that you can turn them over while they cook (you may need to cook the meat in batches). When the pan is full, turn the heat back up to medium-high and fry until dark and crispy on the outside (they'll be well-done in the middle, which is how you want them), turning over to cook both sides. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer the cooked ktzitzot onto paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve with a dipping sauce or a drizzle of tahini dressing and garnish with chopped parsley if desired. Serves 3 to 4.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

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

You've probably heard the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Such is the case with our list of Best-Selling Sauces for August at the Carolina Sauce Company. Not only did some of the same sauces continue their reign on the list, but several held on to the same position they had in July. At the same time, however, we had a few eye-opening newcomers that sold surprisingly well last month, and we had a couple of ties, too.

The following is the complete list of August's top-selling sauces and seasonings. We've updated the list on the Carolina Sauce Company home page where we always show the current list, but for your convenience I've included short reviews of each product below. For additional information or to purchase one or more of these zesty condiments, just click on the product name or its photo.

1. Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce: This festively fruity and fiery scotch bonnet hot sauce from Trinidad & Tobago is our all-time best-selling hot sauce, and rarely does a month go by when it's not on the top-ten list. Juicy sun-ripened papayas add tropical sweetness that complements and moderates the flaming heat of the scotch bonnet peppers, making Matouk's West Indian Salsa Picante an excellent choice for poultry, seafood, veggies, rice & bean recipes, and other savory dishes.

2. Jamaica Hell Fire 2 in 1 Hot Sauce: Holding on to second place for another month, this peppery concoction of select Jamaican chilies and tropical spices is a versatile all-purpose table sauce that will spice up any savory food. It's also handy in any recipe calling for hot sauce, making it a favorite of chefs and cooks who appreciate spicy heat that doesn't burn you out.

3. Wells Hog Heaven BBQ Sauce: The vinegar barbecue sauce of choice for connoisseurs of genuine eastern NC barbecue, Wells is our top-selling product of all time across all categories (despite finishing in third place for the past two months). If you want to experience authentic Carolina barbeque at home, all you have to do is smoke a Boston (aka pork) butt low and slow until it pulls apart with forks, then splash on this sauce. Take a bite, and you're in Hog Heaven!

4. Matouk's Calypso Sauce: For the third consecutive month, Matouk's Calypso holds steady in the fourth slot on our best-seller list. Similar to Matouk's West Indian but a bit hotter and less sweet without the papaya fruitiness, the distinctive flavor and fire of aged scotch bonnet peppers and the tang of mustard take center stage in this traditional-style tropical hot sauce.

5. Susie's Original Hot Sauce: Perhaps the best-known export from the tiny island of Antigua, Susie's hot sauce is a straightforward vinegar & mustard hot pepper sauce that's savory and tangy without any fruitiness or sweetness. What makes it stand out from run-of-the-mill hot sauces is the special secret blend of spices and expertly selected local chilies that Susie uses to this day in her original recipe.

6. Walkerswood Traditional Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, Hot & Spicy: Fans of authentic Jamaican jerk cooking can't get enough of this fiery wet rub. Made with traditional Jamaican jerk spices and herbs plus plenty of scotch bonnet peppers and fresh scallions, this highly concentrated paste is both exotic and yet inviting in its aromatic fragrance and jaunty flavor. Apply judiciously to anything from pork, beef, lamb or goat to chicken, fish, or even potatoes, let marinate in your fridge for at least an hour or more, then dive into the flavors of Jamaica!

7. In a tie for seventh place last month were two Southern favorites, the ever-popular Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce, a mildly spicy hot sauce blending the summer flavors of ripe Georgia peaches and mellow Vidalia onions, and the sassy, spicy North Carolina barbecue sauce called JohnBoy & Billy's Hot Grillin' Sauce, a tangy-hot all-purpose BBQ and grilling sauce that's made with tomatoes, mustard, vinegar and just enough hot peppers to keep wimps away.

8. The eighth slot goes to another tie, this time between two newcomers to our best-seller list: Dave's Insanity Ghost Pepper Salsa, one of the hottest salsas on the market because it's made with an insane amount of jolokia chiles (aka ghost peppers), and the much milder but nevertheless respectably hot El Yucateco Jalapeno Hot Sauce, a genuine Mexican hot sauce that makes the most out of zippy green jalapeno peppers. If you enjoy cooking Mexican, Tex-Mex or Southwestern foods at home, or are looking for a reliable everyday medium-heat hot sauce to liven up breakfast eggs, lunch sandwiches, dinnertime meals, and favorite noshes like pizza, hot wings, chili, nachos, dips for chips, etc., you won't be disappointed with this green jalapeno hot sauce.

9. Also breaking into the top-selling products for the very first time is Pappy's XXX White Lightnin' BBQ Sauce, a southern-style barbecue sauce that pays homage to old-time moonshiners with a few splashes of real Kentucky bourbon and several dashes of fiery hot sauce in an old-fashioned sweet tomato base. Whether you pour it over chopped or pulled pork, smoked brisket or grilled shrimp, or use it as a basting sauce on ribs or chicken, its grown-up flavor is so good it should be illegal.

10. Completing our August list is another vinegar BBQ Sauce from eastern North Carolina, Scott's Barbecue Sauce. Similar to Wells Hog Heaven but spicier and with no sugar or other carbs, this deceptively simple combination of vinegar, pepper and salt somehow manages to work magic with pulled pork BBQ or "pulled" chicken BBQ. It's also a tangy-hot marinade for chicken and venison, and a zesty alternative to pepper vinegar for seasoning collards and other cooked greens.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Rosh Hashanah Recipe: Grilled Mansanada (Honey-Spiced Apples)

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sunset on September 4th and ends at nightfall on September 6th. Apples sweetened with honey are a traditional food served to celebrate the holiday, and my inspiration for the following recipe is a Sephardic (from North Africa & Spain) treat called Mansanada.

Traditional mansanada is cooked on the stove to a consistency similar to chunky applesauce. I've changed things up by cooking the apples on the grill -- in fact, I prepared this over the Labor Day weekend for dessert one evening, and it's a wonderful way to end a barbecue or cookout regardless of whether you're celebrating Rosh Hashanah or aren't even Jewish.

My version below is enough for 4 to 6 people, and you can always refrigerate the leftovers to enjoy as a sweet snack (or even with breakfast) the next day. You can probably increase the ingredients and adjust the quantities to suit your tastes and needs. My Grilled Mansanada was delightful hot off the grill and spooned over a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, as shown in the photo at the end of this post. You can also serve it as an accompaniment to meat or chicken (or pork if you're not keeping kosher).

Ingredients
4 apples, preferably a good variety for baking

Oil or cooking spray
1/4 tsp ground cardamom, cloves or cinnamon (I chose cardamom this time)
dash of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup honey

Quarter the apples and cut out the core & stem. Cut quarters into smaller chunks and place in a bowl. Drizzle or spray the apple chunks very lightly with oil, gently stirring or turning to coat all sides. Sprinkle with the spice of your choice plus the nutmeg.

Cut a sheet of aluminum foil that's large enough to be folded up into a "package" to hold the apples in about a single layer (if your apples were large, you may need two sheets of foil to make two packages each holding half the apples - see photo on right above). Spoon the apples into the center of the foil, then turn the sides of the foil up and fold the edges together to form a package or envelope holding the seasoned apples. Place this on your grill, seam-side up, over indirect low/medium heat and grill for about 15 minutes, until apples feel soft through the foil. Carefully unfold the seam to open the package slightly and continue grilling until lightly golden, about 5 more minutes.

Remove foil packet(s) and transfer the apples with their juices into the bowl. Pour in the honey and gently stir to combine. Serve in bowls, or spooned over vanilla ice cream, as shown on left.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Did you know that the Carolina Sauces online store carries a wide selection of kosher sauces and seasonings including hot sauce, ketchup, mustard and more? In fact, one of the must popular brands we offer, Bone Suckin' Sauce, makes kosher BBQ sauce and many other Kosher products! To browse our entire Kosher selection, simply click here.