New BBQ Sauces & Rubs from American Style are Here!

American Style BBQ Sauces and Rubs are proudly made in the USA and deliver classic American flavor in each of their recipes. Each of the different sauces and seasoning rub blends were created specifically to bring out the best in either beef, chicken or pork, with complementary spices and carefully-selected ingredients to enhance each type of meat.

American Style BBQ Sauce for Beef is big and bold, like the American West. Its rich, thick texture will stick to your ribs, roasts, steaks and other cuts of meat during basting as well as dipping, and yet it's pourable enough to enjoy on hamburgers. Hickory smoke adds earthy depth for layers of flavor, while the spicy peppery kick at the finish is just enough heat to wake up your taste buds and get them ready for more. The Beef Rub from American Style is reminiscent of a gourmet steak seasoning from a fine steak house, made with smoked sea salt, garlic, a secret blend of herbs and a touch of sugar to promote caramelization without flare-ups or unpleasant burnt aftertastes.

American Style Barbecue Sauce for Pork has that distinctively southern sweetness and sass that so beautifully pairs with pork, be it ribs, chops, smoked & pulled butts or other cuts. The mellow tang comes from apple cider and vinegar, while brown sugar and tomatoes provide a pleasantly sweet counterpoint that isn't overdone as with lesser, mass-produced commercial BBQ sauces. The BBQ Pork Rub also boasts flavors of the south, but this time there's a hint of the southwest with smoky chipotle, spicy chili peppers and pungent garlic. Piquant, not hot, this is an excellent rub to use before placing ribs or pork butt on a smoker.

Finally, American Style Chicken BBQ Sauce is destined to be a family favorite. Lusciously sweet with tomatoes, brown sugar and honey, but well-balanced with savory notes from onion, mustard and vinegar, this sauce caramelizes into an irresistibly delicious glaze when you baste with it during the last 10 minutes of grilling, broiling or roasting. Kids also enjoy it as a dipping sauce for chicken fingers, nuggets and breaded tenders, or even for french fries. The BBQ Rub for Chicken is a delightfully peppery blend of dried chilies, sugar, salt and savory spices to bring out the best in dark and white meat. Fantastic as a rub before smoking chicken, it's also a great seasoning to use for baked, broiled or even fried chicken (add to your breading or season your dredging flour with it).

All six American Style BBQ products are currently on sale at the Carolina Sauces online store.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

November's Best-Selling Carolina Sauce Products

November was a wild and crazy month, both for me personally and also for the Carolina Sauces online store. The good thing is that we both survived, and we also enjoyed some pleasant surprises -- including the impressive finish of quite a few new top-ten finishers on our best-sellers list along with the return of some old favorites.

Here are the top 10 best-selling sauces at the Carolina Sauce Company for the month of November:

1. Matouk's Flambeau Sauce: This is by far the hottest of Matouk's hot sauces, but it also scores at the top of the flavor scale with a savory, pleasantly pungent aged-pepper flavor and a thick, rich mouthfeel, both courtesy of the select chili pepper mash that's the sauce's primary ingredient. If you can handle the intense heat, you'll find Matouk's Flambeau to be a superb choice for firing up any savory dish from scrambled eggs to burgers, pizza, beans & rice, roast meats or chicken, stews and chili. Although this seriously hot sauce makes occasional appearances on our top-ten list, this is the first time I can recall it finishing in first place.

2. Wells Hog Heaven BBQ Sauce is our best-selling barbecue sauce and is the archetype of a classic eastern North Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce for smoked pulled pork barbecue. It's also a tangy, slightly spicy marinade for chicken and meat (I recommend mixing in a little oil to keep poultry & meat from drying out), and you can also splash it on fried fish, French fries and Southern style greens. Wells almost always finishes in the top 5 on our monthly best-seller list, and it frequently sits at number one on any given month.

3. Blair's Death Rain Habanero Potato Chips: This newcomer to our top-sellers list is a favorite of fiery-foods fans who like to snack on spicy potato chips. Premium potatoes are sliced, kettle-cooked to crispy perfection, and then generously dusted with ground habanero powder and other savory spices for a satisfyingly crunchy, salty and fiery-hot spicy snack that's irresistibly good. These habanero potato chips are great for gameday parties and tailgating -- but be sure to bring plenty of cold beverages to help wash them down!

4. Tied for fourth place are Gator Hammock Swamp Mustard, a feisty, savory and spicy mustard sauce and condiment from Florida with a hint of tropical fruit (guava is one of the ingredients), and another tropical favorite, Matouk's Calypso Sauce, a zesty West Indian hot sauce from Trinidad & Tobago that's made from pickled scotch bonnet peppers, mustard, sugar and island spices. While Calypso Sauce is a regular top-10 finisher, this is the first time that Swamp Mustard has broken into the top ten.

5. Matouk's West Indian Salsa Picante Hot Sauce is similar to its Calypso sibling, but a little bit more mellow on the heat scale with a slightly sweeter flavor, all thanks to the inspired addition of lusciously sweet papaya for a festive tropical twist. This hot sauce is fantastic with fish and seafood, vegetarian dishes including stir-fry and rice & beans, poultry, and more.

6. Matouk's Salsa Picante Hot Pepper Sauce is yet another member of the renowned Matouk's family. This traditional Caribbean hot sauce has plenty of peppery flavor and fire with a robust, savory-tangy flavor and thick mouthfeel, making it ideal for all sorts of red meat (including game and exotic meats), hearty bean dishes (e.g., red beans & rice), roast or grilled chicken, and other similar fare.


7. November saw another pair of products in a tie, the fun and fiery Ass Kickin' Habanero Microwave Popcorn making its debut appearance on a best-seller list, and Gator Hammock Hot Gator Sauce, a versatile all-purpose Florida hot sauce that moved up from its tenth place finish in October. Both of these popular hot & spicy products would make great Christmas gifts or holiday stocking stuffers for your favorite chilehead or fan of fiery foods.

8. Georgia Peach & Vidalia Onion Hot Sauce: Making its return to the list of best-selling sauces after a surprisingly long absence, this delightfully sweet & sassy Southern style hot sauce blends juicy ripe peaches with mellow and savory Vidalia onions for a mildly spicy heat and delectable, palate-pleasing flavor. Pair it with roast pork or ribs, beef roast or grilled chicken, shrimp kabobs or vegetable side dishes, and pour it on burgers, chicken wings, fried foods and more.

9. Marie Sharp's Habanero Hot Sauce: This classic Caribbean hot sauce from Belize is a favorite of habanero pepper purists who want to taste the pepper's true flavor as well as experience its gloriously bright heat. If you're looking for an all-purpose everyday hot sauce for the table and the kitchen but are tired of the bland, overly vinegary or watery grocery store varieties, this hot sauce is the one for you. Marie Sharp's Habanero Hot Sauce comes in three convenient sizes: The regular 5oz bottle most people are used to seeing for hot sauces, the large economy-size 10oz bottle that's perfect for hot sauce enthusiasts who use it regularly, and little plastic 2oz mini-bottles which are ideal for gift-giving, sampling, and carrying with you in a purse or pocket so that you can spice up your food when eating out.

10. Fifty Shades of Red Cayenne Pepper Sauce is one of the newest sauces added recently to the Carolina Sauces online store, and yet it has already proven to be a big seller -- no doubt because of its play on the whole "Fifty Shades of Gray" craze. With a name and label art inspired by the insanely popular "hot" novel, this all-natural Louisiana style hot sauce is a fun gift to give anyone who's a fan of the book and who also appreciates a well-made hot sauce.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Roasted Garlic Parmesan Ranch Dressing

This hybrid salad dressing brings together the zesty, robust flavors of a "ristorante" style creamy Italian dressing with the mellow tang of old-fashioned buttermilk ranch dressing for a delightfully different, palate-pleasing and surprisingly versatile dressing.

I gave my homemade buttermilk ranch dressing some romantic Italian flair by omitting the dill and replacing it with several herbs that are prominent in Italian cuisine. The other major changes were the use of roasted garlic in place of the raw, and the addition of grated parmesan cheese coupled with a reduction in the amount of salt because of the naturally salty flavor of the cheese.

I seriously considered calling this dressing a Buttermilk Italian Dressing, but decided against it because I wanted to highlight the major flavor notes of the recipe, namely roasted garlic, parmesan cheese, and "ranch" (which most Americans associate with a particular tangy-creamy-herb flavor).

Although originally created for use on mixed lettuce salads, my Roasted Garlic Parmesan Ranch Dressing is also excellent with raw or steamed vegetable salads, as a light dip for crudites or chips or Buffalo wings, and even as a sauce for poached fish or fried shrimp. Have fun playing with it in the kitchen.

Note:  This dressing tastes best if you refrigerate overnight before serving. Use within 5 days.

Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
3 Tbs finely chopped fresh parsley (or 1 Tbs dried parsley)
6 to 8 roasted garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tbs nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp (or to taste) Kosher salt
1/4 tsp (or to taste) ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a pint mason jar, close lid tightly and shake well to mix thoroughly. Keep refrigerated, and shake or stir well before serving.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Send a Taste of the Southwest with the Ring of Fire Hot Sauce Gift Box

Ring of Fire Hot Sauces are highly regarded by fiery-food lovers and fans of Southwestern cuisine for their uncompromising commitment to excellence. Made from carefully selected all-natural ingredients of the finest quality, each flavor of Ring of Fire is crafted from a well-balanced recipe that highlights its primary chili pepper or other main ingredient, be it fiery habanero peppers, smoky chipotle or rich and tangy tomatillo with roasted garlic. Complementary spices, herbs and other savory ingredients are then blended in, with just enough vinegar to make the sauce pourable but never thinned out, diluted, or harshly tart. As "icing on the cake," Ring of Fire packages its hot sauces in generous 12.5 oz bottles -- which is more than twice the size of your typical lesser-quality hot sauce -- and yet you can buy them online at Carolina Sauces for little more than you'd pay for most 5 oz hot sauces!

If you know someone who appreciates the superior flavor and well-balanced heat of a high quality hot sauce, give them a fiery gift of good taste this Christmas and send them the brand-new Ring of Fire Hot Sauce Gift Box. This thoughtful gift comes with four full-size bottles of the most popular Ring of Fire flavors: The Original featuring fiery habanero & serrano peppers in a rich and savory tomato base, the aptly-named Xtra Hot (similar to the original but with a higher concentration of habaneros & serranos), the earthy Chipotle with smoked jalapenos and roasted garlic added to their signature habanero-serrano blend, and either the zesty Tomatillo if any is still available (unfortunately this flavor has been discontinued) or one of the other zesty Ring of Fire flavors: All-Purpose Red Pepper with cayennes, pimientos & sweet red chilies; the milder Garden Fresh Chile Sauce with serranos (no habaneros) and lots of tomato, onion, garlic & spices; the intense XX-Hot with loads of habaneros but nevertheless still quite edible and flavorful; or their critically acclaimed Ring of Fire Steak Sauce with intriguingly complex gourmet flavor that's boldly rich, little sweet, mild on the heat scale, and heavenly on steak or other meats.

But that's not all: The Ring of Fire Hot Sauce Gift also includes a package of Ring of Fire Beef Jerky and a Ring of Fire Recipe Brochure packed with easy-to-make, mouthwatering recipes!

All of this comes in a sturdy cardboard gift box emblazoned with the brand's distinctive and eye-catching logo, a fire-breathing red chile pepper.

Buy the Ring of Fire Hot Sauce Gift Set while it's on sale at the Carolina Sauces online store, and make your favorite chilihead eternally grateful to you this Christmas.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: This is just one of many specially-priced, themed Sauce Gifts available from the Carolina Sauce Company. With flavors & heat levels ranging from mild to wild, a wide range of budget-friendly price points, and themes covering everything from bikers to Elvis, North Carolina BBQ to pepper extracts, and single-brand collections featuring Dave's Insanity, Blair's Death, Hula Girl, Matouk's and more, we really do have something for everyone!

Cyber Monday Sale at Carolina Sauce!

Click to shop the Carolina Sauce online store

Save big and shop small with the Carolina Sauce Company Cyber Monday coupon sale!

Use our special coupon code HOTTURKEY2013 to save 10% when you shop at the Carolina Sauces online store for all your Christmas gifts including our brand new PETA ("People Eating Tasty Animals") t-shirts, themed gift sets & rare collectors' items, popular & hard-to-find hot sauces, regional barbecue sauces from all over the US, zesty salsas & condiments, artisan & all-natural sauces, gluten-free products and more.

But that's not all: If your product total is over $95, we'll give you FREE shipping, in addition to your 10% off with the coupon!

Browse our t-shirts

Check out our new products for the latest sauces, seasonings and gift items, including Slap Ya Mama Cajun Fish Fry Mix and Seafood Boil Seasoning, the full line of SuckleBusters Barbecue sauces & seasonings from Texas, the tasty tropical Margaritaville Marinades, BBQ Sauces & Rubs, plus many other products to tempt your taste buds and put an end to bland, boring food.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Our 10% coupon sale runs through midnight tonight (Cyber Monday), so don't delay and place your online order today! And don't forget to enter the coupon code at checkout, HOTTURKEY2013.

Best Ever Crock Pot Chili Recipe

The following crock pot chili recipe was inspired by a recipe for "Best Ever Chili" shared by one of my readers, Carolivy, in a comment to my Bacon PepperJack Cornbread recipe. I tweaked her recipe slightly to use the ingredients I had on hand, namely dried rather than canned beans, a combination of ground venison and ground beef, and fresh Roma tomatoes in place of some of the canned tomatoes. I also increased the amount of meat and spices, and added roasted garlic and jalapeno slices for a more robust chili with just a little bit of peppery heat. The biggest change was the cooking method: Rather than cooking on the stove for an hour or so, I slow-cooked the chili in our crock pot all day long after browning the meat in a skillet early in the morning.

Even with my changes, Carolivy's chili recipe lives up to its laudatory name, for many reasons. First, it's very easy to make. Second, it can be adjusted to suit your tastes and ingredients on hand, and you can really spice it up if you're a serious chilehead who insists on fiery-hot chili: For example, you can use sliced ghost peppers instead of jalapenos, or replace some of the chili powder with habanero chili powder). Alternatively, you can omit the hot peppers altogether (Carolivy's original recipe didn't use them) and make a mild but flavorful chili the whole family will enjoy. Finally, the prep work is very simple and can be done ahead of time: Just before bed, I laid out the ingredients (except the meat of course, which was thawing in the fridge) and started soaking the dried beans, and then in the morning before work I quickly browned the meat and dumped everything in the crock pot so that dinner would be ready after work.

If you like to dress up your chili, serve with a dollop of sour cream or nonfat plain Greek yogurt, some shredded cheese, a sprinkling of chopped green onions or cilantro, a handful of diced avocado, or any other chili topping you enjoy. Other good pairings include cornbread or tortilla chips.

Chili cooking in the crock pot

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups dried red kidney beans*
1 1/2 lb ground beef and/or venison
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
6 cloves roasted garlic, minced
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes (fire-roasted or plain), undrained
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sliced jalapeno peppers

*If you want to use canned beans instead and skip the soaking required for dried beans, simply substitute two 15-oz cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed.

Pick through the beans, rinse and place in a large bowl. Fill with water to 2 or 3 inches over the beans and let soak overnight.

The next morning, brown the meat and onion in a large skillet. Drain off grease, add the chili powder, cumin & salt, stir and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Drain the water off the beans, rinse, then transfer the beans to your crock pot. Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, seasoned meat & onions, peppers, and canned tomatoes. Stir once or twice, cover, then turn on the crock pot to cook according to one of the following schedules, depending on when you want to serve the chili:

Option 1:  Cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or until beans are tender, stirring once or twice at or after the halfway point.
Option 2:  Cook on High for about 5 hours or until beans are tender, stirring once after 3 or 4 hours.
Option 3:  Cook on Alternating Hi/Low for 4 hours, stir, then switch to High and cook 4 more hour or until beans are tender, stirring once more during this cooking segment. (This is the option I used.)

Once the beans are tender, you can hold the chili at Low for at least a couple of hours if you're not yet ready to serve. This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings (or fewer if your servings are hefty), and you can freeze leftovers.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

Shop Small with Carolina Sauce Company

Are you supporting small businesses by "shopping small" today, Small Business Saturday?

Did you know that you can "shop small" online, especially when you shop at the Carolina Sauce Company?

It's hard to get smaller than the Carolina Sauce Company. Although I often refer to it using the word "we" (because my husband Greg and I are the sole owners), in reality and everyday life the Carolina Sauce Company is really just ME. That's it. One woman and her computer on her desk at home. Greg has a full-time job elsewhere, but occasionally serves as my "IT Department" when I have a computer question. 

Like I said, it's hard to get smaller than that. And virtually all our partners, including the Carolina Sauces warehouse and online store, are also small, family-owned and operated businesses.

Why is it important to shop small? Because every dollar you spend with a small business, or a "micro-business" such as Carolina Sauce, really matters. Very small companies usually have the tightest budgets, and every penny earned or spent directly impacts the lives of the people who own and operate the business. That is certainly true in my case, and has been the case with all the other small businesses I have worked with or for in previous jobs. The dollars you spend when you buy hot sauce from me go directly towards keeping Carolina Sauce Company in business. There are no layers of middle managers or paper-pushers, no outside shareholders demanding a return on investment even if it means cutting corners or sacrificing American jobs for cheaper foreign labor, no corporate jets or executive bonuses or political lobbyists. Every dollar made by a small business like Carolina Sauce is hard-earned by the few people -- or the single individual -- that is actually running the business. And thus every order placed, every customer served, and every dollar earned is greatly appreciated.

What does that mean for you? At least when it comes to Carolina Sauce, it means that I will work my tail off to make sure you have the best online shopping experience possible, with attentive customer service, a friendly and helpful attitude, and an eagerness to assist in any way possible. Why? Because every dollar matters, because I take pride in my work and reputation, and because I am passionate about what I do. The smaller the business, the less that it can afford -- literally and figuratively -- to lose a sale or a customer. So when you shop small, whether in person or online as with my business, you are far more likely to have a favorable experience, receive superior service, and have a direct positive impact on someone's livelihood and life.

When you're shopping today and searching for Small Business Saturday sales, don't forget to shop small online with the Carolina Sauce Company, where we're having a special 7% off coupon sale through Cyber Monday. Visit the Carolina Sauces online store home page for the special coupon code, or email me and I'll send it to you. And don't forget that all orders over $75 automatically get free shipping, no coupon necessary.

Thanks for your support!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: If you ever have any questions about the products available from Carolina Sauce Company, or would like some product recommendations, etc., please don't hesitate to leave a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page (where you can also send me a PM), or simply send me an email. I'm always happy to help and to "talk sauce."

Black Friday Coupon Sale: 10% Off at Carolina Sauce!

Don't waste time fighting crowds and trying to find parking at the mall -- shop online with Carolina Sauce from the comfort of your home, and take advantage of our Black Friday coupon sale!

Use coupon code HOTTURKEY2013 to save 10% when you shop at the Carolina Sauces online store for all your favorite hot sauces, barbecue sauces & condiments, including themed sauce gift sets and more!

But that's not all: If your product total is over $95, we'll give you FREE shipping, in addition to your 10% off with the coupon!

Check out our new products for the latest sauces, including the full line of SuckleBusters Barbecue sauces & seasonings from Texas, and the tasty tropical Margaritaville marinades & grilling sauces, plus many other products to tempt your taste buds and put an end to bland, boring food.

Zestfully yours,
Gloria

PS: Our 10% coupon sale runs from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, so you get four days of savings when you shop with Carolina Sauces!

Rib Tickler Barbecue Sauce

Whether you're partial to pork ribs or beef ribs, baby backs or spare ribs, chances are high that you enjoy a good sauce with your ribs, either for basting and slathering as they finish cooking or for dipping and saucing at the table.

Rib Tickler Barbecue Sauce was developed specifically for ribs of all types, with a classic tomato flavor that's rich and savory with just the right amount of sweetness and sass. A light touch of pepper makes for a zesty finish without spicy heat, and a kiss of smoke adds depth and character to this family-pleasing, finger-licking, lip-smacking good BBQ sauce.

Thick enough to slather, mop and baste without the risk of dripping off your meat and causing flare-ups, Rib Tickler's consistency is also excellent for dipping and pouring once the ribs are served. Try warming up some of this sauce before serving in a bowl to really bring out the flavor and aroma!

Despite its name and pedigree, Rib Tickler BBQ Sauce is not a one-trick pony. Don't pigeon-hole it as merely a rib sauce, or you'll be missing out on some mighty fine barbecue dining. Use it with chicken, either by basting with it during the last few minutes of grilling or as a marinade and cooking sauce. The same thing goes for shrimp or grilled vegetables. Enjoy it on hamburgers and in sloppy joes or meatloaf instead of ketchup. Try it as a simmering sauce for cocktail meatballs. Or use it in my recipe for crock pot beef barbecue. If you can grill it, smoke it, or roast it, this sauce will probably enhance it.

Buy Rib Tickler Barbecue Sauce now while we have it on sale at the Carolina Sauces online store, and get ready to tickle your taste buds and tempt your tummy with its terrific taste!

Zestfully yours,
Gloria