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In this issue:
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Makin' Bacon
Bayou Country
Family Cranberries
Back in Stock
Recipes of the Week
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Spicy Ketchup
Award winning ketchup handmade with all natural ingredients and none of the extra sugar and salt found in commercial brands. Perfect condiment for brightening everything from burgers to potatoes to steak.
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Seattle
Skillet Bacon Jam
So, I am a little behind the times. Bacon and the bacon rage passed me by. Like everyone, I have had great bacon
experiences, but my favorite bacon memory is the poster in
the 60's of makin' bacon. I thought it was funny....As usual I
digress....
In the last five years we have seen and tried bacon from
many different producers across the country. Many
have been memorable, some even great. Some so salty
I thought my face would pucker up and fall off. Many had
way too many sulfites, even when they claim minimal or
none, I would get a headache or my neck would get stiff. A
true test is how my body reacts!
Not so good.
Today, we are offering a wonderful slab of bacon, cut into
slices. From Master Butcher Rick Friar, who smokes naturally-raised, heritage Berkshire pork just as
his father did 20 years ago.
For the perfect match when makin' bacon and an all out
extreme pork experience, fry your bacon in a skillet full of
mangalitsa lard, then drop your ham and eggs in to make
picture-perfect dirty eggs!
Speaking of makin' bacon, there is a chef in Seattle who
creates a wonderful, daily food menu for the street! Called
Skillet Street Food, the business operates from a vintage
Airstream trailer outfitted with a grill and filled with foods to
top the dishes. Fried chicken, desserts, fries and a topping
called Bacon Jam that makes any burger sing.
When you first see it, you think it's a black morass of
unappealing glop. What it actually is: a genius mixture
of ingredients that says, "Topping." It's a little less bacon
and more perfection. A perfect meeting of ingredients that
spoons out of its jar with ease.
 Drew found it first. I then tried it plain
and fell in love. The second time I
tasted it was weeks later. I had it on
peppered crackers sitting at my desk
- trying to figure how to describe this
unusual treat. After eating half a jar
(not the best idea), I was still at a loss
for words.
It's smooth, wet, sweet crunch is a
joy. It's a topping and ingredient to
complement many different proteins -
especially red ones.
If you can resist, reserved use will allow a jar to last at
least a meal or two - assuming you don't open it when
you first get it!
Oh, and remember the pan of lard and those fried eggs?
Cook your burger of lamb or beef in the same pan and top
it with the bacon jam, bacon and egg and Voila! Yowsa!
Add yam fries and, WOW, what a meal!
Shop now for Skillet Bacon Jam
Shop now for Rick's Applewood Smoked Heritage Berkshire Bacon
Shop now for Mangalitsa Pig Lard
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Family Cranberries
I love cranberries any time of the year. They mix well with
nuts, in sweet breads, and as an addition to a good salad.
I especially look forward to November, when I get to cook
with them. As Thanksgiving nears, my favorite family and
friends food holiday, I look forward to "popping" fresh
cranberries in a pot of hot sugar and water....
Though I know that there are good and better cranberries,
these days better are not the easiest to find. It seems to
me that it used to be all the cranberries had their own
personality. Now, 30 years later, the quality has become
more mechanical and they have less of a "hands-on" feel.
We have been on the hunt for a "family" cranberry farmer
for a couple of years now.
Just last week, our friend Sharon showed up with a
surprise. Since 1957, Vincent Family Cranberries have
been caring for their land - a true family of farming
stewards. Though we were too late to film the fresh harvest
this year, we have our fingers crossed for next year. In
the meantime, their dried cranberries have many uses,
more than just eating out of hand Their dried cranberries
are sweetened with just apple juice and not hyper-sweet;
tempting enough to eat by the handful.
Shop now for Dried Cranberries
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Bayou countryThere is a special blend
of flavors that exist in
Louisiana. It's hard to
explain with words. Both
the smell and the taste are
unique to the foods of the
region of the Bayou.
Many foods come
to us from a phone call
or an email, as did these
from Mossy Bayou, a small
family-owned company
from Louisiana's Bayou
Country. What started
in 1994 as a recipe from
a friend soon became
Swamp Scum, which
then won Chile Pepper
Magazine's first place
award - against several
hundred other condiments
and sauces. Not a bad
start to their first foray
into creating some
delicious heat.
This inspired Larry and
his family to create
Bayou Blend Salt-FreeSeasoning, a combination
of Cajun and South-of-the-
Border spices. Smelled
from the jar, or when used
on rice or in a nice potfull
of food, it seems more
like home fixins' than
some carefully calculated,
precision-focused mix
we see all the time in the
grocery store. This "shake
on" spice smells to me like
the real foods of Louisiana.
Their Cajun Chow-Chow
looks like a green sweet
relish - but don't be
fooled by its looks, it's
first ingredient is green
cayenne peppers! Good
and spicy with a good
mouth feel, it's a great
and hot addition to your
pantry. Wet, with a little
body, flavor and shape -
not just heat. Buy all three
for the Cajun lover in your
life. Or, create something
simple, robust, and with
heat - which makes an
easy treat to eat.
Shop now for Mossy Bayou Swamp ScumShop now for Bayou Blend Salt-Free SeasoningShop now for MossyBayou Canjun Chow-Chow
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