Is it a fruit?  I don’t know, but I can tell you it is delicious!  I can’t remember exactly when i first discovered this tasty treat, but I remember seeing their little bright-red faces in a small jar in some specialty shop or another, and I just had to bring them home with me.  Maybe it was the cartoonish logo, or the vibrant colors, but ultimately they sat on my countertop, rinsed and dried, waiting for me to do, well, something with them.  My first instinct when faced with something new and a bit odd is to taste it.  Some folks like to touch, others to smell, but I just pop things into my mouth and damn the consequences!  Lucky for me, these little peppers had nothing but good things to say.

It’s hard to explain their flavor.  They certainly have a bit of pepper-y-ness, but it’s so much more.  It’s a bold, vibrant, somewhat sweet taste with a pleasant heat at the back end that warms without burning.

The next step in my new-food exploration is usually a pairing of some-sort.  I scoured the fridge and right behind a wedge of cheddar was a small tube of fresh goat cheese.  BINGO!  I took a little vanilla sea salt and mixed it into the goat cheese, then proceeded to stuff the little peppers to near bursting with the mixture.  I could barely get the first one done when it somehow jumped off the table into my mouth.  Creamy, sweet, spicy, peppery…I was overjoyed!  These little Peppadew Poppers (as I dubbed them) were awesome.  The entire jar was gone in 20 minutes.

Since then I’ve found tons of uses.  Peppadew Tuna Salad, Creamy Peppadew Mayo sandwich spread, CHeese-Stuffed Peppadew kabobs, Peppadew Beef  Stir-fry, to name just a few.  It’s an incredibly versatile, flavor powerhouse that has become a staple in my kitchen.  If you think this big can is too much, think again.  I open a can, separate out into recycled jars, and use as needed.  I always end up giving a jar or two away to friends who have never tried them (or my mother-in-law when she comes over and raids my fridge), and the response is always a positive one.

Do your homework…shop these online, then come back and buy them from us.  Shop like a Chef, and then PAY LIKE A CHEF!!

There are alot of very easy ways to get your ’smoke on’ at home these  days including electric smokers and propane gas units, but I prefer to do things the old fashioned (read: hard) way!  I just bought my first smoker, a Char-Griller Duo with the optional side firebox attachment.  My feeling is, if you’re going to learn how to do a thing, learn the ‘real’ way first, and then move on to spending much more money on the ’simple’ version.

This weekend I grabbed a 9# Pork Butt and a rack of Baby Back Ribs to give my smoker a trial run, but before I rubbed down that meat, I considered the smoke!  Luckily I had a bag of the Lazzari Apple Wood Chips close at hand.  Much more mellow than hickory or mesquite, I wanted a good smoke but not an overbearing one, and I wanted to leave a little room for error.  The results were more than acceptable, as you can clearly see below.

5 Hours into the Smoke Session

Regardless of how you smoke your meats,  Lazzari Wood Whips will get the job done.  The chips were of various shapes/sizes, and once soaked I threw them both directly on the fire for quicker/heavier smoking, as well as on an offset plate for a slower, steadier smoke.  It was a process, but one I really enjoyed.

Next time….Gonna try my hand at Texas BBQ Brisket.  Mesquite, here I come!

It’s true.  I find myself looking for shortcuts all the time.  My dad said I was foolish…and he was right, but then he never burnt the bottom of a saucepan reducing Balsamic Vinegar.

Balsamic Glaze is the quick way to add flavor to any of a thousand dishes.  Grilling some chicken breasts?  Squeeze on some Glaze.  Pan roasting some salmon…dollop some on top.  Slicing a pear and looking for something new to dip it in?  Try The Glaze.

A little goes a long way.  This time, dad was wrong.

I expect to see packs of this at chick-fil-a any day, as I’ve found it a far better condiment than Ketchup (don’t get me wrong, I love ketchup (not castsup))

This is one short-cut worth taking.  Best part?  It’s cheap….just click on the pic and take a look.

We have all the fixins for a Juicy Lucy in our warehouse, and we never make ‘em.  We’re just too dang busy!

Kinda sad, as this Minneapolis Burger Icon had recently hit the airwaves in an episode of Food Wars, and days later I was firing up the cast iron skillet and sizzling some stuffed meat (80/20 ground beef, to be precise). My Cheese of Choice, a pepper Jack and Shredded Mozz blend that was
oozing with creamy, pepper-poppin flavor!

As you will come to see, I am personally Burger-obsessed.  When I visit a new town, or re-visit an old one (like Houston, where I lived and worked for over 10 years), I inevitably end up at a burger joint.  Every city has their favorite.  Email us with your fav at sales@wergourmetfoods.com

Sometimes I’m a purist, just beef and bun!  Like a Zen Master, I’m always seeking perfection with 2 simple ingredients.  Beef and Brioche bun, Tuna and Toasted Wheat Bun, or Ostrich on a Kaiser, I know there is a perfect pairing, and I’m always on the hunt.  Other times, I want a flavor-carnival!  Grilled Jalapenos, Monterey Jack and Grilled Pineapple Ring is a new favorite.  An old Standard is Smoky Bacon, Grilled onions, and Rich Blue Cheese…especially if the Bacon is Benton’s and The cheese is Rogue Creamery.

The Juicy Lucy offers me a whole new way to get a greasy burger mess.  I think you should groove on down to your local market and sear up a few too.

No, we’re not gone.  We’ve just been as busy as a nest of bees adding new products, shipping out your orders, and trying to be the best gourmet food site on the web…all hard work, but well worth it.

I want to thank all of our customers who have supported us, sent us kind notes or left nice voicemails about our products, service, or anything sweet.  I’d like to let our less-satisfied customers know that we’re doing our best to please all of our customers.  We take our work, and your orders, very seriously.  I pick and ship every order like it was going to my mom, and if you knew my mom, you’d know just how serious that is

We’ll be adding lot’s more items to our website after the holidays.  I thought you guys would be interested to learn what the biggest selling items have been, and take a look into the future of WRG to see what items are on the horizon.

Saffron has been a big hit for us, and we hope for you too…seems like EVRYBODY is making Paella!  Along with saffron a ton of Paellea Rice has left the building.  Spanish food had a great year. 

Villa Manodori Balsamic Vinegar was also a huge hit, and it doesn’t surprise us at all.  This may be one of the best balsamics around, and I know we have a rockin’ price.

Pommegranate Molasses have been a big seller.  Great in pastries, on fruits, and drizzled on harder cheeses, I’m really glad this product is catching on.

In the coming weeks you’ll begin to see our Artisanal Cheese selection grow by leaps and bounds…keepchecking back to see it grow and grab yourself a big hunka hunka!

We’ve been adding more to our cured meats/charcuterie section, and that category is going to probably double in size soon.  Big hit’s have been the Paleta, which is a great center-of-the-table piece for New Years, or any event.

Lot’s more to come.  Stay Tuned…and Good Eating!

oh yeah…more podcasts…we promise…new shows real soon!

It seems to me that we have a good amount of salt on hand.  If you had asked me 10 years ago about which salt I liked best, I would have looked at you a bit askew and said “Mortons”.

Nowadays, I have a minumum of 3 kinds of salt on my “quick-draw spice shelf”, and my son(4) asked me the other day why we had all those salts.

We did an impromptu tasting.  His review : they all tase salty.

These salts all do taste salty, albeit slightly unique in flavor.  What’s more important, though, is how they feel. Some are very crunchy, some a bit finer, some a bit flaky…each has a unique texture that suits them to different purposes.

My favorite…for sprinkling on top of foods last minute I’d have to say Maldon Sea Salt is my go-to salt.  For Soups and stews I prefer the La Baleine Sea Salt…and..well, you get the idea.

I wouldn’t say I’m a salt-junkie, but there’s hardly a food I cook that doesn’t call for seasoning, and salt is a staple.  I think the Roman Legion used to pay soldiers with Salt, hence “that man is not worth his salt”…which would account for the high dropout rate of Roman soldiers…

Another Podcast in the Can!  This episode we discuss in depth the miracle that is Japanese Mayonnaise

More of the usual ‘food banter’ including some Kentucky Prosciutto that ages 2 years, what we happen to be eating this last week, and more foodie wit and wisdom.

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Yes!  We too have joined the rank & file of the facebook digerati.  Why not?  We’re sure we’ll have some fans soon…either of our amazing products, crazy pricing, or perhaps you just like listening to us ramble on the Podcasts.

I love butter. I know, I know…I say I love everything. I do. I really enjoy cooking, and I think that’s because I love eating…if I hated eating, well, I probably wouldn’t care so much about the cooking part.

The uses for butter are endless, and I’m not going to spend hours creating an exhaustive listing of the hundreds or thousands of ways I use/eat butter.

But making my OWN BUTTER?!?!? I never even considered it, since I don’t currently, nor do I have any plans to, own a chrurn.

No Churn Needed:

Danny at the Over The Hill And On A Roll blog has the instructions on making butter with just two ingredients:

16 ounces of heavy cream, chilled
1/2 teaspoon salt
Basically, you’re just beating the cream until it “start to look like scrambled eggs” and separates into butter and buttermilk. After that happens, you’ll remove the butter from the remainders and squeeze it into a “ball-o-butter”. Quick, simple, and it’ll make your cookies better.

I’ve noticed that more and more I’m seeing food-based posts on Lifehacker.com…thanks guys, for improving just about every aspect of my tech-geeky and now my food-geeky life!

Gotta go home now and make some butter…later!

In this episode, we discuss Bacon…need I say more?

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