Sweet Caramelized Onions
Caramelized onions compliment so many foods with their earthy sweet flavor but require a healthy dose of patience to make because the whole secret to making this delicious side dish is time. Onions needs to be cooked slowly over low heat to allow the moisture and sugars to release and turn slices of translucent crunchy onion into soft brown caramelized rings. Turning the heat up won’t hurry the process because caramelization requires slow, steady heat (almost sounds like a life lesson). So, when time is limited, consider buying Sweet Caramelized Onions by the Gracious Gourmet. Read more 
Date Almond Cake
Pan de Dátil Almendrado is Spanish for “Date Almond Cake” – a freshly pressed “cake” handmade in Valencia, Spain with two ingredients: dates and Marcona almonds. The two contrasting flavors and textures of sweet, chewy dates and rich, crunchy almonds makes for a simple and delicious dessert that is both sweet and savory, and completely different from what Americans think as traditional “cake.” Read more
Eden Organic Brown Mustard
Mustard is one of those foods that people tend to have strong opinions about. Just ask Malcolm Gladwell who wrote The Ketchup Conundrum in the September 6, 2004 issue of The New Yorker. In the article, Gladwell notes that while ketchup has basically stayed the same through the years, mustard has undergone a revolution of sorts and evolved into the most segmented condiment on the market.
Grocery store shelves offer dozens of varieties including yellow, dijon, spicy brown, whole grain, English, honey, hot, and the very popular stone ground, which is mustard produced by grounding mustard seeds with a stone mill, and adding other ingredients to make a coarse or smooth textured condiment. Read more
First Field Jersey Ketchup
I’m a total sucker for New Jersey. Although I wasn’t born in the Garden State, I spent most of my childhood in a suburban neighborhood across the street from a fruit orchard where I learned to climb trees and balance myself on a thick branch while enjoying a crisp apple. In middle school, I worked at the local farm stand where I became proficient in the best way to enjoy sweet corn: freshly picked, peeled, and raw. But the most important lesson I learned about New Jersey had to do with tomatoes. Read more
Spreads and Beyond
If Buzz Lightyear were to quit his day job and promote real fruit spreads instead of space travel his signature statement would change from “To infinity, and beyond” to “Spreads & Beyond” because the company with the catchy phrase name has positioned itself as an innovator and visionary in the jams, preserves, and spreads industry. How you ask? By keeping it real – meaning their spreads are made using fresh fruit with no added sugar, pectin, preservatives, colors, sweeteners or fruit from concentrate – and giving customers what they want: fresh, wholesome fruit preserves, chutney, and spreads.
Spreads & Beyond makes three delicious fruit spreads – Strawberry Preserves, Blueberry Orange Peel Preserves, and Mango Star Anise Chutney – that scream “fruit” in every delicious bite. Read more
Move Over Nutella, Make Room for Barefoot and Chocolate!
Fifty years ago, an Italian company (Ferrero) introduced Nutella, the brand name of a hazelnut chocolate spread whose two main ingredients are sugar and palm oil. For decades, there were few choices in the chocolate nut butter market until Barefoot and Chocolate came along in 2013 and created a Hazelnut Chocolate Spread that still relies on sugar (albeit, organic and fair-trade certified) but uses a heavier hand when it comes to hazelnuts and cocoa, the two main flavor ingredients that give Barefoot and Chocolate’s Hazelnut Chocolate Spread its rich, satisfying taste. Read more
Maya Kaimal Simmer Sauces
The aroma of fresh curry leaves cracking in hot oil with mustard seeds and dried chilies led Maya Kaimal, a graduate of Pomona College to become an award-winning cookbook author and a leading authority on Indian cuisine. Taking her passion one step further, Maya decided to take those recipes and cook her homemade sauces using wholesome and all natural ingredients and traditional techniques like caramelizing onions and toasting spices to build deep layered flavors in the sauces that most of us only know from restaurants. Bottling up those sauces and selling them through grocery stores and on-line retailers was the next logical step to bring Indian cuisine into our own kitchens. Read more
Coop’s MicroCreamery Hot Fudge
Always serve too much hot fudge on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt.
Judith Olney
2009 is not a year that most people thought about opening a business but after 30 years in the ice cream industry, Marc Cooper who frequently answers to “Coop” decided to strike out on his own making super premium ice cream and dessert toppings. His company – Coops MicroCreamery based in Watertown, Massachusetts – makes ice cream (both dairy based and coconut milk based) sold throughout Massachusetts in premium ice cream shops and grocery stores while Coop’s Handmade Hot Fudge (Original and the Vegan version) are available nationwide at fine grocery and gourmet stores. Read more
The Better Bean Company
The Better Bean Company of Portland, Oregon (why are there so many cool food companies based out of Portland?) considers beans an essential part of fine and healthy cuisines but also realizes that most people don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen cooking beans and adding just the right amount of spices to take the beans from bland to delicious. So, they do it for you by making freshly prepared beans that rival the quality and flavor of the best home cooked or restaurant made beans. Read more
Just Mayo
Just Mayo is often referred to as “the joy on your sandwich” but this innovative and delicious new mayo is also a technological breakthrough product likely to become the mayo of the 21st century because instead of eggs, Just Mayo relies on pea protein from a plant. Made by Hampton Creek Foods of San Francisco with the financial backing of some heavy hitters including Bill Gates and Peter Thiel, Just Mayo has four major attributes: taste, nutrition, sustainability, and affordability. Read more
Paddock Post 