Char Crust: Product Review & Giveaway

I'll be frank. I'm a control freak.

This means I'm seldom a fan of things like spice blends. For, although they have the potential to make my life easier, they also require me to confine myself to the nuances of someone else's palate...

Maybe that makes me a food snob.  But, I hope I can redeem myself by admitting that -- although I don't regularly use pre-made spice blends -- I'm always a big fan of supporting local businesses.  And that's why, when one of the owners of Char Crust, a Chicago-based company, wrote to us and asked if we'd like to sample their seasoning blends, we decided to give them a try.

The flavors provided to us included:
All American Barbeque
Ginger Teriyaki
Original Hickory Grilled
Roasted Garlic Peppercorn
Smoky Spicy Southwest

Since 1998 Bernard Silver and his wife Susan Eriksen have marketed the Char Crust line -- a collection of dry spice rubs based on the classic flavors made popular by the legendary Al Farber's Steak Room in Chicago.  Farber's was famous for "Eye of Prime Rib" and unique charcrust steaks. The popular restaurant, which faced Lincoln Park, was the recipient of many top honors including The Perfect Steak Award, the Epicurean Award, and the Gourmet Society Merit Award. Although the restaurant closed in the 1977, the legacy of the famous steaks remained, embodied in Char Crust® and Roto Roast dry rub seasonings, which were marketed and sold to other restaurants in Chicago.  These days, the line has been expanded to include nine rubs which are available to consumers at a variety of small, independently-owned businesses: butcher shops, gourmet stores, grocers, and even hardware stores.   Read more at Charcrust.com

I'll should admit to being quite curious about their products, which are marketed heavily for use with meat and fish -- and which promise to "seal in the juices". That said, I decided that, for the purpose of our review, we'd branch out a bit. So, we decided to try the rubs strictly on vegetables.  We tested out all but one of the seasonings (the Roasted Garlic Peppercorn), which we figured would be easy to pair with just about anything.

Overall, we were quite pleased with what we discovered. The blends, which are some of the few certified kosher spice blends on the market, were unique -- some delicate, some more assertive.  And every single variety surprised us with one stunning feature -- unlike many seasoning blends, they are remarkably low in sodium.  In fact, we found that every one benefited from the addition of a bit of salt to pull out some of the more subtle nuances of flavor.  So, the seasonings would be excellent options for anyone watching his/her sodium intake.

One caveat for our gluten free readers:  all the blends we tried did contain some element of wheat, and so they would not be safe for consumption among consumers suffering from gluten intolerance or Celiac disease.

That said, here's what we found during our weekend of recipe testing!  We tried out four vegetables/legumes: chickpeas, sweet potatoes, blue potatoes, and cauliflower.  And every single one turned out pretty darned good.

First up:  All American Barbeque Roasted Chickpeas

 

Technique:  Rinse & drain chickpeas. Dry them off and spread them on a baking pan.  Bake them at 350 F for 20 minutes, or until quite dry.  Toss hot chickpeas with a bit of olive oil and about a tablespoon of barbeque seasoning. Continue baking for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and browned (watch closely to prevent burning).

Our verdict:  TOTALLY addictive.  These chickpeas would make the perfect snack to serve to company during cocktail hour or at a casual gathering.  The seasoning is pleasantly sweet, with a hint of tomato and lots of great garlic & onion flavor.  In addition to using it for chickpeas, it would be great worked into meat for burgers, or slathered on ribs or barbequed chicken.

Next: Ginger Teriyaki Sweet Potato Fries

Technique:  Slice sweet potatoes lengthwise into 3/4 inch wide strips. Toss with olive oil and 1 T of Ginger Teriyaki seasoning.  Roast at 450 for 15-18 minutes, or until just tender.  Toss with salt, to taste.

Our verdict: These potatoes were genuinely delicious.  The spice blend is a nice balance of soy, ginger, and a hint of orange -- all of which really complement the sweetness of the potatoes. This would make an excellent seasoning for salmon, chicken, or even roasted broccoli.  Flavor might be overpowered if used for grilling.

Then:  Original Hickory Grilled Roasted Potatoes

Technique:  Slice potatoes in half, and then slice each half into three pieces.  Toss with olive oil and approximately 1 T of Hickory seasoning.  Roast at 425 F for 20-25 minutes, or until potatoes are crisp on the outside and fully cooked through.  Remove from oven and immediately toss with salt, to taste.

The verdict:   These potatoes had a delightfully subtle smoke flavor that made them taste as if they'd been grilled.  Great for the middle of winter when the snow is flying and you don't want to haul out the barbeque!  This seasoning would be awesome for making burgers or steak indoors.

And finally:  Smoky Spicy Southwest Roasted Cauliflower

Technique:  Cut small head of cauliflower into florets.  Toss with olive oil and approximately 1 1/2 T Southwest seasoning.  Roast at 425 F for 20-25 minutes or until florets are browned and crisp-tender. Toss with salt, to taste.  (Optional: Serve with chipotle mayo for dipping).

The verdict:  We really liked the smoky flavor of the chipotle in this Southwest inspired seasoning.  Not particularly spicy, this blend would appeal to a broad range of palates, including children.  Would be a nice seasoning for chicken, white fleshed fish, or pork.  I think we'd also like this added to roasted potatoes.

_____________________________________________

And now... the best part.

First, ALL of our readers qualify to receive FREE SHIPPING on all products ordered on the Char Crust site between November 19 - December 19, 2010 (savings of $7 or more).  To receive free shipping, simply use the code BURP!121910 at checkout. 

In addition, Char Crust gave us enough seasoning blends to share the wealth!  Enter to win and we'll send one lucky reader a package filled with FIVE full sized packages of Char Crust Seasonings.

For your chance to win, please read the instructions below. Be sure to leave a comment for each entry (and leave your email address if you don't have it listed on your blog/contact info).   Please note that this contest is limited to readers in the United States & Canada. Contest ends 12/1/10 at NOON (CST).

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):   

• Tell me which of the Char Crust rubs you most want to try

Extra entries – please leave a comment for each additional entry, letting us know you completed it

• Give us a "like" on Facebook!
• Follow @Burp_blog on twitter
• Use the following text to tweet about this giveaway (please leave a link to your tweet in the comments for credit):  
• Char Crust Dry Rubs - #win five varieties @Burp_blog:  Ends 12/1 #giveaway

NOTE:  The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Facebook before the end of the week (12/3).  The winner will be emailed separately to arrange for mailing of the prize pack.

Full Disclosure:  Although we were given Char Crust products free of charge for the purpose of this review and giveaway, all opinions expressed in this review are our own.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Bowties with Beet Sauce

I'm not superwoman.
I can't leap tall buildings in a single bound. I can't wear spandex. And I'm fairly sure I can't repel bullets with my pretty little bracelets... though I can't say I've ever tried.  But, I can roast a mean beet.  And I can put together a pretty good impromptu pasta dish.  And here's proof.

For the past 3-4 weeks, Peef and I haven't really been able to see straight. Our lives have been filled with phone calls, meetings, emails, donation pick-ups, marketing and promotions. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to wrangle ourselves into planning not one.. but two fundraisers. All at the same time. And we've been paying for it.  Sleep and time deficits abound. And cooking is the last thing on our minds when we get home from a busy day at the office.

Fortunately, we have friends in high places.  Or at least friends at Pastificio Lucio Garofalo.  Those friends were nice enough to send us a big box of pasta to sample.  And that pasta... well, it has just about saved our lives.

Now, I'm going to get flack from some people for claiming that this recipe is quick and easy, since it calls for roasted beets.  Yes, I know it takes about an hour to roast beets.  But, they're beautiful to have on hand for weeknight meals if you take the time to prepare them in advance. I roasted my beets and my garlic over the weekend, when I actually had the hour to spare.  Then I packed them away into glass containers.

When the time came to make dinner, I just reached right into the fridge, grabbed them, and peeled them.  It took about five minutes.   Also (literally) took about five minutes to whizz the beets and the garlic together in the food processor, adding salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste.  I didn't puree it completely, since I wanted a bit of texture to remain.  But, I got the mixture fairly smooth.

Then I mixed in a bit of goat cheese, and a tablespoon or so of lemon juice.

Meanwhile, my pasta was cooking away.  By the time it was ready, so was my sauce.  And voila!  Everything was tossed together in a snap.

The sauce was such a brilliant color, I couldn't resist topping it with a few kernels of fresh roasted sweet corn and a handful of fresh basil.

Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.
Perfection for beet lovers everywhere.  And quick... even if you're not superwoman.


Beet Sauce for Pasta

If you're curious about those fund-raisers we've been dedicating our lives to, here's a little more info:

1. BANNED: Taboo Books, Bites, and Libations
2. Gumbo Git Down for the Gulf

Full Disclosure: We were not paid to advertise for Pastificio Lucio Garofalo. All opinions expressed in this blog entry are our own and are reflective of our experience.
 


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Pan Fried Mushroom Agnolotti

Sometimes, when you're nice, people send you cool stuff.
In this case, those Sweet Folks at Buitoni sent us a bit of their Riserva Wild Mushroom Agnolotti to try out. It's been a busy week, so I was actually pretty grateful for the opportunity to take advantage of a bit of convenience food.

Plus, you know what a love affair we've got going with pasta (and mushrooms!), so you can imagine we were pretty eager to give their fresh agnolotti a try... but how would we prepare it?
Rather than covering it with sauce, we decided that a nice, simple pan-fry would do the trick.

We melted a few tablespoons of butter in our trusty cast-iron skillet. We added a few bits of chopped fresh rosemary... and we let things bubble and brew for a bit, until the butter began to brown.
Then, we tossed in the fresh pasta. We sprinked a bit more rosemary over the top, and let the agnolotti fry for 3-4 minutes, until it was nicely browned on one side.
Then, we flipped each piece of pasta over.
After 3-4 more minutes, we had something delicious... and crisp... and incredibly earthy. We paired ours up with a bit of roasted asparagus.
The flavors of this simple dish just exploded in our mouths. The first thing that met our tongues was the crisp-fried exterior. The pasta browned up nicely, and absorbed just the right amount of the browned butter and rosemary flavors. The pasta was crisp -- yet chewy-- and the simple application let the flavors of the filling shine through. As we chewed, new character emerged. The aromas of the nutty butter bloomed, as our tongues encountered the delicious wild mushroom stuffing -- which nicely featured both the earthy mushrooms (portobello & cremini, in this case) and the Grana Padano & Parmesan cheeses. A hint of roasted garlic lingered on the end of the bite.

We couldn't complain about Buitoni's Agnolotti. This pasta was certainly good enough for a quick weeknight meal... and probably good enough to please company when prepared as a simple pasta course.

Not bad. Not bad at all.



©BURP! Where Food Happens