Product of the Week - Runamok Maple Grenadine

Welcome to a new feature on Minxeats! Every once in a while, we'll present to you one of our favorite store-bought products. It might be a chip, or cereal, or condiment, and it will definitely be something that we purchase and consume regularly. We hope you are curious enough to check out our suggestions, and if you do, let us know by leaving a comment.

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Grenadine is a sweet and tart non-alcoholic syrup that is commonly used as a flavoring and coloring agent in various cocktails including classic Shirley Temples and Tequila Sunrises, as well as several other mixed drinks.

The word "grenadine" is derived from the French word "grenade," which means pomegranate, as it has traditionally been made from the juice of that fruit, simply reduced and with sugar added. Over time, the recipe evolved, and some commercial versions may no longer contain pomegranate juice as their primary ingredient, instead relying on citric acid, food coloring, and artificial flavorings to achieve a similar flavor and vibrant red color. (Rose's, for example, contains high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, preservatives, Red 40, natural and artificial flavors, and Blue 1.) Commercial grenadine is also more sticky and sweet than the original, about as close as a neon-red cocktail cherry is to an actual fresh fruit. 

One can make their own grenadine by cooking pomegranate juice with sugar until its reduced to a syrup, but why go to the trouble? 

You already know Runamok's products are among my very favorites because I've posted about them numerous times in the past, so my next sentence won't be particularly surprising. Runamok Maple Grenadine is even better than homemade. It's truly tart, because it's made with both pomegranate and lime, and it's sweetened with pure and delicious maple syrup. (Their whole line of cocktail mixer thingies are fabulous, including the maple bitters and the Smoked Old Fashioned mixer made with pecan wood-smoked maple syrup. Expensive, yes, but you only need a tablespoon to make a sublime drink. But I digress.) And while it's perfect to use in a cocktail, I find myself using it as a substitute for the pomegranate syrup called for in many Middle Eastern recipes. For example, my favorite recipe for Muhammara--a red pepper and walnut dip--calls for 2 teaspoons of pomegranate molasses, but I often find myself using a tablespoon of Runamok Maple Grenadine instead. It's both sweeter and more tart than the brand of pom molasses currently in my cupboard, so it hits both of the essential flavor points that I feel just about every recipe needs. 

Try substituting it for the pom molasses in these recipes: Lamb Meatballs with Spiced Sweet Potato Puree and Yogurt Sauce, Chicken with Walnut Pepper Sauce. It's also great drizzled on Bobby Flay's roasted brussels sprouts, 

And here's a classic drink recipe, modernized with booze. I used to beg for a Shirley Temple when my parents would take me to a nice restaurant. It made me feel grown up, even though I was essentially drinking a pink soda. I'll drink them now, too, but with the addition of good vodka.

Dirty Shirley

2 ounces vodka of your choice

1 ounce Runamok Maple Grenadine

Lemon lime soda

Maraschino cherries with stems

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the vodka and grenadine. Pour in about 4 ounces of the soda and stir. Add more soda, if desired. Garnish with a cherry or two. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Product of the Week - MaraNatha Almond Butter

Welcome to a new feature on Minxeats! Every week (or so), we'll present to you one of our favorite store-bought products. It might be a chip, or cereal, or condiment, and it will definitely be something that we purchase and consume regularly. We hope you are curious enough to check out our suggestions, and if you do, let us know by leaving a comment.

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Our first product is MaraNantha Almond Butter.

Mr Minx and I go on the Whole30 diet every once in a while. It's a good way to reset our eating if we've gone off the track. You know, at Christmastime when there are freshly-baked cookies and jugs of eggnog singing their irresistible siren song. ::::plugging ears with fingers:::: LALALALALALALALA!

Anyhoo...

Whole30 doesn't allow peanuts, hence no peanut butter. I can live without it, but Mr Minx cannot, so I had to find an alternative. We tried many almond butters, but most were "natural" style, with an inch of oil on top, a gummy texture, and not a whole lot of flavor. And then I stumbled upon MaraNantha. Their no-stir almond butter has both salt and sugar in it, like our favorite peanut butter (Jif) so it actually tastes good. There is usually a little oil on top, so "no-stir" is somewhat of a falsehood, but the flavor alone keeps me buying this stuff. I prefer the crunchy kind because I like texture, but the creamy stuff is very good, too. As with peanut butter, almond butter can be used to make sauces and soups as well as to spread on toast. Or to eat straight off the spoon. 

Yes, I realize that MaraNantha uses palm oil, which has been credited with harming the planet's biodiversity. That is true of many cooking oils, including everybody's favorites, coconut and olive. I'm not making excuses; man is definitely the Earth's worst enemy. But this isn't a crunchy granola feel-good blog, it's a food blog, and I'm just saying that I am a fan of this particular product. If I could find one that was as good, but less-harmful to the planet, of course I will switch. But in the meantime, you will find this in my pantry.

Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Product of the Week - Smoked Paprika

Smoked paprika has become quite the trendy ingredient of late. More and more I see it being called for in recipes by TV chefs and in cookbooks and food magazines. While pimentón is not such an exotic ingredient in Spain and around the Mediterranean, up until fairly recently it wasn't easy to find on American supermarket shelves. I originally bought mine from Penzeys, but have since found McCormick and Spice Island brands at the Superfresh or Giant.

Before trying it, I didn't know what the fuss was all about. I always thought standard paprika - the kind one sprinkles on top of devilled eggs as a garnish - had little or no flavor. Smoked paprika, on the other hand, lends a lively and of course smoky flavor to food. I like to put it on basically everything, because, like everyone's favorite similarly smoky-flavored pork product (that would be BACON), it's good in everything. Sure, put it on devilled eggs, and in egg salad. But it's great in chicken salad, in chili, and in a dry rub for ribs or steak or shrimp. Or vegetables. Anything that calls out for a bit of smokiness.

Product of the Week - Gold Key Dried Mangoes

I am a big fan of the mango. Because I am allergic to peaches, they are the next best thing, texture-wise, and of course they have a magnificent flavor all their own. I like dried mangoes too, but as with all dried fruit, the quality varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some are too dry, some are too stringy. Others don't have the right balance of sugar to natural tang. But I picked up a package of Gold Key brand at an Asian food store a few years ago and found my holy grail of dried mangoes. These are sweet and tangy (more sweet though, which is my preference) and taste of exactly what they are - mangoes. I love them and have to be careful not to scarf down the entire package at one time!

I'm sure they're good chopped up and added to quick breads and cereals and the like, but I just like to eat them as is. Like candy. Yum.

Ok - get this package away from me before I eat them all....

Photo cribbed from Asia Finest Discussion Forum.

Product of the Week - Charras Tostadas

I love to tinker with the flavors of Mexican and Tex-Mex foods, but like most average American home cooks, I don't want to fuss with making my own tortilla chips at home. Yeah, I know there are a zillion commercial brands available, but just about every one of them is too salty for my tastes - and I like salt - so I avoid them like the plague.

So what do I do when I want to make nachos? I grab a bag of Charras tostadas. The subtly spicy chipotle flavor is my favorite. When I make nachos, I break them up into wedges, but sometimes I leave them whole. I also like to use them as the basis for their namesake tostadas, eating them unbaked and covering them with a pile of shredded and sauced meats, salsas, guacamole, etc. Kinda like a flat taco, and marginally easier to eat than the American-style hard taco - a tostada doesn't automatically fall apart at the first bite.

They're pretty tasty on their own, too, especially with a nice margarita on the side. Mmm. :)

Product of the Week - Mid's Pasta Sauce

To me, the ideal pasta sauce is smooth and thick and doesn't separate into tomato chunks and water when it hits hot pasta. To achieve this with homemade sauce, it needs to simmer for hours. And, it needs to be made with a lot of tomato paste, rather than just canned tomatoes.

Sometimes we're pressed for time (or are just plain lazy) so choose to use a jarred pasta sauce rather than making one from scratch. All jarred sauces are not alike, so I've tried several brands in a quest to find the one that best suits my particular tastes. Many jarred sauces tend to do that separation thing. In addition, they are usually full of high-fructose corn syrup, which adds both sweetness and body to a sauce. Mid's on the other hand, is made from tomato paste for body and uses sugar as a sweetener. The end result tastes a lot like what I would want to produce, if I had the time - assertively tomato-y, but neither too acidy nor too sweet. And thick enough to coat every strand of pasta without forming a layer of water on the bottom of the bowl. In my not-so-humble opinion, it tastes great and is the perfect consistency. It's not expensive like the premium restaurant sauces (Rao's, Patsy's) and it tastes better. At least we think so.Your mileage may vary, but if you can find it, I recommend giving Mid's a try.

According to the Mid's Web site, they have no retailers in Maryland, but since Wegman's is a New York firm, we've been able to purchase it there. Wal-Mart may also stock it locally.

Product of the Week - Chilli Paste with Sweet Basil

Have you ever gotten hooked on a particular product and used it in everything? Chilli Paste with Sweet Basil is one of my personal obsessions. I like the Por Kwan brand and have purchased both the sweet basil and holy basil versions at our local H-Mart.

Mr Minx and I were still in the dating stages of our relationship when I discovered this stuff, and he got pretty accustomed to finding it's spicy flavor in many of the dinners I cooked at his house. Not only did I use it to flavor Thai-style sauces for poultry (like the basil duck that I've mentioned here several times), but also I've tossed a spoonful of it into anything that needed a bit of heat. Or a bit of something. You know, when a dish just doesn't taste perfect yet and it needs a dash of __?___. Everything was fair game - pasta sauce, soup, mac and cheese, hamburgers. Ice cream. (Ok, kidding about that last one.)

I don't obsess over it quite as much these days, but there is an open jar in the fridge and a back-up in the pantry. My current favorite use for this spicy sauce is as a flavoring for egg salad - fan-freakin'-tastic. It adds just the right amount of heat and interest to an otherwise bland preparation. Of course it would be perfect in a variation of deviled eggs, too.

Fans of Thai flavors and a bit of heat should try this for themselves. And if you do pick up a jar (or two), please let me know how you've used it!

Product of the Week - Utz Potato Chips

Although I don't eat them very often (once every 10 days or so), I am a fan of the potato chip. Particularly the Utz brand, from Hanover, PA. There's just something perfect about those golden brown slices of crisply-fried potato that I haven't tasted in other brands.

Because they were on sale, we recently bought Herr's; the plain version tasted too strongly of cooking oil and the barbecue flavor was too salty/savory. When I was a kid, Wise was the only brand of chip available at my school. I found the plain flavor to be repugnant, but the barbecue was pretty good. Still, if I had my druthers, I preferred to eat Utz over all.

Today, my favorite Utz chips are the Honey BBQ, which, despite the name, don't seem to be as sweet as the standard Bar-B-Q flavor. Plain Utz are next, followed by the Salt and Pepper. The Kettle Classic chips are also good, particularly the Sweet Potato chips. Additionally, I *love* Utz BBQ Corn Chips - they are sweet and savory and not half as salty as Fritos. Oh, and their pretzels are decent, too.

Utz can basically do no wrong. :)

Product of the Week - Kewpie Mayo

One of my favorite products comes in a soft plastic squeeze bottle adorned with an image of a Kewpie doll. Kewpie Mayonnaise is a Japanese version of the ubiquitous condiment Americans use in everything from salads to sandwiches. Unlike the flabby white American mayo that tastes mostly of fat and not much else, Kewpie is a bit more golden in color, thinner in texture, and full of umami. To my palate, it tastes more like homemade mayonnaise, with an obvious eggy flavor and maybe a bit of olive oil.

Unless I'm cooking for a large group (for example, an office party) at which time I'll use an inexpensive American brand, Kewpie is the only mayonnaise that lives in Casa Minx. It's a perfect sandwich spread on its own, but the addition of a few other simple ingredients can transform it into a delicious sauce, salad dressing, or dip. I like to mix a couple squirts of mayo with some gochujang (Korean bean paste) and a bit of Sriracha for a perfect hamburger spread. Of course it also works well with chicken or tuna salad, and makes very flavorful egg salad and deviled eggs.

The biggest problem with Kewpie mayo seems to be its availability. Giant Food near me carried it for a brief time, as did Asia Foods on York Road. Wegman's has a large International foods section but no Kewpie. We usually have to make a field trip to H Mart and then we buy several bottles at a time. If you don't have an Asian grocery store near you, Kewpie mayo is available at Amazon.com.