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.

Flashback Friday - Bacon Grilled Cheese

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on July 3, 2013.

I was so pleased with my sample of Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup, I thought I'd play with it a little more. Why not use it as a glaze for bacon, then add that to a simple grilled cheese sandwich? The syrup added just the right amount of sticky sweetness, while letting both the cheese and bacon flavors shine through.

Caramelized Bacon Grilled Cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked through but not crunchy
3 tablespoons Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup
4 slices of bread
cheese of your choice, enough to cover a slice of bread in two thin layers (aka about the size of a slice of American cheese)
softened butter

Coil bacon slices into circles; secure with toothpicks. (It doesn't have to be particularly neat; this is just to help the caramel-stiffened bacon fit on the bread.) Place bacon rings in a cold saute pan and pour the three tablespoons of syrup over the bacon. Put heat on, at about medium. Watch carefully. The syrup should start to bubble in a minute or so, but you don't want it to bubble too quickly, otherwise it will harden. As the syrup bubbles, use tongs to turn the bacon every half minute or so. Cook until the bacon is well-glazed and there doesn't seem to be much syrup left in the pan.

Remove bacon to a plate. Wash pan.

Assemble sandwiches: for each sandwich, arrange a quarter of the cheese on one slice of bread, then add half the bacon. Top with the rest of the cheese, then the second slice of bread. Spread softened butter on outside of top slice.

Turn heat on under saute pan to medium. Add sandwiches butter-side-down. Cook over medium heat until bottom bread is nicely browned and the cheese is starting to melt. Butter the top slice of bread and flip sandwiches. Cook until bottom is browned.

Cut sandwiches in half, diagonally, and serve with your favorite soup or a handful of potato chips. Or both.

* 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.



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Snowballs

When the temperatures reach into the 90s and the humidity feels like a slap in the face with a wet blanket, nothing cools me down like a snowball. After a couple spoonfuls of icy sweetness, my body temperature goes down enough that I can be fooled into thinking that the air around me is actually cool and breezy. Of course, that sensation disappears immediately after the last bite, when I'm once again plunged into the sticky steaminess of summer.

For those outside the Baltimore area, a snowball (pronounced "snaebaw" by many locals) is a cup of finely shaved ice doused in sweet flavored syrup and garnished with either gooey marshmallow sauce or ice cream. My favorite flavors were always egg custard, spearmint, and strawberry, with vanilla ice cream on the bottom, please. Mr Minx is an egg custard kinda guy, too, but he prefers his topped with marshmallow. Different strokes.

KoldKiss is the most popular brand of syrup in the area, and their flavors run the gamut from apricot to kiwi to a mysterious flavor known as "skylite." When we were kids, we heard that it was a licorice flavor, and it mystified us that it would be so popular since what kid likes black licorice? Now we hear it's a blue raspberry. Nevertheless, we've never tried skylite and probably won't be trying it any time soon - we're far too old to be walking around with blue teeth.

What's your favorite snowball flavor and why?



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Bacon Grilled Cheese

I was so pleased with my sample of Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup, I thought I'd play with it a little more. Why not use it as a glaze for bacon, then add that to a simple grilled cheese sandwich? The syrup added just the right amount of sticky sweetness, while letting both the cheese and bacon flavors shine through.

Caramelized Bacon Grilled Cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked through but not crunchy
3 tablespoons Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup
4 slices of bread
cheese of your choice, enough to cover a slice of bread in two thin layers (aka about the size of a slice of American cheese)
softened butter

Coil bacon slices into circles; secure with toothpicks. (It doesn't have to be particularly neat; this is just to help the caramel-stiffened bacon fit on the bread.) Place bacon rings in a cold saute pan and pour the three tablespoons of syrup over the bacon. Put heat on, at about medium. Watch carefully. The syrup should start to bubble in a minute or so, but you don't want it to bubble too quickly, otherwise it will harden. As the syrup bubbles, use tongs to turn the bacon every half minute or so. Cook until the bacon is well-glazed and there doesn't seem to be much syrup left in the pan.

Remove bacon to a plate. Wash pan.

Assemble sandwiches: for each sandwich, arrange a quarter of the cheese on one slice of bread, then add half the bacon. Top with the rest of the cheese, then the second slice of bread. Spread softened butter on outside of top slice.

Turn heat on under saute pan to medium. Add sandwiches butter-side-down. Cook over medium heat until bottom bread is nicely browned and the cheese is starting to melt. Butter the top slice of bread and flip sandwiches. Cook until bottom is browned.

Cut sandwiches in half, diagonally, and serve with your favorite soup or a handful of potato chips. Or both.

* 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.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Bourbon, Bacon, and Caramel Cocktail

I'm going to the Fancy Food Show in NY next week. This will be my first one, and I'm excited! In preparation, I contacted a couple of the purveyors listed on the Specialty Foods web site in order to get information in advance. There are way more exhibitors than I'll be able to visit, and I figured this way I'll get a better idea of products that might be of the most interest to me.

One of those products was Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup, from the French Connection in Ashland, Oregon. They won't be at the show, but they were willing to send me some of their product to sample.

The syrup is made from caramelized cane sugar, Tahitian vanilla, Celtic sea salt, and a soupçon of maple. The flavor is subtly salty, and subtly maple-y, and I can see how it would be terrific on pancakes. Their marketing director suggested that it can also be used on ice cream, oatmeal, and corn bread, but I thought it would make a nifty addition to a cocktail. With bacon.

After trying the syrup with both rum and bourbon, I determined that bourbon was the perfect choice. The resulting drink is simple, and reminiscent of a Manhattan. Because of that, I'm calling it an Ashland, after the town in which Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup is produced.

Ashland

Lori's Salt Caramel Syrup
bourbon (if you can get some bacon-infused bourbon, all the better)
Angostura bitters
crumbled crisp bacon
twists of lemon peel

For each cocktail, stir 2 ounces of bourbon, 1/2 ounce of salt caramel syrup, and a dash of bitters together with ice.

Dip the rim of a cocktail glass in a bit of the syrup, then in the crumbled bacon. Strain the drink into the glass. Add the lemon twist.

* 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.

Posted on Minxeats.com.