cvwine.com Blog

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Katie Das, owner of Chicago based Das Foods who has just launched a new company that creates uniquely flavored lollipops. In getting to know Katie and being curious about her lollipop flavors I learned that she draws her inspiration for her artisanal candies from her Ukrainian American heritage. Her India-born husband who has fostered her love for exotic spices and unique flavors of the Far East and her background in working for companies like Kraft Foods and Wrigley Company were the perfect stepping stones into creating lollipops that were both different and unique.

Katie focuses her efforts on sourcing ingredients locally. She ensures that all Das Foods candies are all natural, are corn syrup-free, free of chemical preservatives and additives, and contain no artificial flavors or food coloring.

As a lover of bacon one flavor in particular caught my attention and that was Man Bait - a maple bacon lolli that’s a fiercely delicious combination of real smoky bacon bits and delicious maple syrup providing an all-at-once savory and sweet sensation.

Be sure to visit Katie’s site at www.dasfoods.com

Signing Off and Pigging Out,
Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock
Visit our Bacon Club by clicking here

As each of you know the economy has been slumping which has forced many of us to eat out less often, in fact I am being told that many of your are preparing gourmet meals for your eating enjoyment at home, So men how are you wooing potential dates if you have less dollars in your wallet?

With that being said guys dating + romance doesn’t = Spending $$. Cooking a romantic meal at home can allow you to keep your social life, while keeping your checking account in balance as well.

As the owner of a gourmet food company I believe that you can enjoy a great home cooked meal and on a budget, take High Liner Foods who just released their newest line of products, Sea Cuisine, which offers restaurant quality seafood at home. These recipes were created by executive chef, Owen Tilley. Recently I spoke to Chef Tilley who has provided me with some meal suggestions and plating techniques to enhance your eating enjoyment and your love life. Chef Owen Tilley, recently signed on as Executive Chef and Director of Culinary at High Liner Foods. Chef Tilley has cooked for big names such as the Kennedy/Shriver family, James Taylor, Lenny Kravitz, Bill Cosby, and the great Julia Childs.

Meal Shortcuts:
Garlic Veggie Pasta Sauté
Sauté garlic with mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes; toss with cooked pasta. Drizzle with olive oil and Italian style bread crumbs.
Serve alongside Mediterranean Crusted Salmon

Tortilla Tilapia, Bacon & Chipotle Toss (see attached photo)
Toss cooked sweet potatoes, cooked bacon, avocado, chipotle peppers, and onions with a drizzle of olive oil.
Serve on a bed of High Liner Sea Cuisine Tortilla Tilapia, along with a bucket full of Corona’s for a game day meal with a twist.

Mixed Veggie & Bacon Rice
Mix peas, corn, and bacon with prepared rice and serve hot. Serve alongside Sea Cuisine Potato Crusted Cod.

Bacon & Garlic Green Beans with Roasted Potatoes
Sauté onions, garlic, and bacon with green beans; serve with roasted potatoes, mixed in with High Liner Sea Cuisine Tuscan Parmesan Shrimp, and a glass of Chardonnay for a mature twist on bacon.

P.S. guys, fish is really easy to cook and rather inexpensive, it will be easy to impress your date and give your date the impression you have spent a lot of money on a tight budget. Top off your meal with a bottle of wine from the Coastal Vineyards Wine Club.

Thank you Chef Tiley and High Liner foods for reminding us that we can have an awesome meal without paying the premium prices required at a restaurant.

Signing Off and Pigging Out,
Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock
Visit our Bacon Club by clicking here

Team reddit had some fun with the launch of our newest bacony goodness chocolates called, Boss Hog’s Bacon Chocolates Sueyts. The contest was called 6 degrees of chocolate bacon. The idea was to start with bacon and end with bacon. The winning entry looked like this:

Chocolate is in South America with Cocaine.
Cocaine is in prostitutes with politicians.
Politicians are in Washington with Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is in a religion with Creationists.
Creationists are in the Midwest with Cows.
Cows are in Artiodactyla with Pigs.
Pigs are associated with the Swine Flu.
The Swine Flu is transmitted through BACON.

click here to see the contest at reddit.com

Recently Heather Lauer launched a new book called Bacon: A Love Story, a Salty Survey of Everybody’s Favorite Meat in which she discusses America’s love affair with bacon! She tell us that everything from cooking shows, to restaurant menus, to party snacks, to food blogs, it seems like bacon is getting more buzz than ever. In recent years, bacon has transcended its simple categorization as a salty piece of pork belly, and has now achieved bonafide icon status as “the rock star of all meats.” But times were not always so swine-y. After surviving years on the back burner during the cholesterol-conscious ’90s, the recent pork revival in restaurants has only heightened America’s unyielding affinity for this smoky staple.

As a fan of Heather Lauer’s website www.BaconUnwrapped.com, and of course a true Bacon Freak myself and supporter those little strips of bacony goodness, I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book because Bacon is Meat Candy!

Signing Off and Pigging Out,
Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock
Visit our Bacon Store by clicking here

www.BaconFreak.com has once again created some sizzle in the gourmet food world by combining one of their most popular bacons, Boss Hogg Hickory Smoked Bacon, with a boutique quality Swiss chocolate to come up with another taste sensation that has people doing a lot more with their mouths than merely talking about it.

The product is “Boss Hog Bacon Chocolate Sueyts!” The name is yet another clever twist of terms that Bacon Freak has become so widely renowned for, making food fun again. “Suey” is the word that most farmers use to call their pigs to meals. So they simply chose to use the word “Sueyts” instead of Sweets!

The idea of bacon and chocolate combined had been the dream of millions for hundreds of years!,” admits Bacon Freak owner / proprietor Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock, “Bacon and chocolate are the two most passionately beloved “oral obsessions” in society. All we did was take the highest quality, country style, gourmet bacon and perfectly blend it with the world’s finest, premium quality, boutique style chocolate. “

“That’s where Sandi Williamson of “Executive Sweets” of Ohio came in!” Boss Hog explains. “This was always a priority project for us, but I knew I had to find the right “chocolatier” with as much expertise in chocolate as I have in bacon! Now I have and here it is! You really have to taste this to believe it!”
Two versions are available. One made with “dreamy - creamy” milk chocolate and the other with rich, decadent, dark chocolate. It’s the perfect “protein packed” power snack for traveling, picnics or just in-between meals. When it comes to truly unique and original party planning, these tantalizingly tempting taste treats will blow the minds of your guests and help create a memorable moment to last a life-time.

Click here to visit the Bacon Chocolates Sueyts page.

Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock

There is nothing better for breakfast than the smokey taste of sausage in a breakfast burrito! I want to thank our friends at the National HOT DOG & SAUSAGE Council at www.hot-dog.org who provided us with this very yummy breakfast treat! To bring home the smokey flavor that you love try using our newest breakfast sausage called Boss Hog Country Sausage . This is an excellent sausage in which Bacon Freak has blended ham with hickory smoked sausage to create a unique meaty flavor.

Baked Sausage and Creamy White Cheddar Grits
Yield: 9-12 breakfast servings

Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound breakfast or bulk sausage, spicy flavor preferred
1 large red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed and chopped
2-1/2 cups cold water
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking grits
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 ounces white sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, DIVIDED
2 large eggs, well beaten
Peach mango fruit salsa

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 7×11-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large heavy nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up sausage into small pieces. Cook until no longer pink. Drain on clean paper towels.
3. Drain all but 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of pan drippings. Add red peppers to skillet and cook until soft.
4. In a separate heavy saucepan, bring water, milk and salt to a boil. Slowly stir in grits. Immediately reduce heat and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 7 minutes.
5. Add mustard, thyme and 1 cup cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Cool slightly and fold in sausage and red pepper. Stir in beaten eggs.
6. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until light golden brown. Grits should be firm and set in the center.
8. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
9. Serve with peach mango fruit salsa.

Signing Off and Pigging Out,
Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock
Visit our Sausage of the Month Club by clicking here

Recently Bacon Jerky was featured on NBC Newyork - Thrilllist.com edition.

Thanks for the plug!

-Boss Hog

Snake ‘N’ Bacon is the brand new hit animated comedy series on “Adult Swim” which is currently airing on late Sunday nights / early Monday mornings. If you don’t already watch or know much about “Adult Swim,” it’s sort of mad cap collection of quite oddly unique, strangely creative, off the wall and utterly spaced out animated comedy that is extremely popular these days with male viewers between the age of 15 and 30.

Adult: Not particularly adult in the sense of behaving in a disciplined, mature fashion, but more along the lines of delving deeply into explicit topics most definitely NOT for children or those with a sensitive disposition or priding themselves on their high values, moral and ethics.

Swim: Well … basically, that what your mind will do after about an hour or so of their programming.

So what exactly is Snake ‘N’ Bacon? Would it make sense if I were to tell you that it is a creatively artistic show that features one character, names Snake who only communicates by hissing and another character names Bacon, who in fact is a slice of bacon who talks in 1st person about nothing more than … well, I bet you’ve already guessed, BACON!

It’s a 15 minute presentation, like Robot Chicken, another hugely popular “Adult Swim production co-created by Seth Green of Family Guy, Austin Powers and Idle Hands. Its part animation and part live action, with a very surrealistic, psychedelic play back and forth between the two.

What do I think? Well … I’m still in the process of making up my mind. I Love bacon and admire and respect Bacon’s obsession with bacon, but I’m not a huge fan of snakes and find the sound of a continual Hisssssssss sort of annoying after awhile, unless it’s bacon sizzling in a pan or on a grill.

Some people observe the amazing popularity and fanatical connoisseur obsession with South African wines lately and assume this is just some sort of whirl-wind trend that has simply come to pass and will sputter out when the next “fashion” arises on the scene.

These people clearly don’t know their wine or their history. South African wines are well beyond merely being a temporary “hot ticket” item taking the entire world of premium quality, small production specialty gourmet wines by storm.

In fact, the truth is, as early as 1659, many South African wines, including the ever popular “Constantia” were enthusiastically proclaimed to some of the greatest boutique quality wines in the entire world.

Sadly, the uncertain political environment kept most of the world from being able to partake of the flavorful fountain of fruity freshness expertly put into every bottle. This of course led to South African wines being the hard to come by, rare specialty finds that ONLY the wealthiest and well connected gourmands and aficionados could afford to enjoy!

Since the fall of apartheid, South African wines have surged in international popularity with its recently found “open access” to world wide markets. This newly encountered “free and clear” pathway to the world has unleashed a tremendously gigantic burst of excited energy and new investment in this delectable delicacy, once limited to being the exclusive epicurean experience of the rich and famous.

The style of wines coming from this “reborn” nation seems to symbiotically straddle the New & Old Worlds, combining the ripe flavorful fruit of the former, with the traditionally elite elegance and rustic restraint of the latter.

Despite the exceptionally perfect warm climate, humidity levels and soil that leads to the ultimate red wines, South Africa had amazed the world with it’s equally impressive white wines as well.

Particularly beloved and renowned is the South African “Chenin Blanc,” also known around the globe as “Steen.” Of course the South African” Cabernet Sauvignon” and “Syrah / Shiraz” are absolutely mouthwatering! And if you have never tried the Cape’s own variety, called “Pinotage,” you are truly missing out!

Hey, why would you miss out! Coastal Vineyards Wine Club is proud to introduce you to our increasingly popular South African Wine Club. Come check it out for yourself and see why wine experts around the globe can’t get enough of the wonderful wines of South Africa! http://www.cvwine.com/southafrican/wineclub.html

Sometimes company comes over unexpectedly for a surprise visit and the next thing you know, it’s getting late in the day and you want to make something special to mark the occasion and ensure that the event is a memory making experience.

So what do you do when you want to impress your guests without breaking the bank or spending too much time in a hot kitchen? That’s where Bacon Wrapped Roasted Beef Tenderloin comes in. It’s most definitely sophisticated and fancy, but at the very same time it’s uniquely hearty and down-home delicious!

Bacon Wrapped Roasted Beef Tenderloin

(Serves 8 with a slightly chilled, full bodied “red wine.”)

Ingredients:

3 pound beef tenderloin piece (large end), trimmed

2 1/4-inch-thick slices peeled garlic (from about 4 cloves)

1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 pound bacon slices

3 8 inch long fresh rosemary branches

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Using a small, sharp knife, cut twelve 1-inch-deep slits all over beef tenderloin.

Insert garlic slices into slits.

Rub pepper all over tenderloin.

Arrange bacon slices on work surface, overlapping slightly and forming rectangle.

Place 1 rosemary branch down center of bacon rectangle, perpendicular to bacon slices.

Place tenderloin atop rosemary branch. Place remaining 2 rosemary branches on top of the tenderloin.

Wrap bacon slices around tenderloin and rosemary to enclose tenderloin completely.

Place tenderloin in roasting pan, bacon ends down.

Roast tenderloin until meat thermometer inserted into center registers 125°F

Rare: roast for about 1 hour. Well Done: Roast for around 1 hour & twenty minutes.

Remove from oven.

Tent the roast with foil and let tenderloin stand for 10 minutes.

Transfer tenderloin to cutting board.

Using large sharp knife; cut tenderloin through bacon and rosemary into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Serve & Enjoy!