Happy Holidays 2012

 

Wow, time flies when you’re having fun and nowhere is this more true than at Flaming Garden.  While a lot of hard work goes into bringing you your favorite pepper jelly flavors, a lot of love goes into it too.  Next month I’ll be posting a blog about the people behind the jars, but this month I want to bring you some more innovative ways to use our jellies for gifts and treats this holiday season.

If you have visited our website, www.flaminggarden.com you already know the wide variety of flavors we have to offer.  You should also have seen some of our recipe ideas.  If you’re following our blog you will know that I've posted some tasty ideas for using our jellies in past articles.  They can be found in the Jalapeno article, the Jolokia or Ghost Pepper article, the Chili Pepper Summer article, and the Pride Fest article.  Check these out in our archives from earlier this year.

Even if you've already seen our website and my previous posts, never fear because this post contains even more ways to use our jellies.

Gift Ideas:

For the pepper lover in your family, try checking our website (see above link) for our gift packages.  We’ll ship anywhere in the US for you.  If the gift packages on the website or in our store locations don’t fit the bill for you, give us a call or send an email from the website and we will put together a special order.  We are nothing if not flexible because our goal is to share these jellies with you and those you love.

Perhaps you’re in the Denver Metro area and would like to shop for our products locally.  Well, we have a presence in several Holiday gift boutiques in the area.  

Here’s a list of the boutiques where you can find us:

*  American Dreamers at Southwest Plaza. Lakewood, CO 
*  American Dreamers at Park Meadows Mall as of Sunday December 9

*  A Dickens Store in three locations; 1 store at Aspen Grove Shopping Center, Littleton, CO and 2 stores at Belmar Shopping Center, Lakewood, CO 

*  Southlands Mall, Aurora, CO near Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond

We have individual jelly jars for sale as well as gift baskets to choose from at all of these locations.  Our prices on gift baskets has been changed to (2) jars for $10.00 and (3) jars for $15.00.  At these prices you can now afford to get a gift box for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

If you are giving single jars as gifts to those special pepper loving people on your list you can jazz up your gift by putting the jar with a package of specialty crackers, a bottle of their favorite beverage, a freshly baked loaf of bread, or some chocolates.  Be creative and make up a special basket around the jelly or put the jelly in a gift basket with another theme.  No matter how you include the jelly, it will be a highlight of any gift.

Tasty Holiday Uses:

Here is a new recipe for a delightful fruity and spicy grilled chicken that might serve as a holiday celebration entree.  

Grilled Cilantro Mango Chicken with Flaming Garden Pepper Jelly

(Adapted from a recipe by Truvia Natural Sweetener)

Ingredients

1 mango, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro (stems included)

2 tbsp Flaming Garden Mango Jalapeno or Mango Habanero Jelly

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons minced ginger

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 fresh lime, juice and zest

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup water

kosher salt to taste

black pepper to taste

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions

Preparation Ahead:

1. Put the mangoes, cilantro, pepper jelly, vinegar, coconut milk, onion, ginger, garlic, lime juice and zest and oil in a food processor and puree until smooth; add some water if too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. You should have about 1 quart of marinade. Divide it in half.

2. Place the chicken and half the marinade mixture in a plastic bag and rub to coat the chicken with the marinade. Refrigerate at least 6 to 8 hours before cooking.  Refrigerate remaining unused marinade in an airtight container.

Cooking Directions

3. Put the unused marinade into a small saucepan with ¼- ½ cup of water (only enough to make sure the marinade is not too thick to start) and simmer over low heat until thick, up to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered.

4. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Spray grill with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Remove the chicken from marinade and grill slowly, turning the heat down to medium.  Cook for about 20 minutes, 10 minutes on each side, basting chicken constantly with marinade cooked on the stove only. Discard marinade that was in contact with raw chicken. Cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

5. Spoon some of the remaining marinade over the chicken as a sauce if desired for serving.  Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Alas, I don't have any photos of my dish to share with you.  Know that I gave this a try and it was very tasty indeed.  Please note that I did alter this recipe to use our pepper jelly instead of the hot sauce and sweetener called for by the original version.  

Other cooking ideas for you come from my sister, who’s family love some of the Flaming Garden flavors.  The following ideas are from her kitchen where measurements are not considered necessary in order to prepare a perfectly wonderful meal.  I've used the approximates here that she gave me.  (You should have seen her trying to show me on a spoon how much she puts in the pan.)  You see my sister spent her time in the kitchen with our grandmother learning how to cook and I spent mine learning to bake.  Grandma was born and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and the kitchen was equipped with only a cast iron wood stove.  No measurements oven temperatures or even cook times were given in most of grandma’s recipes.

Sauce ideas:

Sweet and Sour (with a kick) - - use a tablespoon or so of apricot jelly with a tablespoon or so of Flaming Garden Orange Bell Jolokia Pepper Jelly with about ¼ - ½ cup of water to make a sauce for about 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken.  Put the jellies and water in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently.  The jellies will liquefy into the water.  Then add the chicken and re heat it while coating with the jelly sauce.  Serve this with your favorite side.  (My sister serves this with rice and their vegetable of choice)

More Traditional Sweet and Sour - - Add 1 tablespoon of Flaming Garden Orange Bell Jolokia Pepper Jelly to the juice from a 15 oz can of pineapples then add Teriyaki or soy sauce to taste.  My sister likes to saute some peppers and onions in a skillet then add this sauce mixture and her meat of choice (at least one pound of meat).  She cooks this until the sauce is thick and the meat is completely cooked then serves it over white rice.

Flavoring ideas:

My sister is clever when it comes to trying to keep her simple meals interesting and tasty for her family.  She adds something different to a dish she may serve often to keep things from getting boring.  For instance:

Rice - - Add about ¾ to 1 teaspoon of your favorite jelly flavor to the water when making instant rice.  This will flavor the rice giving your dish a new twist.

Chicken - - take cooked and shredded chicken and re heat it in a skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade and 1 tablespoon of Flaming Garden Orange Bell Jolokia Pepper Jelly.  The jellies will liquefy and coat the chicken giving it a luscious flavor.  My sister pairs this with cooked pasta and Alfredo Sauce.  She said the flavored chicken gives this a wonderful new taste that her whole family enjoys.

Pork Chops or Roast - - Two delicious ideas have come from my sisters kitchen for pork, a family favorite when I was growing up.  
**Her first is to use the same 1 tablespoon  orange marmalade and 1 tablespoon Flaming Garden Orange Bell Jolokia Pepper Jelly to marinade the chops before baking them.  Of course you could grill the chops too.  
**Her second is to use about 2 tablespoons Flaming Garden Strawberry Jolokia Pepper Jelly to marinade the chops before cooking.  (Note that the amounts are based on three chops here.  You may need to increase or decrease depending on how many chops, or the size of your roast.)

Ground Beef - - My sister makes some excellent Mexican style dishes and her burritos are a favorite.  Add 1 ½ teaspoons Flaming Garden Red Bell Pepper Jelly to 1 cup cooked ground beef and ½ cup water.  Re heat in a skillet until all is combined and hot.  Mix in about ¾ cup re fried beans and heat through.  Use this as the filling for your burritos and add plenty of shredded cheddar.  (Again, amount may need to be increased or decreased depending on how many servings you need.  This was based on three servings.)

I could go on and on with my sisters ideas.  After all, she filled five pages with notes for me on how she uses the jellies in her cooking.  However, I want to have more to give you in another post.  Hopefully, these ideas have gotten your creative juices flowing and will give you some fresh new tastes to check out this holiday season.

Closing:

Be sure to look for us in the local holiday gift boutiques listed above.  Also, make sure to send us an email or comment on the blog posts to let us know how you use your favorite Flaming Garden flavors.  Or, let us know how you liked one of our recipes or flavor suggestions.  We always love to hear from our customers, whether good or bad, because your feedback motivates us to keep up the good work.

 …and so, with this I bid you all a wonderful holiday season filled with joy, happiness and tasty treats around every corner from all of us at Flaming Garden.