Katie’s Jerky – Served Up Sizzlin’ and Upside Down!
When Katie Levesque asked me to review her line of jerky I told her, sure, bring it on! And since I already knew something about Katie and Katie’s Premium Beef Jerky, having had it before, (spoiler alert!!) this will be a slam dunk, positive review. Well, I was right about the positive part- the jerky is first rate! But not so much with the slam dunk part. I wanted to be unique! Different! Unusual! Creative! A jerky reviewing master! I wanted to own the jerky and make it my…… well, okay, you get the drift! So I started thinking and decided that I didn’t want the usual, “take a bite, taste and review” review. I wanted to show you, my It’s a Fiery World audience, what makes this jerky special, and so much more than the myriad of brands you see at the mega-mart. So yes, we’ll talk about the products themselves, but also about Katie, the company, and how I like to experiment in the kitchen.
First, the review. Katie has a full lineup of “original” beef and bison jerky, and flavored pineapple jerky. She uses an excellent cut of meat, lean and savory. But what I didn’t find is a lot of tough stringy, hard to eat, tendon and fat. This stuff is easy to eat. It is slightly thicker than run of the mill products, with a very pleasing texture, so it feels good in your mouth. Regardless of flavor profile, the jerky is consistently tender without turning to mush in your mouth. This allows the flavors to escape evenly and fully, making your mouth happy, and your teeth not feeling as though they’d just gone 10 rounds with Clubber Lang! I have tried the original and several other flavors, and regardless of flavor (think original, spicy, more spicy, extra spicy, and holy crap, this stuff has some heat! spicy), the underlying flavor of the meat is preserved, while taking advantage of the various flavors and heat levels. There’s just enough onion, just enough garlic, and just enough of Katie’s special spice blends to make anyone smile. And at around 250mg of sodium (give or take a little), it’s not overly salty, which is a big beef with me. I don’t want to wake up after a jerky eating fest with fingers and ankles that feel like they’re stuffed sausages! I also had the Bison Jerky, and I love that big, full flavor of good, lean bison meat. I actually like bison more than regular “cow”, so having that option is an extra treat! I do wish the bison was available in more flavors! And she has recently teamed up with the Sauce Goddess, Jennifer Reynolds, and added some new, exotic flavors to the jerky lineup, using the Sauce Goddess’s spice profiles! I tasted some in Arizona, and man oh man, was it awesome!
I wanted to play with Katie’s products, so I decided to transform them and use them in
Marinating with Born to Hula Smokin’ Pineapple did a great job re-hydrating the tender beef
Katie’s Beef Jerky Fajitas
Now for the pineapple. I know what you’re thinking- how is pineapple jerky different than plain ol’ dried pineapple? Cause that’s what I thought. But here’s the thing- regular dried pineapple almost always has added sugars that turn it more into candy than simple dried fruit, and I’m not into all that extra sugar. So Katie’s pineapple, available in brown sugar and a myriad of other fun flavors (orange, pina colada, and cherry were the ones I tried), is a great, sweet snack alternative. Katie takes great care in getting the pineapple to a nice texture and consistency. It may be a little chewier than regular dried fruit, but I didn’t have any problems, and I don’t consider that a negative in the least. But it’s also more tender than some fruit leathers, and it’s not blended into a mush that is dried almost hard. Simply put, I really like it and it has lots of uses! What uses, you ask? Well, I’m glad you asked, cause we’re going to take a journey into my culinary creative side.
I needed to make a dessert for a work Christmas party, so I made pineapple jerky upside down cupcakes with a cinnamon cayenne brown sugar butter creme icing! I didn’t rehydrate anything, and used a pineapple upside down cake mix, and a brown sugar and butter mixture. I lined the bottom of the cupcake tins with the brown sugar/butter mixture and then added a piece of Katie’s spicy brown sugar flavored pineapple and a piece of cherry flavored pineapple. Add in the batter and top with a few diced pieces of the orange flavored pineapple jerky, and bake like normal! Delish! I added the icing and my co-workers devoured them! One take away for next time – the jerky wasn’t rehydrated first, so it was chewier than i would’ve liked (it is jerky, after all), so I would dice the pineapple and simply add it to the batter. I’d still get the desired flavors while getting a better texture and pineapple bite with each cupcake. But that’s a minor thing. I had a lot of fun playing with Katie’s beef, bison, and pineapple, and have nothing but praise for Katie’s lineup of products. They are rock stars in the world of jerky!
In closing, let me speak briefly about Katie’s Premium Beef Jerky as a company. Her back story is inspiring, and I don’t have time here to give you all the detail, since this article has already run pretty long (couldn’t help it- I had too much fun and enjoyed the jerky too much to just write a brief, “Spark Note” review). But long story short, she started like so many artisan, small batch, food entrepenuers, making jerky for her own pleasure and for friends. She received so much encouragement that she started selling, and fast forward a bunch of years, and here we are- a hard-working, passionate woman with a vision and a great product selling her passion full time! It’s fun talking with Katie, as her passion and excitement for her products and her company show in every conversation, whether it’s in person, or via email or text.
So go to www.katiesbeefjerky.com and load up! You won’t regret it and tell them I sent you! Because, we all know, that food is meant to be fun and yes, Virginia, it is a Fiery World!
Screaming MiMi Award Announcements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 29, 2016
2017 Screaming Mi Mi Awards
If You Want To Be The BEST Then You Have To WIN The BEST
The NYC Hot Sauce Expo is pleased to present the 2017 Screaming Mi Mi Awards Show on April 22nd. Each year hundreds of hot sauce companies from around the globe compete and try to win the most esteemed and most admired award in the hot sauce industry. Past winners have been featured on TV, national magazines, newspapers and blogs which has lead for their product distributed by wholesalers and national retail outlets.
This year the Screaming Mi Mi Awards have partnered with Peppers.com, Fuego Box, Chile Pepper Magazine and the Scott Roberts hot sauce blog. These companies are the most respected and leading outlets within the hot sauce community. “I wanted to maximize the profile of the winners and there is no better way than to partner up with these amazing companies” states Seabury organizer of the NYC Hot Sauce Expo. “I want spicy connoisseurs to have easy access to the BEST Hot Sauces in the World and the BEST are Screaming Mi Mi Award winners” adds Seabury.
Screaming Mi Mi Award winners will be selected via blind taste test by New York’s finest and brightest in the culinary industry. The panel consists of celebrity chefs from FOX, CBS and Food Networks, food critics from magazines, newspapers, bloggers, hot sauce retailers and some of NYC’s top chefs. The Screaming Mi Mi Awards has 16 different categories and 1 Grand Champion making this the hardest award to win in the hot sauce industry.
List of Categories:
Asian Style
Caribbean Style
Chipotle
Fruit Based
Fruit Based Hot
Habanero
Jalapeno
Louisiana Style
Pepper Blend Hot
Pepper Blend Mild
Carolina Reaper Pepper Sauce
XXX Hot Sauce (Non Extract)
Best Label Artwork
Sub Category:
Chicken Wing
Spicy BBQ Sauce
Spicy Salsa
GRAND CHAMPION: The Hot Sauce with the highest total score from the panel of Judges will be deemed the 2017 Grand Champion.
Grand Champion winner will receive the following:
50 Case purchase from Peppers.com distribution
Hot Sauce featured in June subscription of Fuego Box
Full Page Ad in Chile Pepper Magazine
1 Year of Free banner advertising on the official Scott Roberts website: http://www.scottrobertsweb.com
Free 10 x 10 Booth at the 2018 NYC Hot Sauce Expo (or another High River presenting Expo)
ENTRY DEADLINE: April 3rd, 2017.
If you have any questions or comments please email Steve Seabury at: info@NYCHotSauceExpo.com
To download the official 2017 Screamin MiMi entry application, go to the NYC Hot Sauce Expo website, listed below.
Official Website: www.NYCHotSauceExpo.com
NYC Hot Sauce Expo to Celebrate 5th Anniversary!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 27, 2016
The NYC Hot Sauce Expo Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary
New York’s own High River Sauces proudly presents the 5th Annual New York City Hot Sauce Expo on April 22nd & 23rd 2017. The NYC Expo will feature up to 45 artisanal hot sauce makers from all over the United States and as far as Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and South America. The NYC Hot Sauce Expo has grown into an International Hot Sauce celebration. Witness the action packed event with hot sauce tastings, eating challenges, spicy food vendors, craft beer, spicy cocktails and plenty of odd ball entertainment for the whole family.
The NYC Hot Sauce Expo will feature the Bloody Mary Mix-Down National Championship. Winners from AZ, CA & the Portland Hot Sauce Expo’s will be flown in to compete again NYC’s top mixologist in this ultimate Bloody Mary Mix-Down. Winner will receive $2500 cash and the beautiful Stoli Vodka Bloody Mary trophy.
Think you have what it takes to be crowned the Guinness Book of World Records – Smokin’ Ed’s Carolina Reaper Pepper Eating Contest, the World’s Hottest Pepper. The 2016 NYC Expo we witnessed Wayne Algenio smash the record by eating 119 grams in 60 seconds. Now the current record is held by Greg Foster when he ate 120 grams at the AZ Hot Sauce Expo on November 13th. Will the record come back to NYC?
The 5th Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo
April 22nd & 23rd
Brooklyn Expo Center
79 Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
For more information about the New York City Hot Sauce Expo please contact Steve Seabury: steve@highriversauces.com
Official website: www.NYCHotSauceExpo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewYorkCityHotSauceExpo
Instagram: www.instagram.com/highriversauces
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nychotsauceexpo
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas Season Deals
The big sale is back, and we will update it as we get new additions to our listings. It usually grows as we get closer to the holiday, so if you are shopping or curious of what will be offered, then keep coming back. If you are a company that would like to add your sale to our listing, then please either email me your whole sale as you wish it to be listed, and I will link to your website or sales page OR you can post below in the comments. We will also we sharing this listing with some other chile blogs and numerous Facebook groups.
It is very important to note that we only want to include companies that have met all the legal requirements to sell products online and ship across the US. I can not speak of international law, so companies wishing to ship outside the US are free to do so at their own discretion. We encourage our Chilehead friends to support these small market companies and the small market companies to support the Chilehead Community.
A huge thanks to Al “Buddah” Goldenberg of I Love It Spicy for getting this sale together.
Howling Dog Hot Sauce
FREE SHIPPING (Priority Mail 2-3 day shipping includes $50 insurance) and 10% off on a set of 5 bottles for $36.00. Regular price is $7.99/bottle.
Mix and Match flavors – Cayenne, Jalapeno, Chipotle, Ghostly Chipotle and Tomatillo.
Link: http://www.crookedcreekranch1.com/sauce.html
TorchBearer Sauces
Black Friday Sale will be buy 3 get 1 free sale, and then will be doing 40% off the entire store front on Cyber Monday.
Link: http://www.torchbearersauces.com
Heat Hot Sauce Shop
We will be offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $45 with coupon code “ILOVEITSPICY” through Christmas day – our selection has doubled since we did this promotion last year, so you can now get free shipping and low prices on over 400 incredible artisan hot sauces and other fiery foods. Plus, check out our freebies section to add your choice of superhot pods, spicy candy, or hot sauce sample packets, completely free.
We’re also offering 10% off any subscription to our Hot Sauce of the Month Club with the code “CHILEHEAD”. Our monthly club makes a perfect gift, and it includes unlimited free add-on shipping from our online shop. January’s featured sauce will be a brand new release exclusive to us, so members are in for a treat!
On top of all of this, we have some great deals on specific sauces (like Reapercussions for 30% off!), and awesome gift sets too. For a full list of sales visit: www.HeatHotSauce.com/BlackFriday.
Link: http://www.heathotsauce.com
Patter Fam Sauces
Discount code BlackFriday2016 for 20% off and Free Shipping on orders over $70
Then we will do Cyber Monday as well, Discount Code CyberMonday2016 for 20% off and Free Shipping on order over $70
Link: http://www.patterfamsauces.com
Hellfire Hot Sauce
We will be doing our Annual 50% off sale on all of our sauces
Link: http://www.hellfirehotsauce.com
Volcanic Peppers
Free shipping on orders over $50 through Dec 31st.
Link: http://www.volcanocpeppers.com
Pepper Explosion
We will be offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $45 with coupon code “ILOVEITSPICY”. We are approaching 1,000 hot sauces, BBQ necessities (rubs, sauces, marinades), spices, seasonings, gifts and other gourmet foods. Free shipping applies to the US only. This offer can not be combined with any other discounts and is only available from November 25th (Black Friday) to midnight EST November 28th (Cyber Monday).
Link: http://www.PepperExplosion.com
CaJohn’s Fiery Foods
40% Off on Cyber Monday on all items using CODE: CYBER2016
Link: https://www.cajohns.com
Bigfat’s Hot Sauce
We are offering 30% off all sauces and gift packs Black Friday through Cyber Monday!! Stay home, shop and avoid the insanity! Use coupon code NOPUSHING at checkout.
Link: http://www.bigfatshotsauce.com
Hot Sauce Depot
Free shipping on all orders over $60 on Black Friday 11/25/16. LOW prices and no coupon code needed!v
Link: http://www.hotsaucedepot.com
Kearley Seeds & Pepper Co.
We are offering our first ever Black Friday, Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday sales! See the sales below. Don’t forget you can grab an e-gift card for the Chileheads in your life while you’re there! Shop online or, if you’re local, you can order online and arrange to pick up your items. This will be first ordered first served!
Link: http://www.kearleyseedsandpepperco.com
Black Friday
- Carolina Reaper seeds: 50+ seeds for $9.99! 50 packs available.
- Our already discounted Big Seed Collections will be 25% off! That’s a huge deal!
- Spend $35 or more on products and you’ll get a Basic Seed Starting Kit free! (Not applicable to purchasing gift cards)
- BOGO (Buy One Get One) on the following rare and other seed varieties:
Chocolate Lava Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Peach, Moruga Scorpion Red, Brainstrain Red, 7 Pot Primo, Kale, Cucumber, Bean Varieties & Lettuce Varieties (including Collards).
- FREE SHIPPING!!!
Small Business Saturday
- BOGO (Buy One Get One) on the following rare seed and other varieties: Moruga Scorpion Red, Brainstrain, Carolina Reaper, 7 Pot Primo, Kale, Cucumber, Bean Varieties & Lettuce Varieties (including Collards).
- Spend $35 or more on products and you’ll get a Basic Seed Starting Kit free! (Not applicable to purchasing gift cards)
- Our already discounted Big Seed Collections will be 10% off!
FREE SHIPPING!!!
Cyber Monday
BOGO (Buy One Get One) on the following rare and other seed varieties:
- Brainstrain Red, Carolina Reaper, 7 Pot Primo, Yellow 7 Pot Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia Peach, Peruvian White Habanero, Kale, Cucumber, Bean Varieties & Lettuce Varieties (including Collards).
- Our already discounted Big Seed Collections will be 15% off!
- Spend $75 or more on products and you’ll get a Green Thumb Seed Starting Kit free! (Not applicable to purchasing gift cards.)
FREE SHIPPING!!
Crazy Good Specialty Foods
20% off all products and free shipping for orders over $50.
Link: http://crazygoodsauce.com/
Voodoo Chili Sauces
rotating sales, may change daily, ANY/ALL flash sales (link above) through Dec 15th all include FREE SHIPPING
www.VoodooChileSauces.com/flash-sale
Wild Bill’s Sauces
Black Friday through the end of November, get 40% off all purchases. Use code: grabone at checkout.
Link: http://www.Wildbillssauce.com
PexPeppers
We’re doing a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale! Take 35% off all products by using the code BLKFRIDAY
Link: https://www.pexpeppers.com/
Madison Chocolatiers West
30% off sale on order for Black Friday.
http://www.madisonchocolatier.com/
Apinya Thai Food Co. – (http://apinya.co/) Huge Black Friday and Small Business Saturday Sale – 50% off of everything with $2 shipping on all orders. Sales direct link: HERE
Dave’s Gourmet
Both of Dave’s Gourmet hot sauce gift packs are on sale for the entire Black Friday weekend for $19.99. It makes a great gift for spicy food lovers! You can choose from the Super Hot 2oz 4-Pk Wood Crate or the Spicy Six Pack.
Link: http://store.davesgourmet.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=76
Sucklebusters
25% off coupon code – black
PuckerButt Pepper Company
50% off Hot Sauce and Seeds. Use promo code BLACKFRIDAY2016
Link: www.puckerbuttpeppercompany.com
Sauce Goddess Gourmet LLC
20% off anything on our site, coupon code- iloveitspicy
now thru Dec 20th
still get free shipping for orders over $50
619-990-8684 ph
if you don’t lick your fingers, someone else will
It's a Fiery World 