Wow, let’s hear it for the great state of Texas! Courtesy of Carolyn at Pepper Creek Farm, we received a mondo box of products that we used to our endless fascination for a few weeks. A little generosity goes a long way, and we were happy to be at the receiving end of some good stuff.

Well, our introduction to Pepper Creek Farm was a fairly recent one. While attending the finals of the ICS National Chili Cookoff in Las Vegas, we came across their booth under the big tent. As we slathered their jalapeno relish over mini hot dogs, we regretted the fact that we had loaded up so much with other hot sauces that we didn’t have room in our suitcases to bring any of their products home with us!

Awards

Pepper Creek Farm products have won a bunch of awards, both regional and national. For a list of them, click HERE.

We caught up with Carolyn Bigham, co-owner and honorary Grand Poobah of Pepper Creek Farms, to ask her a few questions about their undeniably Texan delicacies….

Where do you get your ideas for your products?

I have always made salsa and given it away for Christmas, then I began producing it commercially. The Grandma’s relish is a recipe my great grandmother used to make pickles and I adapted it. I just experimented with the Mango Blaze Hot Sauce and the cooking glazes until I came up with something I liked. The brisket rub has been used by my husband for years and we used to make the chili from scratch on the hunting lease and I just finally put the recipe together.

What do you love most about living in the state of Texas? What about least?

We live in a small town, used to live in Houston and moved “away from the city”. We like the small town atmosphere, but it is growing too. We like the warm winters and hate the hot summers, but we have learned to survive. One thing about living in a humid climate, it’s great for the skin.

Which of your products do YOU like the most, and why?

I like the Jalapeno Relish and the Habanera Glaze. The relish because it’s just good on everything, hot dogs, brats, in beans, as a side with your meal, I make dips and cheese balls with it, put it in potato salad, etc. The Habanera Glaze is the boldest of my three glazes and I think that it sets off your meats. I have used it on fish, shrimp, lamb, ribs, pork chops, poured over cream cheese on quesadillias, etc.

Do you have any new products coming out soon? If so, what?

I am still working on the right sugar substitute to make “sugar free” glazes. I haven’t quite gotten it where I like it yet.

Those are good ones to start with for now. If that leads to some more info, then we’ll incorporate that as well.

So what’s in all this stuff? An Ingredient List!

An ingredient list was not available at the time of publication. We will post it as soon as it becomes available.

Joe’s $0.02

Mango Blaze Hot Sauce (Hot): Although it’s labeled as ‘hot,’ I would call this medium on the hotness scale. The mango and tomato mixed with the peppers is good especially if you like hot sauces that have a fruity base. It looks attracive on the shelf as well.

Mango Blaze Hot Sauce (Mild): This one is so mild that it’s hard to call this hot sauce ‘hot.’ That being said, it’s a great sauce for those people whose mental image of hot sauces is one that melts your taste buds off. Very mango-ey and useful on just about everything except breakfast cereal.

Habanara Glaze: My preferred version of their two glazes, mostly because there are few things you can make with a habanero which would actually taste less than awesome. Better on the grill then in the oven, in our house anyway, this sauce adds great flavor & tang to any meat we tried it upon. A solid performer.

Jalapeno Glaze: This glaze is more multi-purpose than the Habanara because it lacks the heat (go figure) of the habanero. It’s sweet enough to use as a dipping sauce, which is mostly how we used it. Believe it or not, it’s a good substitute for sweet and sour sauce used with any kind of eggroll.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce: A little more raspberry-ish than chipotle, this sauce is just begging to be used with cream cheese as a dip with crackers. With meat, I found it worked well with chicken…especially slow-cooked on the grill.

Cowboy Ranchero Salsa: If Texas salsa is all about tomatillos, then this is the bomb. Tomatillos have a bit of a tart tase, but this is a great alternative to ANY salsa you could find in a grocery store or otherwise. I found it went well with some Cajun food, also.

Grandma’s Jalapeno Relish: Positively my favorite product, I could eat a gallon of this stuff in a week. Add it to tuna/egg/chicken salad and it gives some substance. As a relish on hot dogs, even my two year-old would eat it. How’s that for a positive endorsement?!

Cowboy Chili Mix: Not a stand-alone chili mix in its own right, but a good base to get that chili going in a hurry. I say “not stand-alone” because, as a self-admitted chili snob, I always adds lots of stuff besides the basics. Made a sirloin chili with corn (a variant) which fed the family for about 2 days. Yum!

Gramp’s Brisket Rub: Forget the idea of just using this on brisket, it’s a great all-around rub for all sorts of meat. That, plus I found it to be a good spice mix to use in other foods as well. Kinda peppery.

Linda’s $0.02

Mango Blaze Hot Sauce (Hot): Definitely the hotter of the two hot sauces, but not so hot that your average person would burst into flames. It was a nice addition to a southwestern chicken pasta salad. It didn’t really overpower anything, which is a plus for fruit hot sauces.

Mango Blaze Hot Sauce (Mild): This is a really great sauce for adding some punch and flavor to things that might not seem like perfect candidates. An example is fruit. Mix a little of this in with tropical fruit, place on top of some crisp greens with a little poppyseed dressing and you have a tropical sensation that guests won’t forget.

Habanara Glaze: We first used this on smoked sausage with veggies and found the results to be a bit surprising. The sweetness of it mixed with that meat very well, but wow did it pack a punch. We used it a bit more sparingly after that. A little goes a long way.

Jalapeno Glaze: A bit more versatile for your average Joe than the Habanara glaze. This glaze is just as sweet, so be prepared for the taste explosion with the mixture of hot and sweet. This is GREAT dipping sauce.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce: Very, very raspberry. Joe used more of this than me. I first tried this when I first found out that I was pregnant and wasn’t terribly fond of it on the veggies I used that day. However, I could very easily envision it as a tremendous compliment with cream cheese and crackers. I would also try this with some vanilla ice cream for a kick of flavor.

Cowboy Ranchero Salsa: I lived in Austin, Texas for 11 years and experienced some of the best salsa there I have ever had in my life. There’s a distinct difference between salsa from Texas and anywhere else and I have to say that Texas does salsas up right. This fit right in with that. Really distinctive, really flavorful, really, really good.

Grandma’s Jalapeno Relish: Bar none my favorite product of Pepper Creek Farm. With all the stuff they sent us, this left our fridge the soonest. I could have used two more bottles, I swear. Using it for chicken pasta salad, tuna and hot dogs, we couldn’t get enough of this stuff. Don’t just buy one of these. Trust me!

Cowboy Chili Mix: A very good mix. It really depends on how you like your chili as to whether this is an all in one mix, or a starter mix. We used it as a starter, but it didn’t need much more for our own taste. We also suggest you use meat pieces instead of ground meat (for any chili, really). That really enhances the flavor.

Gramp’s Brisket Rub: Definitely more multi purpose than you would think. We actually used this as a spice mixture for more than just meat. Try it in or on eggs or in salads that need some spice. But, however, back to the rub…definitely try it on brisket and steak. You won’t be sorry.

Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some online reviews of these sauces:

Admittedly, we couldn’t find anyone else in the online world who has reviewed these products besides us. However, we did find a neat article by Five Star Reviews magazine that is worth reading. Click HERE to read.

Give these reviewers a shout and ask them to review Pepper Creek Farm’s products as well.
Alien Zombie
Sauce Rater
Hot Sauce Guide

Want to review Pepper Creek Farm’s products for yourself? Go here and leave your own opinion:

www.rateitall.com/t-1125-hot-sauces.aspx

Recipe Ideas
Pepper Creek Farm has an amazing list of recipe ideas. See them HERE.