Sunday, September 20, 2009

Better than Christmas: A Give Away

giveaway


I'm happy to announce Les Petites Images second and most delicious give away to date.
The amazing Marxfoods has graciously provided me with the goods to give to one of my very lucky readers.

When the box arrived here I was in awe. It's simply ridiculous how many great things there are. It seemed like I just kept digging and digging as though it was Mary Poppins handbag. Though sample sized, these goodies could keep you busy in the kitchen for six months and will certainly spark some creativity.

The sweeteners alone are enough to make any sweet-tooth's mouth water...

Granulated Honey
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Demerara Sugar
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Vanilla Sugar
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All of them together looking pretty
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And then there were the salts: a plethora of specialty, rare, beautiful and oh-so-different types of salt. Salt you can use to make an extra special margarita, or add a spicy crunch to the top of a fabulous appetizer, or even as an addition to a fabulous home made truffle.

A "palette" of different flavors and colors
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Hawaiian Red Sea Salt

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Espresso Salt
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Smoked Sea Salt
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Lime Salt
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Gray Sea Salt
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Szechuan Pepper Salt
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Hawaiian Black Sea Salt
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Habanero Salt
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That's quite a good give away isn't it? Salt and sugar? I guess spice would be an appropriate addition. So why not add, say, eleven types of dried chiles from around the world? Sure, no problem.

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Clockwise from far left: New Mexican Chiles, Japones Chiles, Organic Aji Cereza Chiles, Ancho Chiles, Aji Panca Chiles, Habanero Chiles, Puya Chiles, Chipotle Chiles

and a few more...
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Top to bottom: Ghost chiles, Smoked Serrano Chiles, Pasilla Negro Chiles


And then... (can you believe there is more?)

Finally there are the mushrooms. We all need a little umami in our lives right?

Shiitake
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Maitake
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Oyster
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Porcini
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Black Trumpet
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Lobster
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Chanterelle
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Matsutake
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And that people, is the greatest giveaway this blog has ever seen. Granted it's only the second giveaway I've done around here, it's still totally boss!

To qualify:
Leave a comment telling me which of the above products you are most excited to try in your kitchen and how you would use it.

Comments will close at 12pm central time on Friday October 9th. The winner will then be selected at random using the random integer generator at random.org to select one person by their comment number. If you blog, tweet, tumble or facebook (or any other form of social media for all I care) about this give away, leave a comment linking to your shout-out and enter to win up to 3 times!

Good luck!


Giveaway extravaganza

57 comments:

De Nueva said...

Kate, your giveaway is over my food head. I didn't even know what the majority of these things were... much less how to use them. However, I will research, and get back to you with a recipe!

amy said...

granulated honey - and i would use it by dumping it into my mouth and smiling.

is it actual honey that's granulated... or honey flavored sugar? not that it really matters... but... IF granulate honey is possible, why on earth has it been missing from my world to this point?

Kassie said...

I don't even know where to start! The item that jumped out at me first was the Szechuan Pepper Salt. I just thought that it would be awesome on a fresh cucumber with lime juice. So simple, but I bet to die for.

Or the smoked sea salt on a homemade chocolate ice cream? Wow, that would be good.

As for the chilis, I was just looking at a recipe in my Rick Bayless cookbook 'Authentic Mexican' called Mole Rojo con Pollo which calls for three different chilis, which your haul includes two of and I'd gladly substitute one of the others for.

And I'll be facebooking and tweeting this. And Stumbling, but I don't know how to prove that one.

Kassie said...

Facebook and Twitter shoutouts for you.
http://twitter.com/kcmpls/status/4139337425

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/kcmpls?ref=profile

Brian said...

A little black or red sea salt sprinkled on top of roast squash... or lime salt on roast beets sounds good.

Anonymous said...

I would use the ghost pepper! Inside of stuffed chicken with cheese!
Then homemade vanilla bean icecream with the honey sugar~!
Theresa Rose

Sloped said...

Awesome giveaway. I would love to try some of those salts.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's fantastic! I'd love to try any of the salts, and try them on a variety of things--different vegetables, different meats, different breads spread with unsalted butter...
I Twittered it too: http://twitter.com/amycrea

My Twitter feeds automatically goes to my Facebook, so at some point this morning it'll be there too.

Crystal said...

Love Marx Foods! I have some smoked sea salt and I ground it up and used it as seasoning on homemade croutons.

The sugars look amazing. Of course I'd love to make flavored teas/coffees more interesting.

Ariel said...

I have no idea what I'd use them for but I've seen the different salts on TV and always thought they looked so interesting.

Babette said...

Mmm. There's a wild mushroom lasagna I make with white sauce that those dried mushrooms would be perfect for...of course, I'd manage to fine plenty of other uses for everything!

Sarah said...

oh my gosh. We've been kicking around a big batch of cream of mushroom soup to freeze and use all through the winter -- what an addition all those beautiful mushrooms would make! yum.

Sarah (http://twitter.com/urbanwanderlust)

Laura. said...

i'm super intrigued by the granulated honey and the lime salt, but at a loss as to how to use them. maybe i would make my own tortilla chips and sprinkle them on, ooh! along with some of those chilis! yeah. good snack (i tweet!).

Scott Olson said...

Ghost Chile - I want to put this bad boy in an absurdly way over the top too hot to even be in the same room with salsa.

Anonymous said...

What a great giveaway!


I love sampling different salts and have my eye on the smoked sea salt. I'd love to try that on some salmon. Yum!

Amy said...

Neat giveaway! :) Count me in! I'm most intrigued by the espresso salt!

Shawna said...

I would love to try any of those salts...I've only ventured as far as sea salt, so I'm dying to try different varieties!

Susan said...

the granulated honey would be awesome in my passion oolong tea.

The mushrooms would taste great in my homemade alfredo sauce as for the rest, I would have to let the creative juices flow LOL

Lindsey said...

I would use the lime salt for margaritas!!

I also twitted about this giveaway
http://twitter.com/linzkitchen

Jenn said...

What an awesome giveaway!!! I am most excited about the chile peppers and the mushrooms, I have so many ideas running through my head of what I could do with them!!

nico said...

i would be most excited to try the porcini mushrooms...maybe in a soup with delicata squash?

MrsAshleyEm said...

I would love to try one of the salts to add a punch to some veggies...That would be so great!

Molly Jean said...

Oh my, this giveaway is incredible! All of those salts look AMAZING. Although I have to admit I'm really excited about the habanero salt!

Yudith Meade said...

Omg! There are so many options here--I didn't even know they existed! I want to make some creme brulee with your sugar... eemm, I am salivating just thinking about it. And the mushrooms--I have so many fall recipes that require them!! Thanks for a great giveaway.

Tamara said...

Ohh I don't know where to start. There are so many great spices. I'm torn between the granulated honey and the habanero salt.

Amanda said...

Matsutake are suppose to be amazing. I think some crazy wild rice soup with rice vinegar and ginger are in order for it. I have never had one, but they smell amazing....mmmMMMmm

Vanessa said...

I'm excited to try the various sea salts. I just read about the various kinds in the latest Martha Stewart Living and I'd love to test them out in my kitchen. :)

Rebecca M said...

I'd wait until it's too cold to grill outside and use the smoked salt on a steak, and top it with a ragout of sorts of the various mushrooms. And I'm wondering if one could use the granulated honey on top of a creme brulee...

Mscutiepatootie said...

I would love to try the Hawaiian black or red sea salt on a piece of grilled salmon. The expresso salt sounds fascinating. Everything would be wonderful to try. Thanks for sharing and I will pass this on to my Facebook friends if I can figure out how to do that.

Richard said...

I'd probably start experimenting with the salt, but would quickly get distracted and up searching for a balance using something from each group with a little lemon juice or balsamic vinegar thrown in.

Mac said...

I think a good creme brulee with the espresso salt sprinkled on top would be super. And my award winning chili could use the extra zing of any of the dried chili selection.

Mac said...

Twitter Link http://tinyurl.com/nqgaxk

Mac said...

And on Facebook.... http://tinyurl.com/6kcf9k

Melissa said...

The espresso salt on some turtle brownies! Yum!

Sareen said...

The espresso salt sounds so exciting. Well, all of the salt does. I would love to play around with those just sprinkled on homemade bread and butter.

Al said...

Maybe the espresso salt, although everything looks wonderful. Wouldn't the espresso salt be delicious simply sprinkled over vanilla bean ice cream with a few shavings of chocolate?

L said...

All the different salts look amazing. I would love to try the Hawaiian Red Sea Salt in hummus. All of it looks amazing!

Autismland Penny said...

vanilla sugar would taste awesome in my tea! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Oh, it would be the salts. Although it's hard for me to narrow it to just one, I am especially intrigued by the Hawaiian black salt.

Emily said...

I would have no idea where to start! I would love to research ways to use all of the products and have some FABULOUS dinners!

Blue Heron Farm said...

Ooooh--- I'd love to dust my fancy new cheese with one of those fancy salts. ...or make a pepper cheese? Mmmmmm.

Ben said...

I would definitely explore a new world of creme brulee with the sugars. The mushrooms would possibly become part of a risotto or else be a central ingredient in a strata or quiche (boring, but amazing).

Melissa M. said...

The fancy stuff makes me want to keep it simple. I want to throw that salt over some roasted brussels, fire the sugar over creme brulee, and make a spicy roasted chicken stuffed with wild mushrooms and brie.

Sloped said...

I blogged about it and sent out a tweet. I'm getting my chances up to counteract my awful luck.

KKDUB said...

Most of it would become eye candy in my kitchen. . . perhaps in tiny martha stewartesque glass jars?

Trixie said...

for sure, espresso salt on my caramel sea salt truffles. now, how amazing would THAT be?!

thanks katie - great giveaway. gotcha on twitter too, @segnavia

ErinsFoodFiles said...

Wow! I'm not sure... probably one of the salts!

Lisa said...

Wow, what a neat giveaway!

I think the smoked salt sounds very interesting - I'd use it on a nice strip steak on the grill! I'm a sucker for salt. I use it on everything...

I think the lime salt would bring interesting flavor to a basil or cilantro pesto, too.

-Lisa
(the_boda@hotmail.com)

Eva said...

I'd love the mushrooms... and make an awesome mushroom risotto!!

evitawylie at hotmail dot com

Sheila said...

I would use the mushrooms in some sort of soup...not sure what kind but I am curious to try them!

Anonymous said...

Great giveaway!
I wanna try the lime salt...Id add it to my frozen magaritas..yum!

Jolene said...

Great giveaway! I would get my husband to use the demerara sugar for Creme Brulee. It is my favorite dessert and the only one that he makes!

Brena said...

So many options... they just beg you to come up with a way to show them off!

The sugars and salts sound most interesting... I think some combination (maybe the habenero or salt and Demerara Sugar) sauted with scallops?

Mmm, is it dinner time yet? :) Thanks for the inspiration!

Kelsey said...

What a great giveaway! I'd be most excited to experiment with the dried chiles. I've had this challenge on my list for a while, so I'm anxiously awaiting the results of this giveaway!

Michael said...

So many ideas, so little time. But I have been meaning to try and spice up a chocolate baked good--I'm eying that habanero salt for homemade brownies or chocolate cake. BTdubs, my captcha word is "crumsac."

Christina said...

Okay so I recently made some truffles and I think the whole rolling truffles in the different salts would be pretty amazing!!!

Mac said...

RT!!!

http://twitter.com/Schmengi/statuses/4721214770