Delicae Gourmet Review And Giveaway

Since I work five days a week I am all about easy. The less work I have to do when I get home the better. It is not unusual for me to look to boxed products for some help. The thing is, not all boxed products are created equal. I promised myself I was going to try a little harder to expand my cooking horizons lately and change things up a bit. With fall coming and winter behind it I decided I was going to start using my crockpot more. That’s why I decided to try some Slow Cooker Dinners and Soups from Delicae Gourmet.

Delicae Gourmet was founded in Florida by Barbara and Lenny Macaluso. The company was born out of passion for gourmet food and was inspired by Barbara’s knack for creating unique sauces. The company prides itself in hand preparing every batch and using only the freshest and finest ingredients. They have won awards for culinary excellence, including an award for Best New Product Line from the Specialty Coffee Association of America for our innovative Coffee Jellies. The product line recently expanded to include Delicae Pantry Slow Cooker Dinners and Soups.

I received four of the Delicae Pantry meals for this review - Country Harvest Corn Chowder, Italian Farm Style Chicken, Farmer’s Hearty Split Pea Soup and Manhattan Style Clam Chowder.

Country Harvest Corn Chowder

Everyone will love this rich flavorful chowder, a traditional farmhouse favorite.

Ingredients: Dehydrated Vegetables (Potatoes, Corn, Onion, Celery), Minced Garlic, Thyme, Parsley, Black Pepper, Basil and Bay Leaf.

Just add Cream, Cream of Corn and Mushroom Soup.

Since RB can’t have mushrooms and I don’t like them I substituted a can of cream of chicken soup for the can of cream of mushroom soup. I stirred everything together and let it cook in the crockpot on low for 7 hours. It was delicious. I sprinkled a little shredded cheddar cheese over the top and then had no need to add salt. I didn’t have chicken at the moment of I would have included that as well.

Italian Farm Style Chicken

The flavor of this tasty chicken dinner will take you to the Italian countryside.

Ingredients: Pearled Barley, Dehydrated Vegetables (Carrots, Onions, Celery), Minced Garlic, Basil, Thyme, Parsley and Black Pepper.

To make this meal just add Chicken, Tomatoes and Broth.

I followed the directions on this one except I only had 3 pounds of chicken when I really needed four. The only difference it made was that it had some extra sauce.  This was really good on the first day and even better on the second. All we added at the table was a little salt.

The meals truly are easy to make. They require only minutes of prep and then they cook themselves in your crockpot. Each meal serves between 8 and 12 people, depending on which meal you’re making. We had enough of each meal to eat over the course of two days, which is great because soups are my favorite kind of leftovers.

Each of the meals we had tasted fresh and delicious. I love that something so tasty was so easy to make - I started the crock pot in the morning and came home and dinner was ready. I also liked the meals didn’t contain any added salt. I much prefer to put it on the table and let people add their own when the meal is served. The meals contain only fresh ingredients that I’d heard of and had no chemicals or preservatives. TJ can be picky and he absolutely loved the Italian Farm Chicken. CJ couldn’t have the Italian Farm Chicken because he has Celiac Disease but he was able to eat the Country Harvest Corn Chowder and he enjoyed it very much.

It’s cooling off here and we’re supposed to have rain for like the next four days. I’m looking forward to putting the Pea Soup in the crockpot this Saturday and having it for dinner. What a time saver.

Delicae Gourmet carries many other products including jams, jellies, marmalades, mustards, chutneys, toppings, relishes and sauces. Their products are available to purchase online at shopdelicae.com.

WIN IT!

One winner will receive $25 of Delicae Gourmet products.

HOW TO ENTER. (MANDATORY)

To enter check out the Delicae Gourmet website and then leave a comment on this post telling me one meal that you’d like to try.

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THE SMALL PRINT.

US addresses only please. This contest will end on Thursday 09/17/09 at 11:59 pm est. If you’ve entered any of my giveaways before then you know that only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner must contact me to confirm they wish to receive the prize within two days of my email notifying them they’ve won. Good luck to everyone!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.