Editor's Choice: Gator Ron's Heavenly Barbecue Sauce

It's summertime here in Chicago, and for me, that means it's time to barbecue as many nights a week as possible. Unfortunately, I don't actually have the room at my apartment complex to be able to do so that often. Also, I don't even have a barbecue grill. Right away, you can see the kinds of problems I'm dealing with.

Thankfully, I can mooch off of my friends and their more grill-enabled living areas. Their condition: bring food or condiments with you. Their condition for me specifically: you work at a food magazine. Bring something REALLY good with you. 

Right away, I knew I would knock them over with Gator Ron's Heavenly Barbecue Sauce. I use it myself at home on all kinds of grilled products like chicken and shrimp, and I was confident it would be a perfect addition to any outdoor BBQ occasion. 

I was totally right - we put it on several different meats, including burgers, chicken, and ribs, and the crowd response was unanimous - Gator Ron's is amazing, and I must be some kind of BBQ genius. While the latter may be a wildly inaccurate perception, there is no doubting the big taste of Gator Ron's. To make things even sweeter, Gator Ron's all natural sauces and mixes contain no gluten ingredients and are low in calories. 

Gator Ron's also works towards an important cause. The company works to enhance awareness of ALS while raising money to fund ALS research to develop effective treatments for ALS patients, and ultimately find a cure.  A percentage of all profits of Gator Ron’s Zesty Sauces and Mixes are donated to the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins.

If you're looking for a versatile barbecue sauce that works well on a variety of items, I recommend you try Gator Ron's out. It's great with not only meats, but snacks, hors d’oeuvres, and side dishes like spicy orzo or hot artichoke gratin. 

Editor's Choice: Cahoot's House Rub

  We get a lot of BBQ sauce and other spice mixes at the Fancy Food offices. Most of them are...special, the way the French mean special. I am always delighted to find a diamond in the rough. Cahoots Catering's House Rub is a great product. Despite the misleadingly pastoral label and dilettante design, this is a rub that works, and keeps working.

I have used it at home on the grill, in the crock pot and in the oven. It adds warmth and flavor to meats and veggies without over-powering the natural tastes. There is no sugar added, just natural spices, so it is like an original blend you would buy at a fancy spice shop.

My favorite use of the House Rub is on a whole chicken. As I have mentioned before, we eat a lot of chicken from the grill at my house. I just lightly coat a whole chicken in olive oil and then with a sprinkle coating of House Rub over that, and some in the cavity, and pop it over a beer can and onto the grill for an hour (last week I used "retro" 7-Up with real sugar and it was amazing). What you get is perfectly seasoned and browned chicken with a crispy skin and flavorful meat without too much salt or overpowering spices. Perfect. When it is monsieur's turn to cook, he is always looking for, "That good spice, the one you used last time." I can't wait to try it on a roast this winter.

-Elizabeth Dugan