Because I sometimes write about food, Country Bob's has asked me to review their All Purpose Sauce. They were kind enough to send two bottles to me with a few recipes. So here goes.
Country Bob Edson started perfecting his sauce in the 60s and then began selling it in 1977. His corporation is based in Centralia, Illinois. I'm not sure if the sauce is available nation wide, but the brochure says its "distribution has magnified regionally in all directions."
I started with Country Bob's Pickin' Food, which is a variation of Check Mix, the savory variety. I don't usually like that stuff because it can be excessively salty, so I was interested in this variation. It called for an assortment of Chex cereal, small pretzels, and chopped nuts. To that you add melted butter, 1/4 cup of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, and 2 teaspoons Country's Bob's Seasoned Salt. I didn't have the salt or any sort of seasoned salt, so I substituted a different spice/seasoning mix I keep on hand that follows Emeril's Essence recipe.
The snack mix was easy to make, and the sauce added just the right amount of flavor—no extra salt necessary. This sauce has a bit of a bite to it all by itself.
Next I followed the recipe for World's Greatest Burger. Everybody's got one. I initially hesitated because it called for Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Something about cooking with soup mix or even canned soup sets off my shlock food alarm, but I went ahead with it. Along with the soup mix, you add Country Bob's sauce and ground beef. With all the sodium in the soup, it was OK to skip the seasoned salt again. I grilled the burgers, and they were the juiciest and tastiest burgers I have had in a long time. As much as I hate the soup idea, I would make these again.
I would also use this sauce in place of ketchup, which everyone in my house hates. Who can stand a condiment that has such an unappetizing color and ends up on the outside of the bottle more often than inside?
In comparison, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce has twice as much sugar but considerably less sodium that A-1 Steak Sauce per serving. Compared to Jack Daniel's Barbecue Sauce, it has about the same amount of sugar and sodium. Its ingredients appear to be all natural without an preservatives or artificial flavors. www.countrybobs.com
Country Bob Edson started perfecting his sauce in the 60s and then began selling it in 1977. His corporation is based in Centralia, Illinois. I'm not sure if the sauce is available nation wide, but the brochure says its "distribution has magnified regionally in all directions."
I started with Country Bob's Pickin' Food, which is a variation of Check Mix, the savory variety. I don't usually like that stuff because it can be excessively salty, so I was interested in this variation. It called for an assortment of Chex cereal, small pretzels, and chopped nuts. To that you add melted butter, 1/4 cup of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, and 2 teaspoons Country's Bob's Seasoned Salt. I didn't have the salt or any sort of seasoned salt, so I substituted a different spice/seasoning mix I keep on hand that follows Emeril's Essence recipe.The snack mix was easy to make, and the sauce added just the right amount of flavor—no extra salt necessary. This sauce has a bit of a bite to it all by itself.
Next I followed the recipe for World's Greatest Burger. Everybody's got one. I initially hesitated because it called for Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Something about cooking with soup mix or even canned soup sets off my shlock food alarm, but I went ahead with it. Along with the soup mix, you add Country Bob's sauce and ground beef. With all the sodium in the soup, it was OK to skip the seasoned salt again. I grilled the burgers, and they were the juiciest and tastiest burgers I have had in a long time. As much as I hate the soup idea, I would make these again.I would also use this sauce in place of ketchup, which everyone in my house hates. Who can stand a condiment that has such an unappetizing color and ends up on the outside of the bottle more often than inside?
In comparison, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce has twice as much sugar but considerably less sodium that A-1 Steak Sauce per serving. Compared to Jack Daniel's Barbecue Sauce, it has about the same amount of sugar and sodium. Its ingredients appear to be all natural without an preservatives or artificial flavors. www.countrybobs.com
Comments
I'm sorry, Robyn, but I have an image stuck in my head of "Bob's Country Bunker" from the Blues Brothers movie ("What type of music do you like here, ma'am?
We have both sorts: Country AND Western."
Having siad that, the burger does look scrumptious.