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Special Feature GOURMET NEWS AUGUST 2014 www.gourmetnews.com SPECIAL FEATURE 5 0 X X H E A T & S E R V E Lobster risotto with crimini mushrooms and fresh herbs. Shepherd's pie with organic corn and mashed potatoes. Tamales in pipian sauce with shredded chicken and vegetables. Most of us can only dream about coming home after a long day of work to one of these sumptuous gourmet dinners. However, there is help for those who assume they do not have the time necessary to prepare something like this from scratch. Here are 10 companies working to make everyday dinners quick, easy and delicious with their gourmet heat-and-serve offerings. 1. al fresco all natural al fresco all natural's Gourmet Chicken Grillers are uncooked frozen chicken burgers that help consumers barbecue at home in minutes. Since Gourmet Chicken Grillers go straight from freezer to grill, there is no need to defrost or marinate. Like all al fresco products, Gourmet Grillers are made with high-quality all-natural ingredients and seasoned with only the finest herbs and spices. www.alfrescoallnatural.com 2. Blake's All Natural Foods Featuring an extensive selection of gourmet heat-and- serve versions of American comfort food classics, Blake's makes all of its products in small batches, using only organic and all-natural ingredients. The company's offerings include pot pies, shepherd's pies, macaroni and cheeses, classic casseroles and more. Products are available in both individual and family sizes. www.blakesallnatural.com 3. Buen Sabor The line of ready-made meals from Buen Sabor celebrates the diverse cuisine of Latin America, while utilizing the freezer for convenience and to preserve meals in the most all-natural way. Each new entrée leverages traditional dishes, but infuses new flavors and culinary techniques to offer something innovative. Highlights include Beef Picadillo Empanadas and Savory Rice with Chipotle Chicken and Beans. www.buen-sabor.com 4. Emeril Frozen Snacks Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse is bringing his signature flavor-first style to home freezers with easy-to-prepare choices in four delicious varieties. The Emeril line of frozen snacks includes Chicken & BBQ Sauce BAM™ Bites, Chili Cheese Mini Dogs, Jalapeño Wontons with Bacon and Pulled Pork BAM Bites. These bite-sized pieces go from freezer to plate within minutes. www.emerils.com 5. Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods Known as a premier producer of specialty sauces, mustards, salad dressings, jams and jellies, Fischer & Wieser recently garnered acclaim with a new heat- and-serve soup. The company's Mom's Limited Edition Tomato Basil Soup was named by the Specialty Food Association as a sofi Award finalist in the Outstanding Soup, Stew, Bean or Chili category. www.jelly.com 6. Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. A perpetual sofi Award nominee and winner, Maine- based Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. offers an extensive selection of heat-and-serve seafood appetizers, soups, entrees and gifts. The company's products include macaroni and cheeses, pot pies, flatbreads, risottos, chowders, dips, casseroles and more – all replete with Maine lobster, crab, clams, scallops, mussels and oysters. www.hancockgourmetlobster.com 7. Mom Made Foods Mom Made Foods offers family-friendly frozen prepared meals, snacks and bites. The company's nutritious frozen meals and snacks give parents a guilt-free, convenient way to feed kids foods that they love and are good for them. Mom Made Foods continues to expand in the frozen aisle to meet consumer needs, recently introducing bite-sized Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs and Italian Beef Meatballs. 8. Performance Foodservice Performance Foodservice recently launched Guinness ® Bold Entrées, a distinct line of beer- infused modern foods created in partnership with Guinness and renowned Chef Todd Davies. Offerings include saucy pork ribs, braised beef, braised corned beef and braised pot roast, all marinated in and infused with the bold flavors of Guinness. www.performancefoodservice.com 9. Purely American Foods Purely American offers a number of product lines designed to make meal preparation quick and easy, including Cholent Jewish meals, Farmstead Soup Co. mixes, Slow Cooker Gourmet dinner kits, Celebrate America gift mixes and Purely American mixes. Pick up Purely American products, and a meal of corn and chicken stew or homemade salmon cakes is just a few minutes away. www.purelyamerican.com 10. Udi's Gluten Free Udi's Gluten Free recently introduced four new frozen food entrees, including Broccoli & Kale Lasagna, Italian Sausage Lasagna, Penne & Cheese and Penne & Cheese with Bacon. Udi's products are all gluten-free, and the company's offerings are enjoyed by vegetarians and meat eaters alike. The company works to offer consumers frozen meals made with real, premium ingredients that deliver on satisfaction and taste. www.udisglutenfree.com Companies Simplify Meal Preparation with Gourmet Heat-and-Serve Options BY LUCAS WITMAN Few of us have the opportunity to stop for lunch at Spago to get a taste of Wolfgang Puck's celebrated seasonal new American cuisine. And unless you are lucky enough to score an invite to one of her barn parties, you are almost certain to never have Ina Garten serve you a meal. However, with more and more celebrity chefs today crafting their own signature heat-and- serve product lines, the good news is that we can taste what these chefs have to offer, simply by opening the freezer case at our local grocery store. Today, it is in fact difficult to think of a well-known chef that does not offer his or her cuisine in a prepared heat-and-serve package. Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa line of Sauté Dinners features fancy dishes like beef bourguignon and pasta carbonara, but in a form that can be ready in minutes. Wolfgang Puck is undoubtedly one of the most famous chefs in the world, and now you can enjoy his signature tortilla soup or Tuscan thin crust pizza in the comfort of your own home. From the Iron Chef line of frozen meals to Guy Fieri's frozen burg- BBQ sauce BAM™ Bites, Jalapeño Won- tons with Bacon, Chili Cheese Mini Dogs and Pulled Pork BAM Bites. The Emeril frozen snacks line is pro- duced by Montreal-based Plats du Chef Foods. Dana Mc- Cauley, Vice President of Mar- keting for Plats du Chef recounts the difficult process of developing a grocery store heat-and-serve product line alongside one of the most beloved American culinary in- stitutions. "We work very closely with [Lagasse]. What usually hap- pens is we propose some ideas to him, or he has an idea, and we say our machines could do it this way. We send him sam- ples. He tastes them and gets back to us with his tweaks. He makes sure he has tasted them and everything meets his standards," said Mc- Cauley. "Often we would send him some- thing and he would respond and say this is good, but we need to kick this up a notch. It has to be something that will make people say, 'Hey, this is kicked up!'" According to McCauley, Lagasse and other chefs are being drawn to the frozen heat-and-serve marketplace, because of the increasing quality that it is possible to achieve in these products. "I think that there are a lot of reasons why chefs get involved in the grocery business. And frozen really appeals to chefs because a lot of the shelf-stable items don't appeal to chefs' need for fresh flavors," said Mc- Cauley. "I think frozen is particularly ap- pealing to chefs, because when you reheat it, it tastes like you just made it – if it was made well." For chefs that are actively involved in building their brand presence through media and restaurants, a high-quality pre- pared foods line can be another element to creating that successful brand. According to McCauley, showing up in the grocery store can be a particularly effective way for a chef like Lagasse to build his brand, be- cause it literally brings the chef into the consumer's home. "I think it does help them because if you're on TV, and you have a book in someone's library that's awesome, but if you can be on their dinner table or their breakfast table, then all of the sudden you're not an occasional part of someone's life. You're part of their life on a daily basis," she said. ers and appetizers to Giada De Laurentiis' pasta mixes and jarred sauces, celebrity chefs are showing up in grocery stores in a big way. One celebrated chef that recently made his debut in gro- cery store frozen foods sections is restau- rateur and television personality Emeril Lagasse. Lagasse's new line of frozen snacks debuted this spring at Walmart stores in the southwestern United States with plans to expand soon to additional regions and retailers. The line includes four chef-inspired snacks: Chicken & Consumers Increasingly Drawn to Frozen and Packaged Heat and Serve Foods Branded with Their Favorite Celebrity Chefs' Names Continued on PAGE 51

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