The Texas Gulf Coast BBQ Cookers’ Association meeting is tonight, September 6, at 7 p.m. at the VFW Post 10352.

The big boss here at Texas Pepper Jelly and Texas Rib Candy, Craig Sharry, is himself a participant, past winner, and administrator, which doesn’t surprise me at all; his products are so awesomely delicious, it’s just inconceivable that anybody could surpass him!

TGBCA, along with Texas Pepper Jelly and Texas Rib Candy, is on Facebook, so by all means follow them and keep up with the delicious world of bbq!

I hope you are all grilling out tomorrow; the weather is supposed to be lovely here and I stocked up on grillable meats at the grocery store this afternoon. We’ve got about half a bottle of Rib Candy left, so we’ll be emptying that, for sure. We’ll be feasting on pork ribs, chicken, and hamburgers, along with baked beans and potato salad, all of which contain Texas Pepper Jelly.

You might say that although my family lives in Indiana, our kitchen and taste buds live in Texas.

This is Texas Pepper Jelly’s newest product, Texas Rib Candy, and it’s so good it’s almost impossible to describe.

It goes with almost everything. Anything and everything. Brush it on chicken or ribs, right before you take them up on a platter and serve them, or at any time during the grilling process. Use it with stir-fry. Use it as a dip. Use it in your crockpot.

It’s excellent as a salad dressing, too.

Texas Rib Candy comes in three flavors: Apple Habanero, Apple Cherry Habanero and Mango Habanero. The possibilities are endless!

The only problem I’ve ever had with Texas Rib Candy is that my husband doesn’t want to share it with anyone. I always have to search for it behind something else in the refrigerator.

Seriously, Texas Rib Candy is like an addictive drug. Once you try it, you can’t ever get enough of it.

P.S. As I write this post, my husband is sitting at the table dipping raw vegetables in Texas Rib Candy. He says it’s awesome.

I can’t take his word for it, though. I MUST try it for myself.

Mmmmmmm. . . . . he’s right.

Crockpot suppers are so nice when the weather is hot and humid, as this summer’s weather has been for weeks now.  Turning on the stove, and especially the oven, will force your home’s air conditioner to work way too hard, and usually there’s no way it can compete with an oven.  Your slow cooker, however, adds no heat at all to the temperature of your home.  Plus, crockpot meals are so easy, and so nice to come home to.  You just throw it all together, put the lid on the cooker, turn the dial to low, and go to work.  When you get home hours later, your dinner is ready.  Brown Rice Casserole is nutritious and filling, and even better the next day!

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups crushed tomatoes (fresh or canned)

3/4 cup brown rice

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small jalapeno, chopped

1 1/2 cup water

12 ounces of sausage, cut into half-moons (can be left out if you want a vegetarian supper)  (You can use any kind of meat; my kids like this with chicken) (My husband likes it best with sausage, though)

1/2 cup Texas Pepper Jelly, any flavor (Rib Candy or any of the grilling sauces are also good)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

6 tablespoons sour cream

Shredded cheddar cheese (if your family likes a lot of cheese)

What to do:

Stir together the onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, rice, chili powder, oregano, jalapeno, sausage, pepper jelly, and water in your slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.

Remove lid and stir in the cilantro.  Serve with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

My son isn’t a cilantro fan, so I take out his servings before I add it.

Peppy Pepper Pork.  Say it three times, really fast!

This is yet another crockpot meal.  I use my slow cooker a lot in the summertime, partly because it doesn’t heat up the house and compete with the air conditioner, and partly because I’m lazy and crockpot meals are just so darn easy!

Peppy Pepper Pork is one of my family’s favorites.

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless pork, pretty much any cut and shape

1 green pepper, sliced into strips

1 red pepper, sliced into strips

1 yellow pepper, sliced into strips

2 onions, sliced into strips

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon salt  (don’t leave it out!)  

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tomato, diced

2 cups Texas Habanero Salsa

1/2 cup water

What to do:

Combine all ingredients in your crockpot.

Cover, and cook on low for seven hours, or on high for four hours.  One (of many) things I love about crockpot meals is that I can throw them together in the morning before I leave for work, and when everybody gets home in the late afternoon, our supper is ready – no waiting!

Serve over rice or noodles.  My kids prefer noodles; Tim and I prefer rice.  (I always use brown rice.)  Nuke ‘em in the microwave while everybody’s washing up.

You can use almost any kind of meat with this recipe; sometimes I use chicken.  Tim loves beef in this recipe, but the rest of us prefer chicken or pork.  I’ve also used veal, but I can’t get the picture of the baby calf out of my head. 

One morning, I used a package of frozen stir-fry in place of all the fresh peppers and onions and it was awesome, too.

P.S.  If you’ve got a can of pineapple chunks, throw that in, too.  Then you can call it Peppy Pepper Hawaiian Pork.

Bread pudding is an old-fashioned dessert, and when you make it in your crockpot, it’s even better than when you bake it in your oven!

Besides, on these hot summer days, your slow cooker will not compete with your air conditioner and raise your heating/cooling bill! There’s no more practical way to cook in the summertime than with your crockpot!

Ingredients:

8 slices of bread (raisin bread is especially good) cubed
4 eggs
2 cups milk (again, cream is even better!)
1/4 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup Texas Apple Cinnamon Grilling and Finishing Sauce
2 apples, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Ingredients for the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar or Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla

What to do:

Place the bread cubes in the greased crockpot.

Beat together the eggs and milk. Stir in the sugar, butter, raisins, apples, finishing sauce, and cinnamon. Pour over the bread and stir.

Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low and cook for four hours.

Just before the four hours are over, make the sauce. Begin by melting the butter in a saucepan, and stirring in the flour until smooth. (white sauce) Gradually add the water, sugar, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for two minutes or until thickened.

Serve the sauce over the warm bread pudding.

It’s absolutely delicious.

Apple butter is good any time, any day, any season.  There’s just something about spreading that golden apple butter on bread, pancakes, biscuits,  or anything else, or dipping fruit into it, that just defies description.

Many people make apple butter these days by starting with pre-made applesauce, and these batches are good.  However, I like to start with fresh apples, and the tarter the better.  Here’s how I make apple butter:

Ingredients:

4 pounds tart apples (I use Granny Smith apples)

2 cups apple cider

2 1/2 cups sugar (I use Splenda)

1 cup Texas Apple Jalapeno or Apple Habanero (depending on hos zesty you like it!)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

tiny pinch of allspice

What to do:

Stem, core, and quarter the apples.  Do not peel them.  (The peeling is the best part!)

Put the apples and cider in a large slow cooker.  Cover, and cook on low for ten hours.

Stir in the sugar, pepper jelly, and spices.  Continue cooking for another hour.

remove from head and cool thoroughly.  If you want a smooth apple butter, put it in your blender to mix in the skins.  However, my family loves the lumpy skins.  You do this however your family prefers.

Serve immediately or refrigerate and keep for a week.  I always keep out enough for several meals and freeze the rest; it freezes really well.

You can also pour it into hot sterilized jars and seal.

This apple butter is fantastic.  Your family will never want any other kind.  Here in southern Indiana, we like apple butter on just about everything.  My personal favorite, though, is apple butter on hot homemade biscuits.  The pepper jelly absolutely MAKES this apple butter.  I’ve used both jalapeno and habanero with it, and my family loves both.

Zesty apple butter is also good on ribs.  Just throw the ribs into the crockpot with some of this apple butter and let them cook for about 8 hours on low.

Life is so much easier when you have a crockpot!

Texas Partytime Beans is an easy recipe to make.  Beans are inexpensive and nutritious, and with a slab of cornbread and a nice tossed salad, you’ve got a meal fit for a king.  Or for your family.  Or for your guests.

Get out that slow cookier.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups Texas Habanero Salsa

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15-1/2 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 ounces) lima beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15-1/2 ounces) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained.

What to do:

Throw everything into your crockpot and mix well.  Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or until onion and peppers are tender.  Remove the bay leaves.

Serve with cornbread and salad.  Put some crackers on the table for those who like crackers.

Step back so you won’t get trampled as people rush for your food.  Enjoy.

Don’t count on any leftovers.  If I were you, I’d put some Partytime Beans in a sealed container and hide it in the refrigerator so you can bring it to work for your lunch the next day.  Label the container “chicken fat” so your kids won’t steal it.

Get out your crockpot; the weather’s turning hot!  Thanks to your crockpot, you can cook a hot meal without heating up the whole house!

Slow-cooked pepper jelly steak strips are delicious, nutritious, and easy  to fix.  With rice or noodles, it’s an entire meal!

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef round steak, cut into strips

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

4 tomatoes, cut into eighths, or 1 can (16 oz.) tomatoes with liquid, cut up

2 large green peppers, cut into strips

1 large red pepper, cut into strips

1 peach, peeled and cut up, or 1 can of peaches, with juice, cut up

1/4 cup Texas Spicy Peach Grilling Sauce

1/4 cup cold water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Cooked rice or noodles

What to do:

Dump everything except the water, cornstarch, and noodles or rice into your crockpot.  Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours, until the meat is tender.  Combine the cornstarch and cold water to make a paste, and stir it into the slow cooker.  Turn the crockpot to high and cook for about a half hour longer, or until thickened.

Serve over noodles or rice.

My family likes this over brown rice.

Texas Pepper Jelly’s Texas BBQ Rubs are awesome for your outdoor grill, but they’re also awesome when you’re cooking “regular” in your kitchen, using your stove or oven.

Just season your roast, chicken, turkey, fish, etc. as you would for the grill.  Let it “set” in the refrigerator overnight, well-wrapped.  Then cook as you would ordinarily cook it – boiled, baked, broiled, fried, breaded (or not), or grilled – outside or inside. (Some of those “fancy” stoves have a grill.)   This even works with your crockpot!  Texas Pepper Jelly’s BBQ rubs will turn your ordinary dinner into something EXTRAordinary, and your family will  never put up with the old ways again.

I’m using Texas Wild on our baked salmon tomorrow night.  It’s in the refrigerator as I type, becoming so much more and better than ordinary plain baked salmon could EVER be!

Oh, what simple, nutritious, and wonderful meals we can serve our families, by using our crockpot!

Lasagna, traditionally an Italian dish, turns into a Texas dish with this recipe for Texas Lasagna!  Don’t expect to see or taste the same ingredients when you  bit into it, either.  Texas Lasagna is a whole new ball game!  A vegetarian ball game, in fact.

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower, cored, cut into florets, and sliced.

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained

1 cup frozen corn

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

2 cups Texas Habanero Salsa

6 flour tortillas (or however many are necessary; the first time you make this will be your guide for next time.)

Sour cream

What to do:

Put the cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, chili powder, and corn in a large bowl.  Mix thoroughly.

Spray inside of crockpot with nonstick cooking spray, such as Pam, and spread vegetable mixture over the bottom.  Sprinkle with cheese, and spread salsa and sour cream over the top.  Cover with tortillas. Repeat layering until all ingredients (except 1/2 cup of salsa and the sour cream) are used, making sure the top layer is a tortilla layer. Be generous with your layers!

Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on high for about 3 hours, or on low for 6 hours.  Cauliflower should be tender before you serve it.  30 minutes before supper time, put the remaining cheese and the sour cream on top of the last layer and let the cheese melt.  (about 20 minutes)

Let the lasagna “set” for about ten minutes before serving.

Dig in.  It’s a messy, spicy, vegetarian crockpot DELIGHT of a meal!