Rub for Smoked Meats

 Greetings All,

This has become simply a way for me to be lazy and have easy access to recipes that I use regularly. This is a rub I have used on both whole chickens and pork shoulders and it is wonderful on both. It is a bit spicy, but not over bearing. The recipe makes 4 1/2 cups of rub which is enough for 6 whole chickens or 3 pork butts used generously.

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Smoked Paprika

1/2 cup Kosher Salt

1/2 cup Coarse Ground Black Pepper

1/4 cup Cayenne Pepper

1/2 cup Garlic Powder

1/2 cup Onion Powder

1/4 cup Cumin

1/2 cup Chili Powder

1/4 cup dried Oregano

King Ranch Chicken

 Greetings All,

An old favorite. Easy casserole that can be made with stuff you generally have around the house.

1 Tbl Cooking Oil

1 Onion (I prefer Vidalia)

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 can Cream of mushroom soup

1 can Cream of chick soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

3 Tbl sour cream

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

4 chicken breast (boiled and shredded)

12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

10 corn tortillas or bag of tortilla chips

Sauté' onion and bell peppers in oil until soft (generally about 5 minutes). Combine sauté mix with next nine ingredients in a large bowl. Begin to layer ingredients in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Start with 1 cup of mix, then half of the chicken, then 4 oz. cheese. Set aside 1 cup of mix. Then layer either five corn tortillas or enough chips broken into large pieces to completely cover. Top with 1/2 of remaining mix. Layer again, chicken, cheese, tortillas or chips, and remaining sauce. Finish with crushed chips, the set aside cup of mix, and finally the final 4 oz. of cheese, Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Simple, Yummy Pumpkin Spice Muffins

 Greetings All,

This is a wonderful recipe that a church member shared with me a few years ago. Super simple. Very Yummy! I post it here principally for my convenience.

Ingredients:

1 Boxed Spice Cake Mix

1 Can of Pumpkin

1 12oz. package of cinnamon chips (Hersey is the only ones I have found)

1/4 cup of milk

1 egg

1 Tbl. Cooking Oil

Mix all of the ingredients until all ingredients are folded in. Spoon into greased muffin pan. 

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. I find 18 to be just about perfect.

Sugar Free, Low Fat Blueberry Muffins

 I have a deep and abiding love for blueberry muffins, but every time I see a calorie count on these favorites I am overcome by a bit of guilt for eating them. So, I have adapted a couple of different recipes to come up with this guilt free version that is still super yummy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups Splenda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 serving of light and fit blueberry greek yogurt

1 egg white

3/4 cup 1% milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup Splenda

2 tsp cinnamon

Spray butter

Directions:

Mix flour, Splenda, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside.

Mix yogurt, egg white and milk in a large mixing bowl.

Gradually blend in flour mixture, once fully incorporated fold in fresh blueberries.

Spoon into greased muffin tin.

Mix cinnamon and Splenda, spray tops of muffins before cooking with spray butter and sprinkle 1 tsp of cinnamon mixture atop each muffin.

Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Simple Ham Salad

The mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ has had people asking questions for almost two millennia, but there is one Easter question that continues to plague humanity that falls on Sunday evening or Monday morning. The question? What to do with the bottom half of the spiral sliced ham that has not been spiral sliced! There are various answers, but I would offer the following combination as the simplest solution. First, trim all of the usable ham off the bone and chop it in a food processor. Divide this into two parts, put two cups in the fridge to make a Tuesday after Easter Quiche Lorraine. The rest set aside for today's ham salad recipe. Finally take the bone carcass and either freeze it to use later, or immediately make a pot of soup beans or black-eyed peas. All yummy! All easy! And there is nothing left over.

Simple Ham Salad

5 cups finely chopped left-over ham
1 cup lite mayo
1/2 cup pickle relish
1/4 cup pickled jalapenos
1 bunch green onions
1 red bell pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1 Tbl Sweet Hot Mustard
2 leftover deviled eggs (4 halves)

Directions:

1. After chopping the ham transfer it to a mixing bowl
2. In food processor, combine green onions, sweet onion, red bell pepper, jalapenos, pickle relish and deviled eggs. Chop until the ingredients are more of a liquid puree'. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the ham.
3. Add mayo and mustard to the mixing bowl and mix all ingredients for 1 minute on low
4. You can serve immediately or let stand in refrigerator for a few hours to allow the flavors to mix to their fullest.

Easy Pork Marinade

This is a quick and easy marinade for pork chops done on the grill.

Ingredients:
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup soy
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp Thyme
1 1/2 tsp All Spice
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno peppers
1 bundle of green onions (using only the top)
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 Olive Oil

Instructions:
Put all of the ingredients in a blender except the olive oil in the blender for 1 minute, then reduce blender speed to lowest setting and drizzle the olive oil into the blender. Once done, coat your pork and refrigerate for a few hours before you but the chops on the grill.

Bacon Apple Jalapeno Pop 'Ems

Bacon-Apple-Jalapeno Pop 'Ems

Last Saturday as I was putting finishing touches on my sermon my Gmail account dinged with a "new" email.  It was from the Food Network and was this recipe.  I was hungry and Christa was at the grocery, so I sent her the list of ingredients and I made these to go with our pork chops as an appetizer.  They were spectacular!  So I am posting them here so it is easy for me to find the recipe in the future!  It is a cut and paste from their website.  I actually replaced the scallions with half of a medium white onion minced.

Total Time:
1 hr 5 min
Prep:
30 min
Inactive:
5 min
Cook:
30 min
Yield:40 pop 'ems

Ingredients
One 8-ounce package light cream cheese, at room temperature
3 large scallions, roots sliced off, green and white partsminced finely
1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
20 jalapenos
20 strips thin-sliced bacon, chopped in half
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.

In a large bowl, stir and break down the cream cheese until smooth. Add the scallions and apples, plus as much salt and freshly ground black pepper as you like.

Don a pair of plastic gloves so you don't burn your fingers or your eyes like I did. Slice each jalapeno in half lengthwise, and then either slice out the membranes or use a measuring spoon to scoop them out. Discard the seeds.

Either using a teaspoon or a small icing spatula, fill each jalapeno half with the cream cheese mixture; fill until just over the rim of the jalapeno. Wrap each pepper with a bacon half and secure with a toothpick. Line up the pop 'ems on the prepared baking sheet and pop into the oven until bacon has browned on the bottom, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes (which will be as long as you can resist them). Enjoy with a cold beer! Aaah!

Recipe courtesy of Aarti Sequeira



Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/bacon-apple-jalapeno-pop-ems-recipe.html?oc=linkback