If any of you are wasting your time and money with commercial BBQ sauces, I beg you to stop and begin using this one. I have rendered it in its simplest form, but it is extremely amenable to jazzing up with additions (ginger, garlic, cayenne, whatever you’ve got). Takes about 5 minutes to make, freezes well, and is so superior to anything you buy in a bottle it’s unbelievable.

Here’s the recipe.

1. Mix together equal amounts of ketchup, brown sugar and cider vinegar. I start with a half cup of each.

2. Stir it all up.

3. Add a buttload of black pepper – say, 2 tablespoons.

4. Mix some more.

5. Sample and adjust main ingredients to taste. Add a little salt.

6. You’re done.

Goes well with chicken, ribs, venison, pulled pork – whatever.

I make a great Mint Chimichurri, lemme go fetch the recipe for ya, I love making this in the summer. As well as a great Habanero Shrimp glaze.

these jalepino corn muffins will make you weep.

preheat to 425

Combine:
2 eggs
1 C creamed corn
1 C sour cream
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 (or more) chopped jalepino

Fold this mixture in to:
2/3 C cornmeal
1/3 C flour (I use pastry, but whatevs)
…and set aside

Prepare your tins with lard. Yes, lard. Fat is flavor.
Put the prepared tins in the oven and preheat for 10 minutes at 425.

While the tins are preheating, combine:
2/3 tsp salt
2/3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Remove tins—the fat should be sizzling—and add your salt and baking powders combo to the corn mixture and thoroughly combine. The key is to wait to put in the salt-and-powders mix until the very end to get maximum lift.

Bake approximately 15 minutes for 1" tins, longer for bigger tins. This mix can also be put in a shallow pan altogether and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

bring your hankies.

Alright, I’ll drop a quickie on you guys – a simple Memphis style dry rub that is killer on ribs, but also on everything from steaks to chicken to cheese fries to pierogies to eggs to…

JP’s Memphis Rub
1/4 cup paprika
1 1/2 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper (more to taste)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Combine. Put on everything in site (a pinch b/t the cheek and gum ain’t bad either).

heh. can you catch the 4PM to Bozeman?

Alright, now a killer K.C.-style sauce for you. Honestly, I think I could make a meal out of a loaf of white bread and this sauce, but use the rub above on ribs and then start saucing it with this in the last hour and you’re in wet rib heaven. It’s awesome on just about anything, though.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato puree
3/4 cup cider vinegar
6 tbsp brown sugar
4 to 6 tbsp chili powder (I always make my own, using this recipe – it’s worth the work)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 to 4 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp corn syrup
1 tbsp liquid smoke
3/4 cup water

Warm the oil over medium, saute the onion and garlic until soft (5 minutes). Mix everything else in, cut the heat to low, and cook it for 30 minutes until it thickens up to a desired consistency (add water if it gets too thick). Serve warm or cold. It’ll keep for a long time (couple of weeks) in the fridge, too.

My recipe for wings.

1. Start with a large saucepan. 2. Melt some butter in the saucepan (about 1 tablespoon)

Add:

1. 24 oz (two large bottles) of Lousiana “Red Hot” sauce
2. 1 small bottle of Tobasco
3. A pinch of garlic powder
4. A dash or Worcestershire sauce
5. A dash of soy sauce 6. A tablespoon (or more) of ketchup

3. Simmer this concoction for about 15-30 minutes (You want to eliminate as much of the water as possible), and then thicken with a bit of corn starch or tapioca starch. Make sure to dissolve the starch in cold water first, and then add the starch/water mixture, and stir. If you don’t use the small amount of cold water first, the starch will clump in the sauce. The starch is meant to thicken the sauce.

4. By the way, keep the area around the stove well-ventilated, and remove all small birds from the vicinity if you don’t want them to perish due to the fumes.

5. Let the mixture cool. Applying this brew to wings is also an art form all of in itself. Take about a dozen wings, cut them into
their three respective sections and toss out the tips. Grill on low, slow heat until nicely done – you’ll be able to tell when the flesh pulls tightly back away from the ends of the bone.
Note that you want to have a large watertight container available, into which you will dispense a couple of tablespoons of the hot sauce…
Once you are done frying the wings, dump them in the container with the sauce, seal the container and shake violently in order to evenly distribute the sauce across the wing surfaces. Unseal, pour on plate, and eat.

If you do find this too hot, you can thin the mixture with water and ketchup, and also not cook it so long. If you want it hotter, add white and/or red pepper and cook it longer. Also, the sauce may be enhanced with a variety of other ingredients. For example for a hot/sweet sauce, add maple syrup.
The amount of sauce prepared above should keep about 100 wings happily coated.

If any of you are hunters, this is a killer way to prepare your backstrap. If any of you are not hunters, you should be. Get out there and kill some of your own food, it’s good for you.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. I don’t measure much in life or cooking, but basically you want your stuffing to be a nice, thick paste.

Ingredients:
1 nice big venison backstrap (you could substitute a beef loin if you want)
A couple bricks of cream cheese
7-8 cloves of garlic, chopped up pretty good but not minced
2 medium size jalapeno peppers, minced real fine (take the seeds out and scrape out some of the flesh on the inside to kill some heat if you’re not into extra spice)
handful of pine nuts, crushed
small palmful of salt
smaller palmful of pepper
couple pinches of cumin
fresh sage, parsley and thyme chopped as fine as you can get it
Half a pound of bacon or so.

Render the bacon, pull off heat, and break into chunks, throw it in with everything above. Keep the grease, you’re going to need it in about 5 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients above together. You should get enough liquid out of the jalapenos, herbs and grease clinging to the bacon to thin out the cream cheese till it’s pliable and soft but not runny.

Take a sharp knife and “peel” your backstrap until you have basically a quarter- to half-inch thick piece of flat meat.

Slather on the stuffing in about a quarter- to half-inch layer. Roll the backstrap back up, kinda holding and mashing the stuffing into place as you do. Tie it up with twine – there’s fancy ways to do this, but any way is going to work, just knot it up and you’ll be fine.

Get your bacon grease nice and hot. Sear your roast on all sides – note, this should not take long.

Remove, pop in smoker for a few hours. Meantime, deglaze pan with a little cognac and then broth, thicken with flour, reduce a bit, and set aside.

Remove meat from smoker, slice and serve with gravy and salad of spring greens. You serve this to a woman, I guarantee you get laid.

Now we’re talking folks! Here’s a solid coleslaw dressing that goes great with Q

Combine:
1 1/4 C Mayo
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C Apple Cider vinegar
1 TBL chopped chives (or green onion)
1/2 TBL ground black pepper
3/4 TBL Kosher or sea salt
1/2 oz. celery seed
1/4 oz garlic pepper
dash or two of tabasco

whisk to smooth. add to your favorite slaw just ahead of serving. I use 4 parts finely shredded green cabbage and 1 part shredded carrot