Tex-Mex Inspired Barbeque Sauce

Tex-Mex Inspired Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:

1 c. Ketchup

2 tbsp. Chopped Garlic

¼ c. Finely Chopped Yellow Onion

2 tbsp. Yellow Mustard

1 tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 tbsp. Chocolate Syrup

1 tbsp. Worchestershire Sauce

1 tbsp. Steak Sauce

1 tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 tsp. Ground Coriander

1 tsp. Taco Seasoning

½ tsp. New Mexican Chili Pepper Powder

¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper

¼ tsp. Seasoned Salt

1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Fresh Chopped Cilantro to taste as garnish

Directions:

Saute garlic and onion until the onion is translucent. Add the remaining ingredients. Feel free to add more Cayenne or Chili Pepper to kick up the heat levels. Heat until the sauce simmers. Remove from heat. Add to any type of grilled or smoked meat. Add fresh chopped cilantro on top to add a unique flavor burst to the meal.

"Sweet As Soda Pop" BBQ Sauce

"Sweet As Soda Pop" BBQ Sauce

I still dream about that.. or so goes the song. I attended a great university in the South for 2 years, and was inspired by my experiences there to create some marinades and sauces.

My competition-grade recipes are directly inspired by my experiences at my old school. Those recipes are under lock and key..sorry! However, last night when I made my competition ribs I decided to play around with the barbeque sauce and create a new school-inspired recipe.

I call my newest creation, "Sweet As Soda Pop" BBQ Sauce. It contains Tennessee Whiskey (sorry I don't think I'm allowed to list brand names), Soda Pop, and Honey. The sauce is a fairly sweet sauce. I created it to go with pork ribs, however, it would work with chicken or pulled pork too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 c. Cola

¾ c. Tennessee brand of Whiskey- Honey flavored

1 c. Ketchup

3 tbsp. Steak Sauce

¼ c. Soy Sauce

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tbsp. Mustard

1 tbsp. Honey

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:

Simmer 25 min. at a medium heat. Stir constantly.

Smoked Blueberries Recipe

This is a smoked blueberry recipe I came up with to use as a topping on a 4th of July cake I made. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures while they were in the smoker. Sorry!

Smoked Blueberries:

Ingredients:

1 pint of blueberries

¼ of a lemon (squeezed)

zest of ¼ of a lemon

1 c. light brown sugar

Approx. 1 tbsp. of lemon-infused olive oil

Directions:

Soak cherry wood chips for 1 hr. prior to smoking. Heat smoker to 200 degrees (F). While your smoker is heating up, wash the blueberries, and pat them dry on a paper towel. Place the blueberries in a 8” x 10” heavy duty foil pan. Add all the ingredients together. Mix.

Put blueberry mix in smoker and check 20 min. into smoking. Check every 10 min. after that. Smoke for 40 min. The blueberries should be tender to the touch, but not too mushy or too hard.

After the blueberries were removed from the smoker, I let them cool down for about 20 minutes.

I ended up making a Smoked Blueberry Sauce to accompany my lemon olive oil cake.

Smoked Blueberry Sauce:

Ingredients:

Smoked blueberries

1 tbsp. of lemon zest

½ c. of white granulated sugar

½ tsp. of cinnamon //or cardamom // or ginger //or ALL :)

¼ c. of blueberry flavored water

Directions:

I placed all of the ingredients in a heated saucepan on the stove top (at medium heat). Simmer for approx. 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened considerably. Let it cool completely and enjoy!