Another recipe from a real barbecue sauce fan! Congratulations to Donna of Gray, ME, who wins a FREE Gallon of Pappy’s XXX White Lightnin’ Barbecue Sauce for her contribution to our recipe library!

Try it out and then let us know what you think!

White Lightnin’ Beer Banger

Ingredients:

• 1 whole coil of sweet or hot pork sausage
• 1 bottle dark sweet ale (beer)
• 1 bottle Pappy’s XXX White Lightnin’ Barbecue Sauce
• 2 metal barbecue skewers

Directions:

Parboil the whole sausage coil with the water, ale, and 1 cup Pappy’s XXX White Lightnin’ until the sausage skin begins to tighten and the meat is half-cooked. Drain the liquid.

When the sausage is cool enough to handle, recoil it into a tight circle and use two skewers to make an “X” through the sausages. (This will allow you to flip the entire sausage coil while grilling).

Place sausage on medium heat charcoal grill to finish cooking, all the while basting the sausage coil with the remaining Pappy’s XXX White Lightnin’ Barbecue Sauce.

Flip the skewered coil from time to time to caramelize the sauce and prevent burning.

We cook this before our main grill for an appetizer and “pickies,” but you could easily serve White Lightnin’ Beer Bangers as a main course with salads, corn-on-the-cob, and potato salad (or grilled potato wedges).

It’s the Pappy’s barbecue sauce that adds the flavor to the table.

Let us know how you like Pappy’s White Lightnin’ Beer Bangers in the comments below!

Chock full of thyme, savory (a member of the mint family), rosemary, fennel, lavender and basil, Bear Claw Herb Spice will have you dreaming of the herb garden at the old farm.

Let’s see how the Herb Spice works out with a turkey – I’m not big on frying the big bird, so let’s try olive oil and Bear Claw Herb Spice rubbed liberally inside and out. Sure you can add stuffing, and if you do, add some of the Bear Claw Herb Spice to the stuffing mix.

When you add stuffing into the bird, you add time as well.

I’m really big on getting folks to invest in digital thermometers, especially when it comes to cooking turkey. Too many times, the Thanksgiving dinner has turned into a mad dash to the fridge for the mayo so you can lubricate the overcooked and dry disaster just enough to swallow.

Try prepping the bird for success this year by starting a day earlier. Go ahead and rub the olive oil and Herb Spice on the completely thawed turkey the day before you plan to cook.

Place the turkey in a large food storage bag or place on a platter and cover with Saran Wrap. This will allow absorption of the spices and flavors of the Bear Claw Herb Spice to penetrate the turkey a little bit.

One little flavor trick I like to do is to take 2 oz of Bear Claw Herb Spice and add it to about a quart of water and simmer for about 30 minutes the day before I am cooking. Let chill in the fridge overnight, but bring it out early so it will ‘temp out’ a little bit.

Strain this mixture through a sieve or cheese cloth and then take a syringe or injector and inject the turkey around the thighs and breast.

Place a quarter stick of butter inside the bird’s cavity before placing in the preheated oven – 325 degrees.

Typically, we’ll cook a 12 -14 pound bird for about 1.5 hours, breast side DOWN. Then “Flip the Bird” over to its back, and continue cooking for the last 1.5 hours. Cooking may vary from oven to oven, so make sure you use that digital thermometer!

Check your thermometer’s calibration by making a slurry with ice and water. Place the probe into the iciest portion of this slurry – should give you a reading of 32 degrees F.

When checking the turkey for temperature readings, I like to check a couple of places. The thickest part of the breast towards the wings and perhaps the meaty portion of the thigh as well.

Make sure that your probe is not hitting bone.

I prefer my bird to have a temp reading of 160 to 165 degrees F and then I serve or put it in a picnic cooler or a holding cabinet until I am ready to eat.

And if you realize that you may be done way before you expected – no worries – just bring the bird out of the oven to STOP the cooking process – turn your oven down to a low warm setting (140 to 145 if your oven has a setting that low).

Wait about 30 minutes and place the turkey back in the oven to hold until it’s serving time. Or as I mentioned above – if the cooler has no beer in it (sin of all sins), you can lay the bird on foil in the cooler with no ice and close until you are ready to eat.

Side dish suggestions – wild rice and greens of your choosing – I prefer a good spinach salad with Annie’s All Natural dressing – sesame and shitake vinaigrette does it for me.

Don’t forget the wine – a red for sure and after dinner, a glass of Kentucky’s finest Bourbon to put the finish on an incredible dinner and successful day.

Whatcha think?? Maybe a glass of Blanton’s on the rocks??!!

Try this recipe and let Pappy know how you liked it in the comments below!

Congratulations to Bob of Spring Hill, FL! Bob wins a FREE Gallon of Pappy’s XXX White Lightnin’ Barbecue Sauce for his contribution to our recipe library!

Try it out and then let us know what you think!

Hottest Ride in Town Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

10 oz extra sharp cheddar
1 3/4 cup chipotle cheddar

8 oz pepper jack cheese
16 oz chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Pappy’s Hottest Ride in Town Barbecue Sauce

Directions:

Grate all the cheeses into a bowl, mix in cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, mayo, Worcestershire, and Pappy’s Hottest Ride in Town Barbecue Sauce. Mix all ingredients into a ball.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours and serve chilled.

1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/2 cup or so of Portabello or button mushrooms

Cut all the veggies a half-inch thick.

1 1/2 lbs of thawed or fresh, peeled and de-veined shrimp.

Start boiling your water for the fettuccine then add the pasta and a little olive oil – a couple of tablespoons will do just fine!

Now, in a large non-stick skillet and medium to high heat add enough olive oil to cover the surface and throw the shrimp on.

As soon as you put the shrimp in the skillet, sprinkle them with a nice light cover of Bear Claw Shrimp Spice.

Cook for about 2 minutes, then flip them over and spice again. This should take another 2 minutes and they are ready to place in a large covered bowl.

Add a little more olive oil to the skillet, toss the veggies in and saute until they are al dente. There’s nothing worse than mushy veggies !!

Don’t forget your pasta ‘cuz it’s ready now too !!!

Put your veggies and your strained pasta in the bowl with the shrimp – stir it up – pour the wine, and have dinner with 4 or 5 of your closest friends!

Let us know how the Bear Claw Shrimp Spice worked out for ya in the comments below!

Never will forget the guy that showed me how the Schmidt’s like the cans (or anything for that matter) to get priced and stocked:

“Make that price stamper sing like a machine gun!”

No pre-printed price labels or UPC codes back then – they were all ink stamps the best I remember. Guy named Darryl – he had a rhythm that you couldn’t help but turn your head to see what in the world was going that fast across the top of a case of cans!

Anyhow – those beans still remain my favorite today because you can do a few completely different recipes with them, as opposed to ranch style beans.

Let’s start with “Old Faithful”

Simple – per every #10 can of beans – (gallon) you’ll need the following :

• Saute skillet or pan
• Half-size aluminum pan or ovenware large enough for a full gallon o’ beans
• Preheated oven – 300 degrees
• One half of Vidalia onion diced/minced
• One pound of smoked pork or beef (Po’ boy used to take burgers and smoke them – not grilled – smoked! And used two or three burgers – works fine)
• OR the trimmings from your Smoked brisket,  pork shoulder, or left over pork chops.  Geeze – even smoked sausage is good to work here!
• 3 oz of BourbonQ Classic brand barbecue sauce
• Approximately 6 to 8 oz of Not Made in China Barbecue Sauce – (depends on how “wet” your pork is – assuming you did put some Not Made in China in with your pulled pork)

First up – let’s sauté or caramelize  the onion – pour a little olive oil into the pan – remember, you’re not deep frying – you need enough oil to just cover the bottom of the skillet or pan.

Medium heat and stir to get an even cook – just long enough to get the onions translucent or clear.

Now place the onion and the pork or meat mix in your ovenware or half size pan

Okay – Drain the excess juice from your can of beans – no you don’t have to – just trust me – try it this time. Pour the beans into the pan with the meat/onion and add your sauces – stir it up thoroughly.

Now if it looks like your batch might need some more moisture – add a couple more ounces of Not Made in China.

Next step – cover and bake in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes or until it reaches at least 185 degrees (cooking until the beans reach 225 degrees is not a bad thing at all, by the way.)

That’s it! Easy as can be!

Now let the beans cool a bit before serving – and let me know how this version turned out!

Sure, you can add brown sugar and molasses… But Pappy’s saving the sweet recipe for the fall football season when we do a whole hog on the smoker!!

Add 3-4 tablespoons of horseradish and 1 tablespoon of lime juice to 1 bottle of Fighting Cock Sauce Barbecue Sauce to make your wing dip.

Let this dip stand at room temperature while the wings are cooking, then lightly warm in the microwave.

To prepare the wings, rinse and dry 18 fresh chicken wings and place them in a casserole dish. Cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, basting once with Fighting Cock Sauce, then place back in the oven for another 20 minutes or until done.

Serve with wing dip on the side and a cold beer to reanimate your taste buds!

My oh my, we’re talkin’ hot wing NIRVANA!

Click on over and pick yourself up a bottle of Fighting Cock Kentucky Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

Rub ‘er up.

Ya know, there have been many times I’ve seen some of the so-called experts on the competition cooking circuit trying to give pointers on their recipe for pulled pork to rookies or ignorant tourists and I have to shake my head – or just laugh my head off! You should see some of the antics these guys go thru! Slapping at the butt (like THAT’s gonna tenderize it??).

Prodding and massaging?? Puhleeze – save that kind of action for the momma!!!

What happens with all that grabbing and slapping is you’re pulling spices off onto your hands. Some spices, like sugar, are gonna stick more than others, so if you think your recipe for pulled pork doesn’t taste quite right, now you know why! It just doesn’t work that way, plus it’s messy as all get out.

Grab your butt (smile – it should feel good to you by now!!) and your butt spice (hopefully it’s Bear Claw Honey Butt Spice). Coat it liberally – making sure that you get spice coverage on all four sides as best you can. This stuff is gonna seep in to the nooks and crannies as it warms up during the cooking process.

You can see how this is going to work if you just let it set out for an hour and “temp out” as they say. It’ll just melt right into the meat. No need for trying to poke or prod – unless you’re just into that sort of abuse!!

If you like a spicier crust on your butt, instead of dry rub use a paste/slurry of Worcestershire and Bear Claw Shrimp Spice and WOW – look out! Cause someone is gonna be coming over you didn’t invite!

Smokin’ time.

Slow and low is gonna get ya there and technically pork is done @ 155 degrees F. Here’s what will work for ya:

• use an average 7 to 9 pound shoulder (butt)
• cook @ 200 degrees
• cook for about 10-12 hours

Adjust for the size you’re cooking and take it up to about 180 to 190 degrees. If you can’t regulate your smoker temperature just throw on some coal every now and then to keep the fire going and the wood smokin’.

The hardest part is resisting that temptation to lift the lid. I know it’s tough but every time you do, all the heat bursts outta there and that means longer cooking. Really the only time you should lift the lid is to check the temperature and maybe flip the butt over.

Insert a thermometer into the butt to give an idea of where the temperature is and when you’ve got ‘er ready you might need a little trimming. Pull that bone out while it’s hot if you can. I tend to wait till it’s chilled a bit but not cool.

Then, I take a 14 inch knife (or any other saber you might have handy) and start cutting it into about one or two and a half inch slabs and then cross cut those about the same. If the butt is as cooked as it should be, you’re gonna enjoy the “mouth feel” of the most tender and succulent love you’ve ever had.

Chop it smaller if you like. Then splash a dose of Pappy’s Not Made in China Barbecue Sauce into the mix and you’re gonna be making money off of your cooking!

Remember, ya gotta take it up to 190 degrees or it’s not going to be as tender as you would like. If it’s not tender for some goofy reason, no worries. Just splash on the Pappy’s after you’ve cut it up, cover and put it in the oven or smoker on low till you get ‘er done! See if you don’t like the feel a little better.

Sides & Variations on the Recipe for Pulled Pork

No recipe for pulled pork would be complete without the blue cheese cole slaw. This is where it gets fun! I know this might sound a little weird but trust me – I have made so many converts with this I could start my own church!

Take your pulled pork that has a good splash of Pappy’s Not Made in China Sauce, about 3 to 4 ounces of pork, and pile a dollop of slaw on top. We call it ice cream barbecue.

OR, better yet – get a tortilla and make it a wrap (my favorite). You’ll also find that this pork is unbelievable as a sandwich when you have a thin slice of onion and some good dill slices to top it off. I like those dills that are sliced length wise – seems like I get more pickle that way!

There ya go. A perfect recipe for pulled pork even if you never pull anything but a beer from the fridge.

One thing Pappy has always preached and have been quoted on is:

“Barbecue is a lazy man’s sport – and I’m only a six pack away from perfection!!”

My goal is to show folks they can get top-notch vittles without all the mess and hard work.

Enjoy and let Pappy know how it turns out in the comments below this post.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 lb chuck roast
• 1 LARGE Vidalia onion – of course you can sub this for another onion of your choosing – you need to dice this into 1/4 to 1/2-inch squares
• 4 or 5 stalks of celery – dice them or slice them, and have them at the ready
• 3 jumbo tbsp of minced garlic – add more if you love garlic
• 1/2 pound of bacon (use the grease to saute or caramelize the onions, garlic, and celery)
• 2 3-lb cans of kidney or chile beans
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 2 cans Roma tomatoes – I like to leave them whole but you may want to at least cut them in half
• 2 3-oz jars of Bear Claw Chile Powder
• 2 tbsp of cumin
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 3 tbsp Kosher Salt – or, to taste

First I like to start with a nice and well-marbled chuck roast or pot roast as they may call it in some stores now.

Let’s do a nice 3 to 4 hour indirect smoke on a 3 to 4 pound roast – try to keep your temperature around 225 to 250 degrees.

While the chuck roast is smoking – fry and remove the bacon – lower the heat to a medium and toss in the onion, celery, garlic, and pepper of your choice. Saute for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the onions have turned clear or translucent.

Pour the onions concoction into a large pot and add the bacon (chopped of course) tomato sauce, Roma tomatoes, kidney beans, a jar of Bear Claw Chile Powder, cumin, oregano and pepper into the pot – LOW heat.

Then after you have smoked your chuck roast for at least 3 hours – cube this into 1/2 inch pieces and toss into the pot – fat and all – unless you are really scared of cholesterol !!!!

Let this simmer for another 2 to 3 hours or until the chuck roast is tender to the bite. This is where you’ll determine if you need more Bear Claw Chile Powder, salt, cumin, etc.

I usually cook chili in the morning for a late game or I cook it the day before if I have a noon kickoff!!