Wesley’s Best Dry Rub for Barbeque

My cousin shared this dry rub mix recipe with me. I haven’t tried it yet but he says it is the best and I trust him—he is truly a gourmet.

1 part paprika

1 part garlic powder

1 part black pepper

1/2 part sea salt

1/2 part brown sugar

Mix all together. You can make this in bulk and store in a tightly covered container.

This is how he uses it:

Cover meat (pork, chicken, beef, ribs, etc.) with olive oil (brush on) and rub with spice mixture until covered. Cook over low heat on a grill for an hour.

For ribs you can also prepare them with the oil and dry rub and wrap them in foil and refrigerate overnight. Cook low and slow—about 8 hours at 200 degrees.

I haven’t tried this yet but can’t wait to give it a shot.

Make Ahead Turkey Gravy

Ahhhhh, Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday of all. I love planning/cooking/eating -- every aspect of Thanksgiving dinner (except cleanup). This recipe became a lifesaver for me, because before I found it, I usually ended up with some gross, lumpy, tasteless mess that could never pass for gravy! This makes perfect gravy every time, and you don't have to mess with pan drippings on the big day.

4 turkey wings (about 3 to 4 lb)
2 medium onions, cut up
1 cup water
8 cups chicken broth
1 chopped carrot
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 400°F. You’ll need a large roasting pan, a 5- to 6-qt pot and a 3-qt saucepan.

Put wings in a single layer in pan; scatter onions on top. Roast 1 1/4 hours or until wings are browned.

Put wings and onions in pot. Add water to roasting pan; stir to scrape up any brown bits on bottom. Add to pot. Add 6 cups broth (refrigerate remaining 2 cups), the carrots and thyme. Simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours.

Remove wings. When cool, pull off skin and meat. Discard skin; save meat for another use.

Strain broth into saucepan; skim fat off broth.

Whisk flour into remaining 2 cups broth until well blended and smooth.

Bring broth in saucepan to a gentle boil. Whisk in flour mixture; boil 5 minutes to thicken gravy. Stir in butter and pepper.

Plan ahead: Freeze up to 1 month. When thawed, purée in blender, then reheat.

Honey Butter

Yesterday morning my family enjoyed hot scones and honey butter while watching General Conference.
These "scones" are not the typical english, cake like, scones. We fried wheat bread dough. They are absolutely perfect with this honey butter recipe on top;

1/2 cup of softened butter
1 1/2 to 2 TBSP of honey
1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff or marshmallow creme

Mix together well. So easy, and SO very tasty. This is fantastic on pancakes, cornbread, a spoon, or whatever. ;)

Enchilada Sauce

I wanted to make Amy’s Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup but I didn’t have any enchilada sauce so I made my own using this recipe I found as a basis and altering it just a little to make it work for me. The way it is written below seemed to be the perfect amount for the soup. Very easy—maybe not as easy as opening a can, but much more flavorful than the canned kind in my opinion. It smelled wonderful as I was cooking it as well.  It is pretty mild but you could spice it up by adding some cayenne pepper, jalapeños or hot sauce according to your personal preference.

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2  tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth, divided

Mix spices and olive oil in saucepan over medium heat until fragrant and starting to brown. Slowly add tomato sauce and 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. Cook and stir. Put the flour and the remaining half cup chicken broth into a sealable container (tupperware, etc.) and shake vigorously to combine. Slowly stir flour-broth mixture into the rest of the sauce and stir until sauce comes to a boil. (This method helps me to avoid lumps.) Boil and stir one minute.  Use as a red sauce over enchiladas, chicken, beef, etc.

I’m thinking it wouldn’t be too hard to make a large batch of this and bottle it. I read that it doesn’t freeze well though.

Alternate Barbeque Sauce

Sometimes I make this sauce for the ribs instead. This one is really good on the pork ribs.

3/4 cup apricot preserves
1/2 cup mayonaise (not salad dressing)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Whisk together until smooth. Brush on meats. Turn frequently during last 20 minutes of cooking.

Lemon Sugar

This is such a tasty, simple recipe;  I have used it to sprinkle over sugar cookies, but tend to make it almost exclusively to stir into chamomile tea! 

3 lemons
2 c. sugar

Using a citrus zester, remove the zest from all of the lemons.  Roughly chop zest;  transfer to the bowl of a food processor (or blender) fitted with the blade attachment.  Add 1 c. sugar to the zest in the food processor.  Pulse until the zest has been finely ground, about 3 minutes.  Transfer the ground mixture to a medium-sized bowl.  Add the remaining cup of sugar, and toss until evenly mixed.  Spread the lemon sugar on a baking sheet, and let sit at room temperature until dry, about 1 hour.  Store the sugar in an airtight container in a cool, dry place up to 1 month.

Taco Seasoning

For when I run out of the little packets!

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine, and store in an airtight container.