I’m a big fan of po boy sandwiches. Sometimes fancy, sometimes not so fancy. Last weekend I made two ‘cheater’ fried clam and fried shrimp po boys. I call them ‘cheater’ because I used frozen already-fried seafood. But just because I’m cheating doesn’t mean I’m not going to step up my game a bit by adding a fantastic chipotle tartar sauce. A bit spicy and a bit tangy, this is the perfect tartar sauce to kick up any seafood.
Thicker Is Better
You want to use a mayonnaise that isn’t too thin or your chipotle tartar sauce will, of course, be thin. Not that that’s a bad thing, but most people like a nice, thick tartar sauce. You could call it a remoulade or comeback sauce if yours turns out a bit on the thin side!
I almost always use Blue Plate mayonnaise in the dishes I make. I think it is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to word this post on black pepper honey. I mean, yeah, it’s just honey, salt and pepper. It’s not like there are 50 ingredients and 25 kitchen gadgets involved here. But boy, was this honey ever good on a few toasted English muffins. I never thought about just how much salt and pepper really could make honey even better than it already is. It’s just that easy. Great anywhere you use “regular” honey, but out of this world great on a crunch English muffin!
Fresh Honey Is Better
My great uncle kept bees for a while when I was younger. I was (and still am) fascinated by them. It’s amazing how much different fresh honey tastes than the mass-produced honey you find in the grocery store. It’s like night and day. But, the store-bought stuff is a bit easier to find!
As an aside, we now have a number of bee keepers in my housing development. The bees are an important part of the environment. Look around, maybe you have a few keepers too!
I wasn’t sure how I was going to word this post on black pepper honey. I mean, yeah, it’s just honey, salt and pepper. But boy, was it ever good on a few toasted English muffins.
This is my year-after-year go-to technique for making turkey broth. Smoked turkey wings make an absolutely delightful smoked turkey broth that, with just a few more ingredients added, makes a gravy that is perfect for Thanksgiving turkey. It is also a great substitute for chicken broth in soups. The smoked turkey adds the perfect lightly-smoky flavor, all in a very rich broth. You could just eat it out of a bowl by itself.
The Richest Turkey Broth To Be Found
You’ll get about 8 cups of smoked turkey broth when you are done. You can find turkey wings that already smoked in some grocery stores. You can use them instead of smoking your own, but you may want to get more than 4 of them. They tend to be smaller. As you can tell from the picture above I grabbed the largest fresh turkey wings I could find. It’s very easy and well, cool looking.
I prefer to use fruit or nut woods when I smoke unless I want a heavier smoke flavor. Pecan, apple or cherry are my favorites. I used apple to smoke the turkey for this recipe.
This is my year-after-year go-to technique for making turkey broth. Smoked turkey wings make an absolutely delightful smoked turkey broth that, with just a few more ingredients added, makes a gravy that is perfect for Thanksgiving turkey.Â
Fire up your smoker for cooking at 250 F. Use a wood such as hickory. You’ll want plenty of smoke.
Place the wings onto the smoker. No need to season them.
Smoke for approximately 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
Remove from the smoker and make the stock.
For the broth
Place all of the ingredients along with the wings into a large stock pot.
Add enough water to just cover everything.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for at least an hour, up to 4 hours, until the turkey meat is falling off the bone. Add more water if needed.
Let cool completely then filter the broth through a sieve.
You can use the broth immediately but I prefer to refrigerate it overnight first. This lets all of the fat coagulate on top, making it easy to remove before using the broth.
Notes
You’ll end up with much more broth than is required to make 3 cups of gravy. Freeze the leftover broth or double or triple the gravy recipe if you desire.
I have a bit of an addiction to buying pre-made BBQ sauces. Mostly the obscure ones that you can’t get in stores. The ones you have to order directly from the BBQ joint that makes them. Well, that’s not the cheapest hobby in the world, so I set out to make my own basic BBQ sauce (based on one from Myron Mixon) and I’m very happy with the results. It’s not a complicated or fancy sauce, but it has the perfect consistency and taste. I can add more hot sauce for a spicy version, or I can add more liquid smoke for a more hickory-flavored sauce.
A Great Basic Sauce
I’m going to call this basic BBQ sauce ‘done’. It’s my go-to basic sauce for everything from pulled pork to ribs to brisket to chicken or my favorite, rib tips. I also slather basic BBQ sauce on my grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s also fantastic on BBQ chicken pizza!
This is not a complicated or fancy sauce, but it has the perfect consistency and taste. I can add more hot sauce for a spicy version, or I can add more liquid smoke for a more hickory-flavored sauce.
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Keyword barbecue, BBQ, sauce
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 4cups
Calories 304kcal
Author Based on a recipe from Myron Mixon’s Smokin’ with Myron
I go thru a lot of chipotles in adobo sauce. I have an entire section of one of my pantry shelves devoted to cans of them. So it occurred to me that I should try my hand at making them at home. These homemade chipotles in adobo came out fantastically. Great smoky flavor and a bit of heat. They do take a bit of time to prepare, but they are oh so worth the trouble.
Smoke ‘Em First
First thing is to smoke the peppers. You want to get them good and smoked, too. You want that smoky flavor and lots of it. This is important. Don’t rush it.
Dry ‘Em Second
I dried my smoked jalapenos in my Nesco Snackmaster Pro dehydrator. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can place the jalapenos on a baking sheet and place in the oven at the lowest temperature setting. Rotate the jalapenos every few hours until dried. The chipotles were the star ingredient my Texas chipotle burgers and on my adobo Buffalo chicken wings!
You can also skip the smoking and drying of the jalapenos and buy dried chipotles at your marketplace. In our grocery store the dried peppers can be found by the produce section.
Lastly, Make The Adobo
This step is a bit more complicated, but it’s why you’re here. You rehydrate the peppers first. Some of them go into the blender to get pureed nice and smooth. Then everything comes together in a vinegary sauce that is out-of-this-world fantastic.
I like to load up my dehydrator. To do that I picked up a handful of extra trays. They really add a whole lot more drying space! Since I have to rotate my trays, I write a number on each one on a piece of blue painter’s tape so I can keep track of them.
These homemade chipotles in adobo came out fantastically. Great smoky flavor and a bit of heat. They do take a bit of time to prepare, but they are oh so worth the trouble.
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Keyword chipotle, sauce
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 2 daysdays8 hourshours
Total Time 2 daysdays8 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Oh my goodness. I wasn’t even looking for another BBQ sauce to add to my list of homemade, fantastically-good sauces. I actually made this apricot BBQ sauce only because I found a jar of apricot preserves in the back of the pantry that needed to be used up. It was a sign because this is one of the top BBQ sauces I’ve ever made or tasted. The perfect combination of sweet and heat and just the right consistency to squirt or slather onto a rack of St. Louis-style smoked ribs without being too gloppy or too thin.
Lightly Fruity
The apricot preserves add a light fruity flavor to the apricot BBQ sauce, but it’s there in the back with lots of other great flavors and isn’t so in-your-face. Now, if you want to have a more apricot-like sauce, feel free to add more. Since apricot (or peach for that matter) goes great with pork, add more sauce if you’re cooking pork. If you’re using this sauce on say chicken, you might want to use a little less.
Leftover Sauce
Remember that if you have to refrigerate any leftover sauce, let it sit out on the counter for at least 30 minutes before using. You don’t want to ‘shock’ hot, food with a cold sauce.
This is one of the top BBQ sauces I’ve ever made or tasted. The perfect combination of sweet and heat and just the right consistency to stick to a rack of St. Louis-style smoked ribs without being too gloppy or too thin.
I do love a fresh peach BBQ sauce. Nothing screams winter is over like fresh peaches being available in our local grocery store. I’ve made a great peach-based BBQ sauce before, but this time I was looking for something that was a little bit different. Something with a smoky flavor and a little sweetness. More like a typical bottled sauce I might find at the grocery store. Nothing wrong with those store-bought sauces. Many of them are outstandingly good.
My original sauce was more like a traditional Kansas City sauce. This deluxe peach BBQ sauce brings a little kick to any grilled meat, like the split chicken breasts I made recently on my Char-Broil Big Easy.
Peachy Perfection
As with any BBQ sauce, don’t apply it until your food is basically done grilling and almost ready to pull off the grill. Squirt it or slather it on right at the end. Any sooner and the molasses and peach nectar may start to burn. Just put it on and let the food grill a bit longer until the sauce has set. Then enjoy! And if you prefer the flavor of apricot over peach, try out my apricot BBQ sauce.
I love just putting the ‘usual’ condiments on my burgers. My favorite is mayonnaise. I find that odd since I definitely did not grow up a mayo fan. Sometimes though, I need a little extra kick to my burger. A little wake up. Since I absolutely love Fire-Eater seasoning, I knew it would find its way into this nice creamy, but a tad bit spicy, Fire-Eater burger sauce.
This Sauce Is Great On Everything
If you don’t have Sriracha on hand (???), then you can certainly substitute your favorite hot sauce for this Fire-Eater burger sauce, from the mild to the wild. Oh, and yes, this sauce is also fantastic on sandwiches or wraps. And now that I ponder it more, I bet it would be great on grilled chicken wings. I’m gonna try that next!
I like to keep my sauces in squeeze bottles. I love squirting sauce onto burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches… Anything that can be squirted! I write the contents and date-of-mixing on painter’s blue tape and put that on the bottles so I can keep track of them.
Sometimes I need a little kick to my burger. Since I absolutely love Fire-Eater seasoning, I knew it would find its way into this nice creamy, but a bit spicy, Fire-Eater burger sauce.
Yes, I do have a machine that shaves ice. I mean, why wouldn’t I? Everyone loves sno-cones. I used to buy big bottles of sno-cone syrup at the store (due to occasional laziness) and finally asked myself how hard could it really be to make some at home? The answer? It’s not hard at all and the homemade sno-cone syrup flavors are so much more bold. I keep a few different ones on hand in squeeze bottles, ready to make delicious sno-cones at a moment’s notice.
Summer Fun
Here’s the ice shaver that I use. It’s small, fairly cheap, and has held up for years. Just add a few ice cubes and turn it on and it starts shooting out perfectly shaved ice in an instant. This is what makes summer fun! And it brings back a lot of childhood memories too!
I’m always on the lookout for a different sauce for my smoked ribs, pulled pork, or whatever meats I’m cooking on my smoker. It’s not because I don’t already have a good collection of sauces that I love. It’s because sometimes you just want something different. This smokehouse BBQ sauce intrigued me when I first saw it because it had both chile peppers and lemon juice. I thought, well, that’s new. So I made it and it came out great on a nice big rack of smoked spare ribs!
The Perfect Flavor Combination
Thick but not too thick, this smokehouse BBQ sauce has a hint of spiciness, a hint of smokiness, and a slight vinegar kick. In a way it’s a combination of many BBQ sauces, from Kansas City to Memphis to the Carolinas. Different, but different in a very good, very tasty way. And it has the perfect consistency for sticking to my ribs, my chicken, my pulled pork…. anything!
I like to keep my sauces in squeeze bottles. I love squirting sauce onto burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches… Anything that can be squirted! I write the contents and date-of-mixing on painter’s blue tape and put that on the bottles so I can keep track of them.
This smokehouse BBQ sauce intrigued me when I first saw it because it had both chile peppers and lemon juice. I thought, well, that’s new. So I made it and it came out great on a nice big rack of smoked spare ribs!
