Carolina BBQ Sauce

So I'm really mad at myself. I was so frazzled by my crying 14 month old, that I forgot to take pictures of my finished products tonight.  Although the BBQ was so freaking good I still want to share the recipe. 

I made it with dijon mustard and it was on the spicy side.  You could do honey mustard, or even regular French's yellow mustard.  It totally depends on your spice tolerance.  The key to a good Carolina BBQ sauce is vinegar.  It doesn't matter much what mustard you use as long as you use a good amount of vinegar.  It should singe your nose hair when you sniff it. That's how you know it's Carolina BBQ.

So I still had some sauce left in the sauce pan, so I ran downstairs and took a quick picture.  I'm bummed that I don't have any pictures of Brax or I's sandwiches.  They were purdy.  I don't claim to be a talented photographer.  Maybe if my kitchen was clean I would be more adventurous in my picture taking. 

Anyways, that's what the sauce looks like finished.  It was tangy and sweet and spicy.  It was seriously delicious and will be my go to for BBQ now. 

Brax loves the Carolina BBQ Whoppers from Burger King.  That was the inspiration for tonight's dinner.  They don't have them on the menu anymore so I thought I would make a copycat version for him.  He said that the burger was good and he seemed satisfied.  

I am not a meat lover, especially beef, specifically burgers, so I made me some shredded chicken.  I have a basic shredded chicken recipe that is good for anything.  You can make a ton and freeze it, then add whatever sauce and seasonings you want.  I made that tonight and then just added in the bbq sauce before I served it.  It was bomb.  It's just 4 chicken breasts, season salt and 2 cups of chicken broth.  Put it all in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.  I'm going to make chicken bacon ranch pizza on Friday and that's the chicken I'm going to use for it.   

I also made my ranch cole slaw, but I changed it up a bit and I think that's how I'm going to make it from now on.  My recipe is a bag of cole slaw mix, and then half a cup of mayo, a half a cup of ranch and two tablespoons white vinegar.  Tonight I did everything the same, but I did a 1/3 cup of mayo, 1/3 of hidden valley ranch, and 1/3 cup of sour cream.  It's a trick I saw on Cooking For Real on Food Network and it's seriously the only way I will make cole slaw from now on.  She of course did 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of sour cream, but I like mine to be slightly ranchy. 

I served his burger on a kaiser roll from Smith's.  I put about a tablespoon of mayo on the bottom bun, lettuce, dill pickle and red onion.  I cooked the patty with season salt on each side, then ripped a slice of bacon in half and put it on top of the patty, then swiss cheese, then ripped another slice of bacon in half and put it on top of that.  Then I smothered the top bun with the BBQ sauce.  He says it was good, I'll take his word for it. 

I put my shredded chicken mixed with the BBQ sauce on the bottom bun of a kaiser roll, put a slice of provolone cheese on it and then broiled it until the cheesy was bubbly, but before it turned brown.  I then topped it with my ranch cole slaw.  I am taking some leftovers for lunch tomorrow at work. 

I also cooked some fried potatoes with season salt in the bacon drippings.  My daughter thought those were pretty great and so did I.  My son spit them out without even attempting to chew it up. 

This sauce would be good on anything BBQ.  Ribs, chicken, beans, whatever.  It's seriously good. 

Carolina BBQ Sauce

1 jar of Grey Poupon dijon mustard

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup of white vinegar

1/4 cup apple juice

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp bacon fat 

• Mix all of the ingredients but the soy sauce, butter and bacon fat; simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Crepes

This recipe is good for both sweet and savory crepes.  Crepes have become a Sunday favorite at our house.  My husband prefers my banana cream crepes.  I like them, but I also like the bacon, egg and cheese crepes. 

These are really easy to make, but the key is having a good pan.  You can't have these sticking at all, or they will rip.  Crepes are extremely delicate.  The thinner the crepe the better the crepe.  

This is what the batter looks like once it's all mixed.  You first beat the eggs together and then whisk them in to the flour.  You then mix the water and milk together and slowly whisk it in to the flour and egg mixture.  You add the salt, and then the melted butter.  Then add the sugar for the sweet crepes. 

This is what the cream for the banana cream crepes looks like.  It's not too sweet and it's really creamy. 

Like I said the key to a great crepe is the pan.  I went out and bought a  12 inch non stick Teflon pan.  You want to preheat the pan over medium heat.  Pour a 1/4 cup of the batter in to the pan and spread the batter across the bottom of the pan so it looks like the picture above.  You cook it a lot like a pancake, until you see bubbles on the top. 

Using a rubber spatula, loosen the sides and very carefully flip the crepe and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. 

For a sweet crepe spread some of the cream across all of the crepe.  Fill with sliced banana.  Fold in half and cook for about 1-2 minutes more on each side. 

I sliced fresh strawberries and caramel on top of my banana cream crepe.  It was delicious. 

For a savory crepe you can put whatever you want.  I did scrambled eggs, bacon and shredded cheese, then cooked it on each side for 1-2 minutes, until the cheese was melted. 

Crepes
2 cups of flour
1 cup of milk
1 cup of water
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
4 teaspoons sugar (for sweet crepes only)

• Beat eggs
• Whisk eggs in to flour 
• Mix water and milk together
• Whisk in to flour mixture
• Whisk in butter and salt until smooth
• Preheat pan
• Pour 1/4 cup of batter in to bottom of pan.  
• Spread mixture to cover the entire pan
• Cook for about 3 minutes, then flip, cook 3 minutes more on that side
• Fill with filling, fold over and cook 1-2 minutes on each side
• Serve and enjoy 

Cream for Banana Crepes

8 ounces of cream cheese

1/2 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

• Mix it all together 

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Dip

I don't know why this picture is colored all weird, but this is the best way to eat this dip.  It's good with any kind of chip, but Jalapeno is the best.  This is one of my husband's favorite snacks.  My family also loves it.  Everyone always says "can you bring your dip".  It's cheesy, bacony, ranchy and creamy.  

I make this dip and then I make shredded chicken and mix it in, then spread it over a pizza crust and top with cheddar cheese and bake it.  It makes bomb chicken bacon ranch pizza. 

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Dip

16 ounces of sour cream (I prefer Daisy)

1 package of Oscar Meyer real bacon bits (it is not good with the fake stuff)

1 package of Hidden Valley powder ranch dressing

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I do Tillamook medium cheddar)

• Mix it all together and refrigerate for at least an hour. 
• Serve with your favorite chips. 

Pizza Rolls

I'm pretty sure that these might be my husband's favorite thing that I make.  He'll eat an entire dozen just to himself.  They are really, really good.  I love to eat them with ranch dressing.  

We went to a New Year's Eve party one year at my in-law's and this lady had made a pizza loaf.  It was really really good and that's where I got the idea for these rolls.  I've made them both with Rhode's Rolls and with my grandmother's dinner roll recipe; both are great.  The Rhode's are less time consuming, that's for sure. 

The trick is to let the rolls thaw completely, but not rise at all.  This is the only tricky part.  If you let them start to rise then they won't continue to rise once you've stuffed them.  It takes about 1-2 hours to thaw completey; it just depends on how hot your house is.  You will want to spray the cookie  sheet, and also spray the saran wrap.  If you don't spray the saran wrap with oil, the rolls will dry out and they will be tough when you bake them. 

This is what they look like once they are thawed.  They are about double the size they were when the were frozen.  

The next step is to flatten them out and then stuff them with your favorite pizza toppings.  We do pepperoni and cheddar cheese in our house. Then you tuck it in to a ball.  I roll them around in the cheese that doesn't make it inside the roll.  It makes the outside crunchy and delicious.  You will want to spray the saran wrap again and place it back over the rolls.  Let them rise for another 3-4 hours. 

This is what they look like when you are done stuffing them.  You want them to double in size.  You then bake them for about 15-20 minutes.  They come out delicious and cheesy. 

Pizza Rolls

12 frozen Rhodes dinner rolls

36 pepperonis

2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

• Place the rolls evenly on a greased cookie sheet
• Spray saran wrap and cover the rolls
• Let thaw about 1-2 hours
• Once thaw, flatten the rolls and then stuff with 3 pepperonis and a couple tablespoons of cheese
• Roll them up in to a ball and place back on the cookie sheet
• Spray saran wrap and place over the rolls
• Let continue to rise until about double in size
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Remove the saran wrap and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. 

Eggs in a Basket

These are a staple in my house, everyone loves them.  My husband says that the centers are the best things ever.  He thinks they are better than butter toast.  I make these for breakfast and lunch a lot on the weekends.  They're super easy and not expensive.  My secret is that I use Tillamook butter.  I swear it's the best butter there is out there.

Eggs in a Basket

Slice of bread

An egg

A tablespoon of butter

• Melt butter in a pan
• Cut a circle out of the center of the bread
• Soak each side of the bread and the center piece in the melted butter
• Crack an egg in to the center of the toast
• Cook until slightly brown on that side
• Flip both the piece of toast and the center piece
• Cook until brown on that side
• Salt and pepper to your taste