Cowboy Baked Beans!

These baked beans are perfect for your holiday cookouts this summer.  They are a little hardier than just ordinary baked beans because they have ground beef in them.  They are usually one of the first dishes emptied at any potluck or picnic.  They have a good blend of sweet and spice to them and are a great side for grilled meats...hamburgers, hot dogs, even steaks and grilled chicken.

Brown ground beef, diced onion, and diced green pepper in pan.  Drain any excess grease.  Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Add chili powder, ketchup, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and Coke.

Mix together and pour into a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with bacon.  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and cook for 45 minutes.

Beefy Baked Bean Bake!

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1lb ground beef

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup green pepper

1 cup Ketchup

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Coke (Diet or Regular)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. chili powder

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. yellow mustard

3-4 slices bacon

2  15 oz cans pork and beans undrained





Easy Oven Barbequed Pork Chops!

These "Easy Oven Barbequed Pork Chops" turn out fork tender and so flavorful!  The sauce is really delicious with just a few ingredients!  I like to use bone-in pork chops for this, because I think they have more flavor, but you can use boneless pork loin chops also.  Here is what you will need:

6 bone in pork chops

seasoned salt

black pepper

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbs. yellow mustard

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. celery seeds (optional)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or a few dashes of hot sauce 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pork chops in a single layer in a baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray.   Sprinkle both sides of the chops with seasoned salt and black pepper.

In a bowl stir together the rest of the sauce ingredients.  Pour evenly over the pork.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for about 40- 45 minutes.  Uncover and turn each pork chop over and spoon the pan sauce back over each one.  Place back in the oven, uncovered and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened some.   I usually go about 10 minutes.  The thicker your pork chops the longer baking time.

These are so tender and delicious.  I served them with Cheesy Potatoes, pinto beans, Cole Slaw, and cornbread!  

Spicy Barbequed Beans!

These barbeque beans are very different than your run of the mill baked beans.  They are less sweet than baked beans and a lot spicier.   They are also very meaty and filling and men seem to really like them, probably for that reason.  

 They are the perfect side for any type of barbecue meat and you will need some of your barbecue meat for the beans, so coordinate making these when you barbecue.  These beans are perfect with the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork in Coca Cola Barbeque Sauce.  You will need about 2 cups of the pork chopped for the beans.  You can also used chopped beef brisket.  They are also good served over Cornbread Hoecakes.   

 Here's what  you will need to make these beans:

Ingredients

1 28 oz. can Busch Homestyle Baked Beans (do not drain)

2 cans Ranch Beans (do not drain)

2 cups chopped barbequed pork or beef (I like to use the end pieces)

1 cup chopped onion (I used Vidalia, but any sweet onion will do)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup of your favorite barbeque sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup Coca Cola (Diet or Regular will work)

1 tsp. yellow mustard

1 tsp. chili powder

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped

3 or 4 dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional, leave this out if you don't like too much heat)

Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour the beans, undrained, and all of the other ingredients except the meat in the dish and mix together.

 Add the pulled pork or brisket and mix in.

These are the Ranch beans that I use.  They are in a sauce that really gives these beans a good flavor.  They can be a little hard to find here and may not be available in your area.  If you can't find them, you can substitute 2 cans of chili beans in sauce.

Place the casserole dish in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Give the beans a stir about half way through the cooking time.

Slow Cooker Barbequed Roast!

 

 

 

This "Slow Cooker Barbequed Roast" is so easy, I almost didn't even post it, but then I realized that some of the most popular recipe on this site, so far are some of the easiest!   Also, it makes use of a product not really marketed for a barbequed beef roast. 

 

This is how this recipe, came to be...one day I had a taste for a meatloaf.  For those of you who have been on here for a while, you remember my sister-in-law's Perfect Meatloaf Recipe.   You can click right there on that link that is in blue to see that one!  If you have seen the recipe or made it, you know that I use Hunt's tomato sauce for meatloaf in it.  It used to be called Hunt's Meatloaf  Fixin's and then they changed the name and caused all of this confusion for us.  Now it's called Dinner Starters Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf and it looks like this:   

 

 

This is the sauce that makes the meatloaf, in my humble opinion.  You can see where this is going, I had the sauce, but I didn't have any ground chuck thawed out.  What I did have was a nice beef chuck roast, so I decided to experiment.  The results were delicious. It didn't really taste like meatloaf, but it was still really good!  Here is what you will need for this Barbequed Roast:

 

3-5 lb. beef chuck roast

1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning  (I use Tony Cachere's)

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1 can Hunts Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf (If you can't find this, just use a seasoned tomato sauce)

1/2 cup barbeque sauce of your choice

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

dash of hot sauce (optional)

1/2 cup water

 

Sprinkle the chopped onion over the bottom of the slow cooker you have sprayed with nonstick spray.  Place the chuck roast on top of the onion.  Sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, and the tablespoon of minced garlic.

 

Mix the tomato sauce with the brown sugar, barbeque sauce,  Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce if you are adding it.  Pour this mixture just on top of the roast. Pour the 1/2 cup of water around the edges of the roast on the bottom.   Cover with lid and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. 

 

Slice and serve as a main course or shred and serve on buns for sandwiches!

 

 





Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs!

I love pork ribs...most any kind of ribs, baby back, country style, spare ribs.  I do enjoy good smoked ribs, cooked in a smoker over hickory wood... by someone who knows what they are doing, like a good barbeque place.   However, sometimes you just want to do them yourself and it's winter and it's cold and rainy or snowy outside and you just don't want to get that grill or smoker out, so what to do?

As I have told you before, I have a love/hate relationship with  slow cookers.  For some things, they work great...like the  Mississippi Roast, the best roast known to man or woman or child!   For other things, I am not so thrilled with the results.  They just don't have the same browning, and thickening abilities that you get on the stove or in the oven.

Therefore, I have had mixed results with ribs in the slow cooker.  I have fairly good results with country style ribs and spare ribs to some extent, especially if I am cooking them with sauerkraut or in a sauce like Teriyaki.  But for baby back ribs, I like them to be really tender, but still on the bone and also with a nice glaze on them when they are done.   I am happy to say this method and recipe results in some of the best ribs I have ever cooked, even when compared to grilling and smoking.  

There are just a few tips when cooking baby back ribs in the slow cooker that make a world of difference.

 Here is what you will need:

2 full racks baby back ribs, cut in thirds
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. smoky paprika
1 Tbs. liquid smoke (optional)
1 cup  Coca Cola (you can also use Dr. Pepper or even apple juice)
2-3 cups barbeque sauce of your choice (depending on how much you like your ribs sauced)

Cut the ribs in thirds or fourths if you want to serve smaller pieces.  Leave the membrane on the back that they usually tell you to remove.  It helps to keep them from falling apart. Sprinkle both sides with the Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.  

Mix together the brown sugar and the other seasonings.   Rub this mixture on both sides of the ribs liberally.  There might be more than you need for two racks and I actually did three when I did these.

Spray a large slow cooker, like a 6-7 quart one,  with nonstick spray.   Now, there are some who say to stand the ribs on their ends in the slow cooker to get better results.  I don't see the need for this with this method though.  I just lay them on top of each other in the slow cooker.  Once they are all in and cozy, I pour the Coke around the edges.  It's not much liquid and that is a good thing.  It's just enough to create some sweet steam.  You do not want your ribs to stew.  Stewed barbequed baby backs are not all that appetizing.   That is why some say to stand them on their ends, but since we aren't adding hardly any liquid, you don't have to and you can fit more in.  If you are using the liquid smoke, put it in now also.

It's best to cook on low for 8 hours...low and slow is best.  If you got a late start, you can cook on hi for  4-5 hours depending on your slow cooker and how fast it cooks. They all seem to vary.  How many you have packed in there also makes a difference.  

When they have cooked the 8 hours and you take the top off and look at them, don't panic!   They  are not pretty at this point.  Nope, they are actually what we in the south call, butt ugly, right now.  Don't worry though, they will be pretty when we get finished.   I promise!   I had pictures of this step by step to show you, but when I went to find them they had vanished.  I think they were so ugly they deleted themselves or something...lol.

This next step is critical to this whole thing, so don't skip it.   Carefully, remove the riblets from the slow cooker and place on a large baking sheet or baking pan cover with foil  (makes cleanup so much easier).   Now slather them, front and back, with the barbeque sauce of your choice. I used my own homemade sauce, which I will give you the recipe for  at the end of this post. Place in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or just until the sauce has sort of caramelized and browned a bit.  Don't let them burn.  Now they aren't ugly anymore...see!

  



My Homemade Barbeque Sauce:

1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. oil
2 cups tomato ketchup
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Coca Cola
1/4 cup vinegar (apple cider or white)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. celery seeds
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
dash of Tabasco sauce
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. spicy brown mustard ( can use 1/2 Tbs. yellow mustard)

Saute onion in butter and oil.  Add  all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to a simmer and let it simmer for at least an hour.   Stir this often as it can stick due to the sugars.  The longer it simmers the better it gets.   If you can make it the day before and refrigerate, it's even better.

This sauce makes all of the difference in barbequed food.  When I don't use it, I can tell a huge difference.  This will be more sauce than you probably need and you can refrigerate and keep this for about a week to use on other foods.





Slow Cooker Pulled Pork in a Coca Cola Barbeque Sauce!

This is one of the easiest ways to make barbeque ever.  It also feeds a lot of people and since you use a pork loin, it is lower in fat than some other cuts of meat usually used for barbeque, like Boston butt or shoulder.  Following this recipe to perfection is not really necessary, because I don't think there is a way to really mess this up.  I have made it a couple different ways and I think this is the best method. 

 Here is what you will need:

4-6 lb pork loin
1  1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cups of your favorite barbeque sauce
2 cups Coca Cola  (you can use Diet Coke)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's)
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 Tbs. garlic powder
3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. liquid smoke
1 Tbs. yellow mustard
1/4 cup vinegar (white or cider, either will work)
1 tsp. celery seed

Place the pork loin in your slow cooker that you have sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  This makes cleanup so much easier. If your pork loin has a layer of fat on the top, cut most of that off.  You want the seasonings and sauce to get to the meat.  Pour 2 cups Coca Cola over the pork.  You can use Diet Coke or regular.  Sprinkle the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, and Old Bay seasoning over the top of the pork.  It might sound strange to use Old Bay on this, but the blend of spices it has is perfect for barbeque.  You might also think this is a lot of seasoning, but this is a big hunk of meat...it needs the seasoning.   Sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar over the top of the pork loin and press it into the meat.  Pour the barbeque sauce over the brown sugar.  Take the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and liquid smoke and pour over the top on the barbeque sauce.  Don't add the celery seed or mustard yet.  That goes in the sauce at the end along with the other 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce.  Place lid on slow cooker, set on low and cook all night long (8-10 hrs.)

Now you might ask why not mix the barbeque sauce with the brown sugar and the other wet ingredients and pour over all at one time.  I have tried it that way and the sauce sort of just runs off and over the sides of the meat.  For some reason packing the brown sugar on the meat first and then adding each liquid ingredient helps it to stay on top and forms a sort of delicious barbeque bark on top.

Gently lift the meat out of the slow cooker and onto a cutting board or platter to shred. It will literally just fall apart at this point.  See that wonderful crust on it, that is what makes it so tasty.  Cut it across the grain in several big pieces and then just pull it apart in big chunks.  I don't like it too chopped, but if you do chop away! 

This is about how I like it chopped. To the juices in the slow cooker add the other 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbs. yellow mustard, 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp celery seed.  Whisk this until it's all incorporated.  Add the meat back to the slow cooker and just mix lightly.  Set the slow cooker to low for about an hour and then you are ready to serve.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork!  It's easy peasy! 

Serve on buns or it's also good on Hoe Cakes!