Texas Pepper Jelly Blog

Superbowl Food: Spicy Bean/Cheese Dip

Craig Sharry | January 29, 2011

feastoffridays The SuperBowl is coming up soon, and we all know how much food people consume while sitting on the sofa cheering on their favorite teams!

Dips are among the favorite Superbowl foods, so we’ll be featuring a few of them here on our Texas Pepper Jelly blog during the next few days!

Let’s start out with this one. Bean and cheese dips are always devoured quickly, and this particular bean and cheese dip is especially yummy!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion chopped
1/2 cup Texas Rib Candy, any flavor crockpotpepperjelly
1 (14.5 ounce) can refried beans
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

What to do:

Toss everything into your crockpot, turn it on “low,” and let it melt together for a couple of hours or until all the cheese is melted. Stir and serve with nachos, crackers, breadsticks, or anything that can be “dipped.”

It’s delicious. You’ll find out.

Category: crockpot meals, Feast of Fridays, Slow cooker delights, slow-cooker meals, Super Easy Party Recipes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Rib Candy, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Snacks |

Texas Tips: Valentine’s Day is Coming Up!

Craig Sharry | January 27, 2011

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There’s nothing that feeds a romance like a good meal, no matter what the greeting cards, sitcoms, and movies might try to tell us. People associate Valentine’s Day with a hot time (ahem) and it might as well start with dinner.

There are so many wonderful recipes using Texas Pepper Jelly or Texas Rib Candy; we feature recipes right here, most days, and the Texas Pepper Jelly eCookbook is the best source for such recipes and awesome meals that I’ve ever seen. (Scroll down, after you click, to find the cookbook.) Scroll slowly, though, because you’ll be seeing all of our pepper jelly flavors on the way to the bottom of the page, and they’re so yummy good that even their pictures and descriptions will take your breath away.

Ah, a Valentine dinner. . . . hot stuff, indeed.

Don’t tell Tim, but we’re having pork ribs, cooked in the crockpot and smothered with onions and Rib Candy, for our Valentine dinner.

We actually have that quite a lot – it’s one of our alltime favorite meals now – but anything made with Texas Rib Candy is good enough for a holiday feast!

Category: crockpot meals, eCookbook, Slow cooker delights, slow-cooker meals, Spicy main dishes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Rib Candy, Texas Tips, TPJ Company dinners, TPJ Recipes, Uncategorized |

Messermeister Cutlery: Texas Pepper Jelly Has It!

Craig Sharry | January 24, 2011

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Here’s one of the best Texas Cookin’ Tips you’ll ever get: Texas Pepper Jelly carries Messermeister cutlery!

If you’re any kind of cook at all, you’re VERY particular about your knives. Kitchen knives need to be razor sharp, heat-proof, easy to sharpen, and durable. ALL of these qualities, not just a few. ALL.

It’s easy to find kitchen knives at any store. The most expensive knives aren’t necessarily the best knives, either.

Messermeister cutlery isn’t nearly as expensive as many excellent knife company’s knives, but the quality of a Messermeister knife is superior to all others. A Messermeister knife, or any other piece of their cutlery, will last a lifetime, and after that, it will last for your son or daughter’s lifetime. And so on, because a Messermeister knife is built to last for generations.

Texas Pepper Jelly carries Messermeister cutlery, and we back these knives with our usual guarantee: if you don’t like it for whatever reason, we’ll refund your money. In my opinion – and I’m extremely picky about my kitchen knives – my Messermeister knives are the BEST! I have several Messermeister kitchen knifes, and they’re my favorite ones.

The curved knife in the picture is the Messermeister Park Plaza 6-inch curved semi-flexible kitchen knife, and it’s perfect for paring, peeling, slicing, and pretty much everything you’d need a smallish, razor-sharp knife for, in your kitchen. I like the curved knives best, and the Messermeister Park Plaza curved knife is awesome!

Category: Messermeister cutlery, Monday Munchies, perfect gift, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips, TPJ Gifts |

A Feast of Fridays: There’s Always Room For Jello!

Craig Sharry | January 21, 2011

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feastoffridays This post’s title is absolutely true; there IS always room for Jello, just as Jello’s old commercials used to tell us!

My family has always liked Jello. I was never good at molding it; Jello at our house was usually served in one large bowl, or little individual pudding bowls.

The main thing I want to tell you in this post is that while plain Jello is good, and fruity Jelly is good, there’s a way to serve Jello that’s better than any other way, according to my family, anyway.

Just open your pantry and grab off a box of Jello – any kind, and it can be sugar-free if that’s what you have to work with. Follow the directions on the box and stir until all the powder has dissolved. While the mixture is still hot (boiling water!) open a jar of any flavor of Texas Pepper Jelly you might have on hand (except pineapple habanero; jello and pineapple don’t mix) and stir it up. The pepper jelly will melt slightly which is fine. Put your big bowl or little bowls in the refrigerator for a few hours. After dinner, get out the spicy jello and stand back. Be sure you’ve made enough; one helping won’t do it.

I might have mention this before, but so often, in all of life and especially in the kitchen, the simple, inexpensive things are the best things of all.

Category: Feast of Fridays, Spicy desserts, Spicy salads, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips |

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Apple Habanero Pork Chops

Craig Sharry | January 19, 2011

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whatscookinwednesday Pork chops are one of my family’s favorite meats, and they love them smothered in Texas Rib Candy, or BBQ sauce, but their absolutely favorite pork chop meal is Apple Habanero Pork Chops.

Texas Pepper Jelly's Apple Habanero - Delicious

This is an easy way to prepare them, too.

Just get out a large covered casserole, put the pork chops in it, and smother them in Texas Pepper Jelly’s Apple Habanero pepper jelly and sliced Granny Smith apples. Put the lid back on the dish, and bake in a 350 oven for an hour, checking every few minutes after 45 minutes.

This dish can also be prepared in your microwave, but the pork chops are more tender if you bake them in your regular oven. This particular meal also works when made in your crockpot; in fact, the crockpot turns the chops into the tenderest supper of all! (cook on low for six or seven hours)

Category: BBQ, crockpot meals, Slow cooker delights, slow-cooker meals, Spicy main dishes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas grilling sauces, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Rib Candy, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Sauces and Salsas, What's Cookin' Wednesday |

A Feast of Fridays: Spicy/Sweet Coffee on a Cold Winter Morning

Craig Sharry | January 14, 2011

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feastoffridays We’re buried deep in January snow here, and the temperature is in the teens. My husband is getting ready to go to work, and I’m watching him as he pours his coffee and stirs in a spoonful of pepper jelly. . . .

That’s right. He doesn’t use cream or sugar any more in his coffee. He much prefers a spoonful of pepper jelly. It’s a good thing a spoonful is all he wants, too, because we’re really out of the product and he’s using a sharp knife to get pepper jelly out of the very corners of the bottom of the jar. I really have to remember to order some more pepper jelly today!

Ordinarily he spreads pepper jelly on his toast, too, but since he’s using the very scrapings of the very last jar, he had to make a difficult choice: his coffee or his toast. He chose his coffee.

There’s none left for me, but since this is my day off and he has to go in to work, I let him have the pepper jelly.

A spoonful of Texas Pepper Jelly in a cup of hot coffee on a below-freezing morning in a house buried in snow. . . . it’s almost worth getting up early just to experience it.

Almost.

After Tim finishes his coffee and leaves, I think I’ll go back to bed. It’s so early, it’s still pitch dark outside, and after all, this IS my day off.

I only wish I had some pepper jelly to stir into MY coffee. Sigh. What a good wife I am, to let my husband have the last of it. 🙂

Category: Feast of Fridays, Spicy breakfasts, Spicy drinks, Texas breakfast recipes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes |

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Spicy Fruit Dip

Craig Sharry | January 12, 2011

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whatscookinwednesday Once again I’ll say this: often it’s the simplest things that are the best.

How simple can today’s post be? My husband is sitting at the kitchen table across from me, dipping apple and pear slices in pepper jelly.

We have some cream cheese in the refrigerator, but he didn’t want pepper jelly and cream cheese dip; he just wanted some spicy/sweet pepper jelly to dip fruit in.

He shared a slice of apple with me, and I’ll have to say. . . . yum.

I’ll also have to say that I really, really need to order some more Texas Pepper Jelly. My husband was holding the jar up to the ceiling light so he could scrape the very little bit of pepper jelly out of the very bottom of the jar with the sharp ends of his apple slices.

That’s how much he wanted some pepper jelly on his apple slices. I only wish I’d had my camera with me; it was a pretty funny sight.

Category: Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Snacks, What's Cookin' Wednesday |

Monday Munchies: Texas Reuben Dip

Craig Sharry | January 10, 2011

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mondaymunchies My husband is the world’s biggest Fan of the Reuben Sandwich, so when I put this dip together, he ate almost all of it by himself. I had to make another one to take to the pitch-in!

We think you’ll like it, too. It’s really quite bloody awesome.

Ingredients:

1 16-oz can or jar of sauerkraut, well-drained. Really well-drained.
1 8-oz package of cream cheese – I use fat-free – softened
2 cups Swiss cheese, finely shredded
2 cups shredded cooked corned beef – do NOT use corned beef hash!!!!!!!!
1/2 cup Texas Pepper Jelly – I used Pineapple Habanero, but go ahead and experiment; I intend to next time!

What to do: crockpotpepperjelly In your crockpot, combine all of the above ingredients. Cover, turn the crockpot on “high” and go about your business for just under an hour, or until everything is hot and melted and can be easily stirred. In fact, stir often while everything is cooking! When contents of slow cooker are completely hot and melted/mixed together, pour into a bowl or cracker tray center and serve with pretty much any kind of crackers or breads you want. We like rye best with this dip; probably because it reminds Tim of the sandwich. 🙂

Category: crockpot meals, Monday Munchies, Slow cooker delights, slow-cooker meals, Spicy side dishes, Super Easy Party Recipes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips, TPJ Appetizers, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Snacks |

A Feast of Fridays: Spicy Many-Bean Soup

Craig Sharry | January 7, 2011

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feastoffridays There’s nothing like a crockpot full of soup on a cold winter’s day. That’s what my family believes, anyway.

So, last night I filled the slow cooker with the following, turned it on “low,” and went to bed. We’re having spicy many-bean soup for supper tonight, with corn bread, butter, and what’s left of the pepper jelly. 🙂

Here’s what to do: Dump the following ingredients into your large crockpot:

1 package assorted types of beans
1 cup black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
2 huge onions, slivered
2/3 cup Texas Rib Candy, any flavor
Dash of the following spices: oregano, garlic, nutmeg, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and salt
1 cups water

Then, go to bed. Or go to work. Either way, you need to leave your crockpot alone for about ten hours.

Mmm, hot soup on a cold day. Perfection.

crockpotpepperjelly

Category: crockpot meals, Feast of Fridays, Slow cooker delights, slow-cooker meals, Spicy main dishes, Spicy soups, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Rib Candy, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Sauces and Salsas |

Texas Tips: Hot Drinks and Pepper Jelly

Craig Sharry | January 4, 2011

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texaspepperjellytips I walked into the kitchen this morning and saw my husband at the table, stirring something into his coffee. My daughter was sitting there across from him, stirring something into her hot tea.

The kitchen smelled marvelous – like good coffee and good tea mixed together, which is actually what it was. . . yet, there was something else, too. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, until I saw what they were stirring into their hot breakfast drinks.

Two almost-empty jars of Texas Pepper Jelly were on the table between them, and my husband and daughter were using long-handled tea spoons to scrape out every last remaining dreg of pepper jelly from the very bottoms of the jars, and stirring what they could scoop up into their coffee and tea.

There were also trying to get enough to stir into their hot oatmeal, but I don’t think they got very much out of those jars.

I really need to order some more pepper jelly. My family is going to get mean pretty soon, without any. Texas Pepper Jelly has become a staple in my house. We HAVE to have it!

Category: Drink up!, Spicy breakfasts, Spicy drinks, Texas breakfast recipes, Texas Cookin' Tips, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Tips, TPJ Recipes, What's Cookin' Wednesday |

« Older Entries Recent Entries »

Superbowl Food: Spicy Bean/Cheese Dip

Texas Tips: Valentine’s Day is Coming Up!

Messermeister Cutlery: Texas Pepper Jelly Has It!

A Feast of Fridays: There’s Always Room For Jello!

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Apple Habanero Pork Chops

A Feast of Fridays: Spicy/Sweet Coffee on a Cold Winter Morning

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday: Spicy Fruit Dip

Monday Munchies: Texas Reuben Dip

A Feast of Fridays: Spicy Many-Bean Soup

Texas Tips: Hot Drinks and Pepper Jelly

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