Texas Pepper Jelly Blog

It’s New Year’s Day 2019 – Bring Out the Hoppin’ John and Skippin’ Jenny!

Craig Sharry | January 1, 2019

I like to repost this every year, because even though Hoppin’ John and Skippin’ Jenny are old fashioned, yet still traditional, foods that people eat on New Year’s Day and the day after for generations, and these foods are still delicious! For those of us who live in the South, Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s Day repast. Welcome, 2019, and here are the two famous New Year’s Day recipes that will bring good luck for the entire year! For those of you who live in the North, you’ve got a real treat in store! Well, you all do, but those of us who live in the South probably already know about this New Year’s Day traditional meal.

The origin of Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Day has many scholars arguing. Most agree that the southern slaves liked to make and eat it in memory of Africa, where dishes made of beans and rice or other grains were popular and easy to get. Others say that Hoppin’ John became popular because it is so easy and economical to make, as well as delicious to eat. I’m betting that it’s really a combination of these and other things.

All we really need to know is that Hoppin’ John, complete with its folklore ( black-eyed peas for luck, etc.) IS easy to make, inexpensive, and really, really tasty. This crockpot version makes a simple recipe even easier!

Ingredients:

4 cans black-eyed peas, thoroughly drained and rinsed and drained again
4 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 package smoked sausage mini-links
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup Texas Pepper Jelly’s Pomegranate Cranberry Habanero Rib Candy
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 bunch collard greens, rinsed, drained, and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bacon grease
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
2 cups cooked quinoa, brown rice, or really any grain your family likes

What to do:

Put the drained black-eyed peas, broth, and sausage in your crockpot. Stir in all the other ingredients (except the grains) and stir thoroughly. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I usually fill the crockpot before bedtime and let it cook all night, for lunch. For dinner, fill the slow cooker early in the morning and let it cook all day.

Serve over your grains of choice. I like to use brown rice, but my husband likes quinoa.

Happy New Year from Texas Pepper Jelly!

P.S. If there’s any left over and you serve it for supper the next day, it’s not Hoppin’ John any more. Leftover, it’s Skippin’ Jenny.

It’s Football Season! That Means Football FOOD!

Craig Sharry | November 18, 2018

No comments

Football season means great food and great sport!

t’s time to start thinking about the food for your enthusiastic crew and getting your ingredients together. Football season is about more than the game, remember. It’s also about the FOOD, and we all know that football fans like their football food as much as they like their football teams, so let’s plan for some awesome football food!

No matter what team you’re rooting for, there’s just gotta be spectacular food.

Easy-to-eat foods are best for those couch quarterbacks, and what’s easier to prepare and to eat than a good dip? Texas Pepper Jelly’s Texas Buffalo Dip is one of the best ones we’ve tried! This dip is great with any kind of crackers, breadsticks, or raw vegetables. If you can think of anything else than can be dipped, that’ll be good with our Texas Buffalo Dip, too!

Ingredients:

Apple Habanero Pepper Jelly

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, or Neufchatel cheese
2 10 oz cans chunk white chicken, thoroughly drained
3/4 cup Ranch Dressing
1 cup Apple Habanero Rib Candy
1 medium Granny Smith apple, finely diced
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I use half sharp, half medium)

What to do:

Put the Rib Candy and chicken in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until heated through. Stir in the cream cheese, diced apple, and ranch dressing and blend until warm. Mix in half the cheese and pour into your crockpot.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the mixture, put the lid on your slow cooker, turn it to “low,” and let it simmer for about four hours or until hot and bubbly and the cheese is completely melted.

I serve Texas Buffalo Dip right out of the crockpot, but if you’re fancier than I am, you can pour it into a pretty dish and serve it like that.

Just remember: these are hungry enthusiastic football people you’re serving, not the ladies of Downton Abbey, so I’d be careful about using the pretty dishes if I were you.

Of course, you might get a completely different sort of football crowd than I get. Your call.

Category: Football food | Tags: buffalo dip, couch potatoes, couch quarterbacks, football, football food, Texas Pepper Jelly

Reuben Croquettes for St. Patrick’s Day! (Or Any Other Day!)

Craig Sharry | March 17, 2018

No comments

March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s a traditional Irish recipe for your family to enjoy. These Reuben Croquettes are just about to go into the oven – once they’re baked, they’ll be brown and toasty-looking on the outside.

On the inside, they’re soft and spicy and definitely Irish. When you look at the ingredients, you’ll see why.

Ingredients:

(For the croquettes)

1/2 cup cooked white rice
1 can sauerkraut
1 can corned beef (not hash!)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Dash salt
Dash pepper

(For the coating)

1 egg
2 tablespoons water
2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (white or wheat. I mix ’em.)

(For the dipping sauce)

1 cup Craig’s BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
1/8 cup mustard
4 teaspoons lemon juice

What to do:

Mix all the croquette ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Mix the coating ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Form the croquette mixture into small balls, or elongated balls, or whatever you want. Roll each croquette in the bread crumbs, then roll it in the egg-and-water mixture, then roll it in the bread crumbs again. Place each in a large baking pan, and let them dry for about ten minutes.

Place large baking pan in preheated 450-degree oven and set your timer for ten minutes.

After ten minutes have passed, check to see if bread crumbs have begun to brown. If so, turn each croquette over with a spatula and set the oven timer for another ten minutes.

During this last ten minutes, make the dipping sauce by mixing together all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl.

When the timer goes off again, remove the croquettes from the oven and let them “set” for another ten minutes.

I like to serve them in a party dish with the sauce in the middle.

Speaking of sauces, I also like to set out all the Texas Pepper Jelly products that I have in the pantry for this recipe. The sauce recipe is delicious, but using individual pepper jellies, Rib Candy, etc, for these croquettes is also delicious!

Even people who say they don’t care for sauerkraut tend to like this dish. It’s a little bit complicated the first time you make it, but after that, it’s a cinch. Easy as pie.

Speaking of which, we’re having Spicy Texas Apple Pie for dessert.

I wanted to show you a picture of the croquettes after they were baked, but I waited too long. My family ate them all.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s almost over, but really, any day in the year is a good day for our very Irish Reuben Croquettes!)

If you’d rather deep-fry your croquettes, just put a few inches of canola oil in a large skillet and drop the croquettes in the oil when it gets hot. Let each croquette sizzle for about five minutes or when the crumbs start to brown, and then flip each croquette over and repeat.

We like them baked best, but I know several people who like them fried. Your call!

Category: BBQ, Craig's BBQ Sauce, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Pepper Jelly on Facebook, Texas Pepper Jelly on Pinterest, Texas Pepper Jelly on Twitter, TPJ Recipes, TPJ Sauces and Salsas | Tags: bread crumbs, corned beef, Craig's BBQ Sauce, Irish food, Irish recipes, Reuben Croquettes, sauerkraut, spicy apple pie, St. Patrick's Day recipes, swiss cheese, Texas Pepper Jelly

Irish Colcannon – Texas Style!

Craig Sharry | March 16, 2018

No comments

There’s a traditional Irish folk song called Colcannon, which is about a traditional dish often associated with St. Patrick’s Day. It goes like this:

“Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?”

Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh, wasn’t it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.”

This is a very simple dish, traditionally made from items easily found on a farm. With a little Texas touch, it’s even better!

Let’s make some for St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

6 large potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 cup finely chopped onions or scallions
1 cup milk (in Ireland, one would use cream. Use it if you want!)
1/4 cup Texas Bird Bath, any of the sweet flavors
8 oz. kale, finely chopped (canned is fine – be sure to drain it really well)
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
6 slices of bacon, cooked to a crisp and crumbled
3 tablespoons butter (don’t use margarine)
dash salt
dash pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

What To Do:

In a large saucepan, mash the potatoes finely. Add the chopped onions, cabbage, bacon, milk, salt, pepper, and bring to a boil. Add the chopped kale and half of the butter and mix well. Beat the mixture well, until it is very fluffy. Put the mixture in a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Make an indentation in the middle and put the rest of the butter there.

Colcannon will look a lot like mashed potatoes with green and brown lumps. Appearances are deceiving, though. This stuff is really GOOD.

Serve hot. Set out a lot of extra butter. And more Texas Bird Bath. Most people serve this with corned beef, but honestly, it’s good with almost any kind of meat. Or even alone, with a salad. It’s full of bacon, after all.

If there’s any left over, Colcannon makes great fried potato cakes for breakfast.

Category: Ethnic recipes, Spicy side dishes, Texas Bird Bath, Texas Cookin' Tips | Tags: bacon, Irish Colcannon, Irish recipes, Spicy side dishes, St. Patrick's Day recipes, Texas Bird Bath, Texas Pepper Jelly

Happy New Year 2018 from Texas Pepper Jelly!

Craig Sharry | January 1, 2018

No comments

Happy New Year 2018 from Texas Pepper Jelly!

Category: Happy New Year | Tags: 2016, 2018, new year, New Year 2018, pepper jelly, Texas Pepper Jelly

Hoppin’ John and Skippin’ Jenny? Happy New Year!

Craig Sharry | December 31, 2017

No comments

Each geographical region probably has its traditional New Year menu, but for those of us who live in the South, Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s Day repast, and the leftovers are enjoyed for several January winter days For some, Hoppin’ John is a traditional second week of January meal, and for others, it’s made right on New Year’s Day and served for a full week. At my house, it seldom lasts past two days before it’s completely devoured. Of course, the next day the leftovers aren’t called Hoppin’ John any more. Keep reading and you’ll learn why.

Welcome, 2018, and here are the two famous New Year’s Day recipes that will bring good luck for the entire year! For those of you who live in the North, you’ve got a real treat in store! Well, you all do, but those of us who live in the South probably already know about this New Year’s Day traditional meal.

Use any flavor of Texas Pepper Jelly – order a case of mixed flavors and your recipes will be awesome for several meals!

Ingredients:

4 cans black-eyed peas, thoroughly drained and rinsed and drained again
4 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 package smoked sausage mini-links
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup any flavor Texas Pepper Jelly
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 bunch collard greens, rinsed, drained, and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bacon grease (What’s a southern recipe without bacon grease?)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
2 cups cooked quinoa, brown rice, or really any grain your family likes

What to do:

Serve over your grains of choice. I like to use brown rice, but my husband likes quinoa.

Happy New Year from Texas Pepper Jelly!

P.S. If there’s any left over and you serve it for supper the next day, it’s not Hoppin’ John any more. Leftover, it’s Skippin’ Jenny.

Category: Happy New Year, Hoppin' John, Skippin' Jenny | Tags: 2017, 2018, Happy New Year, Hoppin' John, new year, Skippin' Jenny, slow cooker, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas Rib Candy

Texas Style Fried Green Tomatoes

Craig Sharry | October 1, 2017

No comments

Fried green tomato – Texas Style!

I love to make fried green tomatoes for my mom; it’s one of her favorite dishes. I used to make them regular southern-style, but now I make them Texas style.

It’s easy, and so good. Mom doesn’t want them any other way now.

Ingredients:

One large green tomato, the kind grown to fry, not just an unripe tomato
2 tablespoons cooking oil
One cup flour
3/4 cup yellow corn meal
One egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Texas Pepper Jelly, any flavor. I used Peach Habanero for Mom’s supper tonight.
Dash salt
Dash pepper

What to do?

Put the flour, corn meal, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well
Put the egg, Pepper Jelly, and milk in a small bowl and mix well
Put the oil in a large frying pan and turn the burner on to medium
Slice the tomato; I usually end up with six slices

Dip each slice in the Pepper Jelly mixture, and then in the flour mixture. Pat down and make sure both sides of each slice are well coated with the flour mixture.

Place the slices in the hot oil and fry each side until brown and crisp. Serve immediately.

There aren’t usually any leftovers, but if there are, thirty seconds in the microwave the next day are enough to create a second-day side dish or snack.

This recipe works well without the pepper jelly, but if you have some on hand, the additional ingredient turns simple southern fried green tomatoes into TEXAS STYLE fried green tomatoes. The difference is amazing.

AMAZING.

P.S. If you’re out of Texas Pepper Jelly, you can order some more right here.

Category: Fried green tomatoes, Uncategorized | Tags: fried green tomatoes, pepper jelly, recipes, southern meals, southern-style fried green tomatoes, Texas Pepper Jelly, Texas style fried green tomatoes

Texas-Style Baked Beans

Craig Sharry | September 15, 2017

No comments

No cookout is complete without a big pan of baked beans, and Texas Pepper Jelly’s baked beans are the best you’ll ever eat.

Our recipe is easy to make, and is guaranteed to be a hit with your family and friends. Here’s how to make enough for a crowd:

Ingredients:

2 cans of pork and beans
2 can of black beans
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Craig’s BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup finely diced onion
2 TBS bacon grease
3/4 cup brown sugar
Dash salt
Dash black pepper
1/2 cup finely diced green pepper (optional)

What to do:

Mix all ingredients together and place in a large baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a slight crust begins to form in the corners. Remove from oven and let it “set” for fifteen minutes.

Bring it out to the picnic table, put a big serving spoon in it, and stand back.

Your kitchen will smell fantastic, and, in fact, your whole neighborhood will smell fantastic. Your neighbors will all wish they were in your back yard.

Category: BBQ, Craig's BBQ Sauce | Tags: backyard, bacon grease, baked beans, barbecue, black beans, brown sugar, cookout, Craig's BBQ Sauce, green pepper, ketchup, onion, pork and beans, Texas-style baked beans

Labor Day 2017, Texas Pepper Jelly Style!

Craig Sharry | September 3, 2017

No comments

It’s here! The biggest cookout weekend of the year! Labor Day weekend is often the weekend for the last, biggest, and best cookout! We invite friends, family, and everybody in the neighborhood to come break bread and grill meat with us.

It’s the biggest and best cookout of the year!

Hurricane Harvey notwithstanding, I hope you ordered your Texas Pepper Jelly products in time and that you’ve stocked up for tomorrow! All outdoor cooking extravaganzas are amazing, but there’s just something about Labor Day weekend’s cookouts that are the icing on the cake. Pepper Jelly, Rib Candy, Craig’s BBQ Sauce. . . All the very best cookout sauces to help turn your weekend grilling into a real holiday!

It’ll still be pretty hot outside this Labor Day Weekend in most places, but firing up that grill doesn’t heat up your yard like firing up your stove/oven heats up your house. With some cold side dishes to go with your hot, delicious, Texas Pepper Jelly product-covered grilled meats and vegetables, any and every meal eaten in your backyard, state park picnic area, etc, will absolutely HIT THE SPOT.

Even a simple cookout featuring hamburgers and hog dogs will be indescribably delicious when you use Texas Pepper Jelly products.

Let’s just try to remember basic cookout safety, and also some basic sharing rules, because people are going to see and smell your grilling and it’s hard to be careful when those aromas meet up with intensely hungry people who love good barbecue!

Keep a full bucket of plain water right beside your grill, and NO SHOVING!

Have a wonderful Labor Day – you and everyone you know. Eat hearty!

Category: Craig's BBQ Sauce, grilling, Grilling Tips, Labor Day cookout | Tags: basic cookout safety, cookout sauces, Craig's BBQ Sauce, grilled meats, grilled vegetables, grilling supplies, hamburgers, holiday cookout, hot dogs, hungry people, Hurricane Harvey, Labor Day cookout, Labor Day Weekend, Rib Candy, Texas Pepper Jelly

Hurricane Harvey Has Affected Us

Craig Sharry | August 31, 2017

No comments

Customers, Hurricane Harvey has affected us in the area of shipping. Please continue to place your orders with us and we will get them sent out to you absolutely as soon as possible. Thank you for your loyalty and patience!

Here is a letter from our CEO, Craig Sharry:

TPJ Customers: We are able to take your orders and pack them. However until the Postal system and FedEx are back up and running we have no way to ship the order.
We hope service will resume by the first of the week and orders will start flowing again. Until that time however we appreciate both your patience and understanding.
Please continue to place your orders and rest assured they will ship as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Craig Sharry

Category: Craig Sharry, Texas Pepper Jelly | Tags: Craig Sharry, customers, FedEx, Hurricane Harvey, postal system, shipping, Texas Pepper Jelly

« Older Entries

It’s New Year’s Day 2019 – Bring Out the Hoppin’ John and Skippin’ Jenny!

It’s Football Season! That Means Football FOOD!

Reuben Croquettes for St. Patrick’s Day! (Or Any Other Day!)

Irish Colcannon – Texas Style!

Happy New Year 2018 from Texas Pepper Jelly!

Hoppin’ John and Skippin’ Jenny? Happy New Year!

Texas Style Fried Green Tomatoes

Texas-Style Baked Beans

Labor Day 2017, Texas Pepper Jelly Style!

Hurricane Harvey Has Affected Us

Join Us on Facebook

Categories

Archives