Our friends over at TexasBBQRub.com had some fantastic recipes in their newsletter, and they’ve given us permission to post them here on our Texas Pepper Jelly blog!   Their newsletter’s presentation couldn’t be beat, so here are the recipes, straight from TexasBBQRUB!  (Thanks a million, guys!)

(They’re giving their readers some Texas Pepper Jelly!  Go sign up NOW!)  Tomorrow is the last day to take advantage of this offer!  DO IT NOW!!!!!

Glazed Smoked Ham

This is a great way to take one of those ready to eat store bought cooked hams and make a really special ham for the Easter dinner. The combination of Texas BBQ Rub and either honey or Texas Pepper Jelly (www.texaspepperjelly.com) makes this one a special treat. By the way you can cook this great meal for about $25 and feed the family and not have to fight all of the crowds at the restaurants on Easter Sunday.

What you will need:

1 cup of honey

¼ cup of Texas BBQ Rub

1 cup of pineapple juice

6 oz of Coke or Dr Pepper soda (do not use the diet versions)

Optional – 4 oz of Texas Pepper Jelly www.texaspepperjelly.com (my choice is Pineapple Habanero for the ham)

Preparation for this ham is so easy.

For the Smoker

Prepare your smoker and get your fire hot. Total cooking time will be approximately 4 1/2 hours at 200 to 220 degrees.

Place the ham in an aluminum pan so it can sit in it while it is cooking. Take the store bought ready to eat ham and score the ham with a cris-cross pattern down into the ham about 1 inch. (If you are using one of the spiral cut hams you can skip this cutting of the ham.)  Mix together the 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice, ½ cup of honey, and 1/8 of a cup of Texas BBQ Rub and pour over the top of the ham. Place the ham on the smoker uncovered and cook for about 3 hours. After 3 hours, pour the 6 oz of Coke or Dr. Pepper over the ham and cover the ham in foil and cook for another hour to 1½ hours.

For the final glaze, mix ½ cup of pineapple juice 1/8 cup of Texas BBQ Rub, ½ cup of honey and pour over the ham for the last hour of the cook.

As an alternate for the final glaze you can use 4 oz of Texas Pepper Jelly over the top of the ham and cook for 1 hour. You can also use the Texas Pepper Jelly on the table as a sauce to put directly on the ham for those that want to really take the ham to the next level. Just put a tablespoon on your plate and dip the bite size pieces of ham directly into the jelly for a great taste addition.

If you are smoking the ham the day before and just want to heat it up for Easter Sunday you can prepare the ham up to the last glaze part of the recipe and the next morning you can take the ham out of the refrigerator, place in the oven at 225 degrees and heat the ham for about 2 to 3 hours. During this time add the final glaze and you will have the ham ready when you are ready to eat.

In the Oven

You can do this same ham in the oven and the only thing you will be missing is the smoke flavor added by the smoking process but this is some great ham. If you would like to add some smoke flavor to the oven cooked ham you can do so by adding about ¼ cup of liquid smoke to the first mix and this will add some smoke flavor to the ham. Not as good as cooking on the smoker but it will work if you are cooking this in the oven.

Exclusive Bonus Offer for our Subscribers – Complimentary Jar of Texas Pepper Jelly with your order

If you don’t have any Texas BBQ Rub or Texas Pepper Jelly we have a great deal for you. Order two bags of any of our national prize winning rubs and we will send you a complimentary jar of Texas Pepper Jelly’s national prize winning Pineapple Habanero jelly at no additional costs to you. We will even pay the shipping for the jelly.  This is a savings of about $10 we are going to save you. But you will need to order between now and Tuesday, March 31^st to take advantage of this offer. I recommend you ship it Priority Mail or use the money savings feature of Flat Rate Box Priority shipping. Get it right now at www.texasbbqrub.com/shopping.html as time is running short to order in time for the special Easter dinner ham.  To ensure that you get your complimentary jar of Texas Pepper Jelly please write the word “Jelly” in the comment box on the order form so we can include the jelly in your order.

Bill’s Surprise Potatoes

Nothing goes better with a great smoked ham like Bill’s Surprise Potatoes. This recipe was developed by me while cooking at the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cookoff a few years ago and has been served to thousands of people and they are just blown away with this potato dish. It is easy to do and will be great with your ham, brisket, pulled pork or whatever you are cooking this Easter. I am going to give you the recipe for a full aluminum-serving pan of potatoes so if you want to cook a half-pan then cut the recipe down to half these amounts.

What you will need:

1 full size aluminum-serving pan – this will serve about 30 to 35 people

10 pounds of whole potatoes (I have used Idaho’s, russets, and others)

1 family size can (27oz) of cream of mushroom soup

1 family size can (27oz) of cream of chicken soup

2 cups of sour cream

1 cup of diced green onion

¼ cup of diced jalapenos (optional)

½ cup of Texas BBQ Rub

¼ cup of paprika

3 cups of shredded cheese (use cheddar or a blend of Monterey jack and cheddar)

¼ cup of granulated garlic (use this to your flavor liking)

Alt. Ingredient – your choice of chopped meat (brisket, butt, sausage)

First cut the potatoes in half (this will speed up the cooking time) and I leave the skin on the potatoes. In a large pot, boil the potatoes. Cooking time on the potatoes is about 30 to 45 minutes. When the potatoes are done, drain off the water and pour them into the serving pan. While the potatoes are still hot, crumble the potatoes into pieces. Add both cans of soup, the sour cream, Texas BBQ Rub, the granulated garlic, onions, and jalapenos and mix into the potatoes. Now add about ½ of the cheese and mix that into the potato mix. Spread this out in the pan and top with a large portion of cheese and then sprinkle with the paprika. Cover with aluminum foil and you can heat this in the oven at 225 degrees for about 1 to 1 1/2  hours (till all the cheese melts) or I stick mine on the pit and melt the cheese on the pit. Note: it is best to work with the potatoes when they are hot but you need to wear some thick heat protective gloves (like the ones we sell on our site).

If you would like to make it a total meal in itself add about 3 cups of chopped meat to the mix and you have a total meal. The kids and grown ups love this stuff. They will go thru it quickly so make plenty to have the next day.

Again if you want to save yourself about $10 and try some Texas Pepper Jelly we are going to send you a complimentary jar of the award winning Pineapple Habanero Texas Pepper Jelly with each 2 bag purchase of our rub from now until Tuesday, March 31st. That is only a few days from now. We anticipate a lot of people taking advantage of this, so don’t delay. Order right now and enjoy this for the Easter weekend. Again you can order at www.texasbbqrub.com/shopping.html

Feel better about yourself and forget the woes of the economy by going out to the BBQ pit and doing some cooking. There is nothing like the feeling you get by simply going outside and putting something on the BBQ pit. The flavors of the smoke are just so relaxing and good for your mental health. Forget the economy and cook something that makes the whole family feel great.