SWEET BABY RAYS BARBECUE SAUCE CLONE

We love thick and sweet barbecue sauce, and our favorite (for years) has been Sweet Baby Ray's brand.  Recently, I did an panic-internet search for something similar to SBR barbecue sauce because I had one of those "I forgot my grocery list on the kitchen counter again" days at the market and dinner was planned around grilling.

Well, I found this recipe on a ton of web sites, all crediting www.halfbakedharvest.com, so I thought I would give it a try and we were thrilled with the results.  I hope you like it too.



Bacon wrapped Shrimp coated with

BBQ Sauce and Baked

 

 

1  1/4 cups regular ketchup
1  cup dark brown sugar (gives much better flavor than light brown)
1/4  cup molasses
1/4  cup pineapple juice
2  teaspoons hickory liquid smoke
2  1/2 teaspoons ground dry mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2  teaspoon garlic powder (not salt)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1  1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (not fine table salt)
1 teaspoon black pepper

Put everything into a saucepan and whisk it together. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to slow simmer and simmer 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how thick you want it to be.

You can use this immediately or store in fridge for a week or so or portion it out and freeze it for future use. 

NOTE: If you don't have kosher salt, you can use regular table salt, just use LESS, since kosher salt and table salt measure very differently.





 Happy Grilling!!

SUBWAY SWEET ONION CHICKEN TERIYAKI SANDWICH

This is a "knock off" recipe for Subway's sweet onion chicken teriyaki sandwich. It is delicious, only about 370 calories and very quick to fix (as long as you make the sweet onion sauce a day ahead).

 

 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
.¼ cup soy sauce
¾ cup pineapple juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
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Bring everything but the chicken to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes or until it starts to reduce. Cool completely and pour over the chicken, cover and refrigerate the chicken for about 30-60 minutes.
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When it's time to eat, take the chicken out of the marinade (throw marinade away) and grill or broil the chicken until done (don't over cook).
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Place chicken pieces in grilled bun and add favorite toppings. Drizzle with sweet onion sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmm!!! Makes about 6 sandwiches.

SUBWAY SWEET ONION SAUCE
 This is SO tasty and I find all sorts of uses for it. It is not overly onion-y and not overly sweet. Make it a day ahead of time to let the flavors blend and mellow.

½ cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon finely minced Vidalia onion
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon buttermilk powder
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/8 teaspoon salt
pinch cracked black pepper
pinch garlic powder
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Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil for about 30 seconds. Whisk well and cover and chill overnight.

NOTE: If you don't have Vidalia onion, a white onion will work, just mince it VERY finely. I've even used re-hydrated onion flakes successfully, although the vidalia onion is best.

TACO BELL RED SAUCE CLONE RECIPE

I admit it, there are certain items that I really enjoy at Taco Bell. Yes, I know it's not authentic Mexican food, but when you like something, well, you overlook things like that. One thing I enjoy at TB is a warm condiment called red sauce. It is not the hot sauce that comes in a packet; it is the steaming hot red sauce that is served on their tostados and their Mexican pizza. This recipe is about as close to the original taste as you can get!!!

 1 (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1½ teaspoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons dry onion flakes
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon white sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix everything and simmer (on very low) for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot. The "spice level" is very moderate if you use it right away. It is a little spicier if you let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Serve (as a hot condiment) with any Mexican food.

NOTE: I was surprised to see that there is vinegar in this sauce (you can't taste it in the final product).

NOTE: I don't usually buy garlic salt. I just mix it up with 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder, stir well.

HEINZ CHILI SAUCE CLONE

This is a clone recipe for Heinz chili sauce. It is so easy...takes every day ingredients and is even tastier than the original!! Chili sauce was never a pantry staple for me; I always found it on my shopping list for holiday and special occasion recipes, like this shrimp cocktail (which calls for Heinz chili sauce). I will never buy commercial chili sauce again because this is so much better (and cheaper)!!!

1 cup of tomato sauce

1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons dry onion flakes
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Whisk everything together and bring to a boil in a small saucepan with a heavy bottom. Turn heat down to a low simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes, depending on how fast you are simmering it (mine was done in 25 minutes). Watch it towards the end so it doesn't scorch.

Cool to room temperature, then cover and chill.

It will get nice and thick like this.

NOTE: I made this recipe, exactly as it is stated above, I don't know how it would effect the final results if you use fresh onions.

GLAZED SPUDNUT (style) DONUTS

For those people who are old enough to know what a Spudnut is...this recipe will be a treat. For those of you too young to remember Spudnuts...let's just say that they were the best donut in the universe. I heard that there are still a few Spudnut shops around, but it appears that they are few and far between.

This recipe (from the Idaho Potato Commission) makes a LOT of Spudnut-style donuts (about 4 dozen) so you might want to half the recipe if you decide to make them. If you are not experienced with yeast doughs, I don't recommend trying this recipe, however, if you have had even moderate success with yeast doughs, I hope you give the recipe a try (it is not a hard recipe at all).

The donuts are very moist, sweet and have just a HINT of lemon. My hubby is a donut (and Spudnut) connoisseur from way back, and he gave these donuts two thumbs up!!

 

 2 pkgs. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening (do not use butter)
1 & 1/2 cups cold instant mashed potatoes
3 eggs well beaten
2 cups scalded milk (cooled to luke warm)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon extract
6 to 8 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside. Cream the sugar and shortening and beat in the cold potatoes, eggs, cooled milk, yeast water, salt and lemon extract. Gradually add the flour to make a soft dough, knead well. The dough will be quite sticky, but holds together well. It should be a softer dough than bread dough.


 Cover dough with plastic and let it raise in a warm place until doubled in size (this takes a huge bowl and about an hour). After an hour, pull dough out of bowl and onto the counter. Sprinkle with flour and knead it a little to get most of the air out of it. If dough seems really sticky, just flour your board. Roll the dough out to a half inch thickness. Cut with well-floured cutter.


Spray a piece of parchment paper (or waxed paper) with a little vegetable spray and then wipe it down with a paper towel. Cut the paper into squares and put a cut out donut on each square. This will help you when it is time to transfer the raised donuts from the counter to the hot oil (see notes).

 Let the doughnuts raise until they get nice and puffy, then

deep fry the donuts in 375 degree vegetable oil until they are deep golden (mine took about 2 minutes a side). Only fry two or three donuts at a time.
Drain on paper towels. Glaze while still warm

CLICK ON THIS PHOTO FOR BREAKFAST

GLAZE

1 pound of sifted powdered sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Whisk in enough boiling water to make a thin glaze, drizzle over donuts.

And don't forget the donut holes!!!

NOTE: Recipe calls for shortening, I used butter flavored Crisco.

NOTE: Recipe calls for prepared instant potatoes. I prepared my potatoes per the box instructions including water, milk, butter and salt.

NOTE: Recipe calls for a tablespoon of lemon extract. That sounds like a lot, but it leaves just a tiny HINT of lemon flavor in the final product.

NOTE: Recipe calls for 6-8 cups of flour. I used all 8 cups and it was no where near as "solid" as bread dough, so expect a sticky dough.

NOTE: I let my donuts raise on squares of sprayed parchment paper. If you do that, then you can pick up the donut without deforming or deflating it and gently turn it over in your hand and gently peel off the paper before you ease the donut into the hot oil.

NOTE: I have a 2" donut cutter, but it just seemed to make a very tiny donut, so I cut the bottom and top out of a pineapple can and used that as my cutter. I cut out the center of the donut with a tiny cookie cutter.
NOTE: I used my smallest electric frying pan with 3" of vegetable oil to fry these donuts. The electric fry pan allows you to easily adjust the oil to 375 degrees and since you should only fry two or three donuts at a time, the smaller electric fry pan makes sense.