Cowan Cowboy Chili (aka: Escalante Beans)

Recipe by: Karen Griffin

I'm hoping not, but I might possibly be murdered for posting this recipe for anyone to see. I wasn't told this was a secret recipe so hopefully I'm not divulging a family secret...
These are sooooooooooo good. I make them for Finn's birthday party every year, and they are, to my knowledge, made every year for the Escalante 24th of July Liston-Pollock-Meisenback-Griffin-etc family party.

You will need:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb bacon
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 2, 15 oz cans Pork and Beans
- 2, 15 oz cans Ranch Style Pinto Beans
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 T liquid smoke
- 3 T white vinegar
- 1 small can diced green chilies


Directions:
In a skillet, cook bacon, remove and break into pieces. In same skillet, brown ground beef and onions in bacon juices. Put all in a slow cooker with beans.
In a small bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar, liquid smoke, vinegar and green chilies. Add mixture to ingredients in slow cooker.
Stir well, cook low to warm up. Remove lid after heated to let thicken up.

EVERYBODY loves them. Seriously.

Coleslaw (Paula Deen)

I made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches last night and topped them off with this version of Paula Deen's coleslaw recipe. They were delicious! Find her original recipe HERE. 

You will need:

• 1/2 large carrot, grated
• 1/2 cabbage head
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions:

 Slice the cabbage thinly. Mix the cabbage together with the carrot. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together and allow to stand for a few minutes. Combine the mayonnaise mixture with the vegetables and toss. Chill for 1 hour. You can jazz up this recipe by adding grated or thinly sliced apple, or craisens. But when using to top BBQ pork sandwiches I like to keep it simple.

Brisket with the Best Dry Rub Ever, and Sweet, Sticky BBQ Sauce

This one meal contains three separate recipes from three different people: Jacob's Grandma Vance, Good ol' Sandra Lee, and some random chef who posted a deliciously simple way of cooking brisket on foodnetwork.com named Tom Perini.

Jaleen's Dry Rub:

The spice rub is a super simple blend of six spices:
-Salt
- pepper (fresh ground is best)
- paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- taco seasoning

Take any container you have, preferably one that is clear, and necessarily the same size all the way up, and fill 1/3 of the way up with salt. Then add one inch of each of the other ingredients, stir to combine, and there you go.

The dry rub is delicious on most meats, and actually really yummy on fresh tomato!

Sandra Lee's Sweet, Sticky BBQ Sauce:

You will need:
- 1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
- 1 cup beer (Budweiser is what Sandra recommends, but you can also use any dark colored soda like: coke, pepsi, root beer, or dr. pepper)
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 heaping tablespoon McCormick Grill Mates Steak Rub (use this, no substitutes please)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- optional 2 tablespoons cornstarch (to add extra thickness to the sauce if it doesn't thicken enough for your liking.)

Directions:
In a large skillet stir together chili sauce, beer, molasses, steak rub, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil;reduce heat. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce should have thickened up quite a bit, but if you like a thicker sauce, ladle some into a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch until you see no lumps, then add back to skillet and allow the sauce to thicken up to your heart's content! Smother your cooked and sliced brisket with sauce and eat as is, or make up some brisket sandwiches.

For The Brisket:

You will need:
- 4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- Jaleen's Dry Rub

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Season the raw brisket on both sides with Jaleen's dry rub. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.
Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan. Serve it up!

Larene's Country Style Pork BBQ Spare Ribs (in the crock pot)

Here are the BBQ pork spare ribs I made for Sunday dinner with Andrea and Ben. It is my mother-in-law Larene's recipe, but I made a couple small changes. Jacob loves these ribs, and growing up this was one of his top birthday dinner requests (along with macaroni and tomatoes, which I will NEVER make, because it is gross.)

Country Style Pork Spare Ribs
Cook time *(including prep): 4 hours and 15 minutes, Serves: 4 to 6

- 1 14oz bottle Chili Sauce or Ketchup (I ALWAYS use Chili Sauce)
- ½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Mustard
- ½ cup Brown Sugar (plus...and sometimes I add 1/4 cup molasses)
- 1 med Onion, cut any way you prefer. I like big slices.
- ½ tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Water
- Beef Bouillon Cube to yield 1 cup broth
- Tabasco Sauce to taste
- About 8 Country Style Spare Ribs (I usually do 4 with bone, and 4 w/out)
- Optional: 4 to 6 Tablespoons Cornstarch
Optional prep: Season ribs with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and shake off excess, then braise ribs on all sides in hot skillet before placing in crock pot. (Braising will seal in juices and create a nice crust that otherwise wouldn’t form in the crock pot.)

I don't braise them every time, but if you do you will find it adds extra flavor and the flour helps to thicken the sauce.

If you choose not to braise then simply season the short ribs with salt and pepper and then add along with the onions to a crock pot. Mix together all other ingredients (except cornstarch) to create your sauce and poor over the onion and ribs. Cook for 4 hours on high setting. You can serve them at this point, or...

Optional: Remove Ribs from crock pot and set aside. Ladle some of the liquid (about 1 cup) into a small bowl and to it, add 4 to 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk until there are no lumps. The liquid in the bowl should have begun to thicken quite a bit. Add this liquid back to the crock pot and whisk to combine. Add ribs back to crock pot and allow to cook for about 15 more minutes, or until the sauce has thickened up to an almost gravy like consistency. Serve over Buttered Noodles with Lemon, Shallots and Chives.