Uncle Johns Sweet Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S SLOPPY JOES

Steps:

• Combine the ground beef and onion in a cold skillet, place the skillet onto a stove burner, and turn the heat to medium; cook and stir until the beef is crumbly and browned. Stir the garlic and bell pepper into the beef mixture; continue cooking and stirring until the vegetables are tender, 2 to 3 more minutes. Add 1 cup of water. Mix in ketchup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Pour in 1 more cup of water. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook until the mixture becomes very thick, 30 to 45 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Season with cayenne.

UNCLE JON'S WATERMELON SALSA

Steps:

• Stir the watermelon, cilantro, onion, jalapeno peppers, garlic, vinegar, and salt together in a bowl until evenly mixed. Cover, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

CHEF JOHN'S SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffins tins with paper muffin liners. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar together until mixture gets light and foamy, about 2 minutes. Pour in vegetable oil and melted butter; whisk together thoroughly. Add mashed sweet potatoes and chopped pecans. Add dry ingredients. Whisk together until dry ingredients disappear into the batter, about 1 minutes. Let batter set for 10 minutes before filling muffin cups.
• Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way to the top. Sprinkle tops with pecans and a pinch of demerara sugar.
• Bake until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pan about 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.

CHEF JOHN'S LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Place an oven rack into middle position in oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil an 8x8-inch baking dish.
• Place 1 cup flour and butter in a mixing bowl and mash with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Mix in 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and salt; mash mixture together until mixture looks like a slightly crumbly cookie dough.
• Moisten your fingers with a little water and press dough into bottom of prepared baking dish. Use a fork to prick holes all over the crust.
• Bake crust on center rack in the preheated oven until crust edges are barely golden brown, 22 minutes.
• Beat eggs and egg yolks together in a bowl; whisk in white sugar and 2 tablespoons flour until smooth. Add lemon juice and lemon zest; whisk for 2 minutes. Pour lemon custard over crust.
• Bake on center rack until custard is set and top has a thin white sugary crust, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Dip knife into very hot water, run around the edge, and cut into 16 squares. Dust cookies with 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar.

CHEF JOHN'S BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

Steps:

• Combine cucumbers, onion, and peppers in a bowl; pour kosher salt over the top and stir to coat completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, 2 to 4 hours. Rinse cucumber mixture in a colander under cold water until all salt is washed away, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.
• Stir vinegar, sugar, water, garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, peppercorns, turmeric, and ground cloves together in a saucepan; bring to a simmer and cook until brine flavors combine, about 2 minutes. Add cucumber mixture to brine; heat until almost boiling, remove from heat, and cool completely. Transfer to jars and store in the refrigerator.

CHEF JOHN'S SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter.
• Place sweet potato cubes into a large pot, cover with water, and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until a knife is easily inserted into a sweet potato cube, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Return to the pot and mash 2 tablespoons butter into sweet potatoes.
• Whisk eggs, maple syrup, buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, cayenne pepper, allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually mash sweet potatoes into egg mixture, starting with 2 tablespoons of sweet potato mixture, until all sweet potatoes are incorporated. Transfer sweet potatoes into prepared baking dish.
• Mix pistachios, brown sugar, flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter together until completely mixed. Crumble topping evenly over top of sweet potatoes. Use the back of a fork to gently press pistachio mixture down onto sweet potatoes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until topping is browned and casserole is set, 25 to 30 minutes. If desired, place under oven's broiler for 5 minutes to give topping a little more brown color. Let rest to cool slightly before serving, about 10 minutes.

UNCLE JOHN'S SWEET / HOT DIPPING SAUCE FOR MEAT

Steps:

• Place water, chili powder, cumin, garlic, sugar, molasses, salt and red pepper flakes into saucepan or in microwave. Heat until the mixture comes to a boil and completely dissolves into like a syrup-like consistency.
• Then, lower heat to medium-low or even simmer.
• Add tomato sauce and catsup, cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture turns a bit darker color. Don't heat on too high of heat or you may burn the tomato component of this sauce. Let simmer very low for long enough to make the sauce thicker (in other words on LOW heat reduce the sauce).
• When done, remove sauce from heat and let cool to almost room temperature.
• Add vinegar and smoke flavor. (Do not add while sauce is too hot as this destroys the vinegar's potency).
• Stir well and test for final balance of
• sweet/hot (sweet component should not be much in evidence, just add a tang to the sauce, the sour should not be pronounced. To adjust sweet, add sugar a tablespoon at a time if needed when you taste test it. To add tang, do the same with vinegar, spices, sweetness and heat. You can add a dash of Tabasco sauce.
• If sauce still isn't hot (spicy) enough, rather than add more red flaked pepper, add a dash or two of Tabasco sauce or Sri Racha Asian hot chili sauce.
• Place sauce in covered container to refrigerate.
• **Note: The amount of heat you like (red pepper heat) varies from person to person. So before using the full amount of the pepper listed in the recipe, you might experiment first on a half batch or quarter batch of this sauce and start out small on hot pepper and increase to where you like it. You should be able to taste the 'bite' of the hot pepper through the sweetness of the sauce.

UNCLE JOHN'S BAKED POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Bake potatoes until tender.
• Melt butter slowly in pan, blend in flour, making a roux.
• Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, then add salt and pepper to taste.
• Scoop out potatoes and set aside.
• Chop half of the potato peels to use in soup.
• When milk is very hot, whisk in potatoes, onions, and potato peels.
• Whisk well and add sour cream. Heat thoroughly.
• Add cheese a little at a time until all is melted. Serve with crumbled bacon.

UNCLE BOB'S CHILI

Steps:

• Cook bacon, sausage, and hamburger; drain and add onion, green peppers and celery. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Add chili mixes, tomatoes, and tomato sauce-stir.
• Add beans and sugar; stir.
• Bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 hours!
• The servings listed below are just an estimate, this recipe makes a lot so you can freeze some for a later date!

UNCLE JOHN'S BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Pour beans into casserole dish and stir in ketchup, onions, Worcestershire, brown sugar, cayenne, Tabasco, salt and pepper.
• Cover top of beans with strips of bacon if desired.
• Sprinkle additional brown sugar on top.
• Bake at 350°F for 2 hours.
• Serves 4-6.

UNCLE JOHN'S SOGGY BOTTOMS

Steps:

• Warm the bacon greaseover a medium low temperature in a medium sized cast iron skillet, about 1/4 in deep.
• Place bread slices in grease, browning each side.
• Be careful not to get grease too hot or the bread will burn.
• Can be served plain, with syrup, as a sndwich, or open faced with eggs on top.

UNCLE JOHN'S CHICKEN CONFETTI

Steps:

• Wash chicken pieces and pat dry.
• Season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
• In Dutch oven, brown chicken in oil; remove chicken.
• Pour off all but 3 tablespoons oil.
• Add onion and garlic.
• Cook and stir until tender.
• Stir in chicken and remaining ingredients except spaghetti and cheese.
• Cover tightly and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Stir occasionally adding water if necessary.
• Skim off excess fat.
• Serve on spaghetti and sprinkle with cheese.