Here's the Rub and Almost a Complete Meal

I tried this brown sugar chicken rub last week, and it was delicious! I'm not a big "barbecue" fan, but even I liked this one. However, since it was too cold to grill, I had to cook our chicken on the stove top, so I'm especially looking forward to tasting this one on grilled chicken.

Brown Sugar Rubbed Chicken

2 T. brown sugar
1 T. paprika
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder

Preheat grill to medium high. Combine sugar and spices in a ziploc bag. Add chicken breasts to bag and shake to coat. Spray on both sides with nonstick cooking spray. Grill, turning frequently to avoid burning sugar.

It's rare that I make a meal in which EVERY recipe is a new one, but I did that a couple of weeks ago. Homemade Applesauce. Garlic Cheese Bread. Grilled Honey-Garlic Pork Chops. These three went together very nicely. (I guess you could consider that almost a complete meal. Throw in something green and you're done. :))

Applesauce
from Simply Recipes 

3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples, like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, or Mcintosh
4 strips of lemon peel--use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths
juice of one lemon, about 3-4 T.
3 inches of cinnamon stick
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
up to 1/4 c. of white sugar
1 c. of water
1/2 tsp. salt

1 Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

2 Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.

Ready to serve, either hot or refrigerated. Delicious with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt.

Freezes easily, lasts up to one year in a cold freezer.

This came together quickly. I used light brown sugar instead of dark (simply because that's all I had), and even those children who don't normally eat applesauce enjoyed this one.

Grilled Honey-Garlic Chops

4 center-cut boneless pork chops, 1-1/2 inches thick
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. honey
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. water
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the five marinade ingredients and pour over pork chops in a heavy zip-top bag. Place in a large shallow bowl, in case of leakage, and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Remove chops from marinade and grill over medium-hot coals about 15 minutes or until internal temperature is 150 degrees. Turn once during grilling.

I started cooking these on our George Foreman grill, but the chops were too thick to get done without burning the outsides, so I later transferred the chops to the oven and baked them. This worked perfectly. I also used jarred minced garlic since I didn't have any fresh. Be sure to make your marinade in a bowl first instead of trying to mix it in the bag like I did. :)

Claim Jumper Garlic Cheese Bread
(Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2)

Evidently Claim Jumper is a restaurant chain only found in the west. I've never heard of it, but this cheese bread was a keeper.

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
dash ground black pepper
dash paprika
12 slices Texas toast or 1 large french bread loaf, sliced through the middle


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients for the spread in a small bowl. Smear generously on one side of each slice or on the face of each half of the French bread loaf. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. (you can see I didn't let ours get brown.)

Happy cooking!

With love,
Trisha