Recipes and Tips
JANUARY 2019
EASY CHICKEN "STIR FRY"
First, grill about 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast with GSSP or GSS5P. Cool enough to handle, dice it and set it aside. Prepare and cook a package of brown rice or two packages unseasoned ramen noodles which are then cooled and chopped smaller. Now take a package of frozen stir fry veggies and start their cooking in a large non-stick skillet on med-high heat constantly stirring. Add a teaspoon or so of sesame oil, 3 tbsp soy sauce, and 3-4 tbsp Sweet Dragon Spice. Add chicken and rice/noodles and stir/toss until the rice starts to brown.
SWEET AND SOUR GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD
Grill boneless skinless chicken breast with GSSP or GSS5P. Cool, dice, set aside. Prepare a bed of lettuce on a plate. Lay on diced chicken, Chinese Noodles, mandarin orange sections, shredded carrot, balsamic vinegar, and Sweet Dragon Spice.
DECEMBER 2018
LIME JERK TACOS
What we did was pretty simple. Take some chicken leg quarters (or another protein of choice like fish), de-skin, and rub with Old Saratoga Lime Jerk Spice. Bake/roast in the oven at 325 degrees until done. Strip the chicken from the bones and shred. We then put that on soft taco shells with pico de gallo, re-fried beans, and canned corn. Mrs Rubs and Miss Rubs added shredded cheese and a jalapeno sour cream made with G-SS-J and the 1-2-3 recipe.
DECEMBER 2017/8
PRIME RIB
Our favorite easy way to cook at is to give the whole thing plenty of GSSP or GSS5P. Place in a 475 Deg oven for about 5 minutes per pound. Oven must be at temp to start. Turn oven off after needed time and leave roast in. DO NOT OPEN BEFORE TWO HOURS OR YOUR ROAST WILL NOT FINISH COOKING. In the end, you'll have a beautiful medium rare.
CHEESE BALLS
Soften 8 oz cream cheese. Place in a mixing bowl and thoroughly combine with 8 oz finely shredded cheddar, 1 tbsp milk or cream, and 1 1/2 -2 tsp Old Saratoga Flavor mix such as HGC, GMJ, TFC, SWZ, OKMFR, or PBF. Form into a ball and roll in more shredded cheese or chopped nuts and refrigerate until serving.
POPCORN
Make your usual batch of un-buttered popcorn. Place in a mixing bowl. In the microwave, GENTLY(!) heat 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp brown sugar, and 1 tbsp Sweet Dragon Spice and drizzle over popped kernels. Toss and serve.
SPICY GINGERBREAD PEEPS
After you form- but before you bake your gingerbread men and women this year, give them a quick shake of Sweet Dragon Spice. Depending on how much you use, they can have a little kick or kick like Rockettes. The choice is yours.
DIPS
If you have seen us at an event, you may try to make one of the sample dips you tasted. A reminder of the 1-2-3 Recipe, whether you are using sour cream, greek yogurt, salsa, hummus, or tofu: 1 teaspoon of the dry mix, two thirds of a cup of the base.
NOVEMBER
Turkey- First, let me say I'm a breast down guy. Stays way moister and lets the thighs cook thoroughly. Flip right side up with about 30-45 minutes to go. Season the inside of the cavity well with Garlic, Smoked Salt, Pepper or 5P and season the skin with PHG Mix after the flip.
Potatoes- Dice and roast with PHG
Bake. Remove flesh from skins. Mash with cream cheese, milk, and GSSP. Place back in half skins. Dust with HGC, GMJ, or OKMFR (for the crazy hot crowd) and serve.
Make two or three varieties of flavored sour creams or cheese sauces to give your guests a choice of toppings. HGC, GSSJ, 5 Pepper, and PHG are our favorites.
Stuffing- add our PHG mix to any lower sodium stuffing mix for more robust flavor. Add GMJ, SWZ, or OKMFR to spice it up. Making your own? Season with PHG and either GGSP or GSS5P.
Soup- Use our GSSP, or GSS5P to season oven roasted squash and sweet onion for soup.
Gravy- use some turkey fat to make your roux, and add GSSP and PBF mix for that savory flavor.
OCTOBER
OLD SARATOGA SMOKY CHILI
2 lbs ground beef (@ $3.50 a pound)
3 regular size cans Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles
(@$1.29 EA)
2 large cans tomato sauce (@$ 1.69 EA)
1/2 chopped sweet onion (@$ 0.50 worth)
1 tbsp Old Saratoga TFC Mix (@$1.75 worth at $5.00 per bottle)
1- 1 1/2 tsp Old Saratoga SKS (@$0.50 worth at $5.00 per bottle)
1 large (40 oz) can kidney beans (@$1.99 EA)
1 bag corn chips (@$1.99 EA)
Brown ground beef, add onion, salt and TFC Mix. Next add sauce, beans, and diced tomatoes. Reduce to a simmer, let go a couple of hours stirring occasionally. Serve over a bed of crushed corn chips.
Total cost @ $20.98 (depending on where you shop) for about for 14-16 servings of chili. Another $4.00 to top with shredded cheese, more chopped onion, and sour cream. Freeze what you don't eat right away in good freezer bags.
SEPTEMBER
MINI TACO SALAD ASSORTMENT
For your shells, use 6 inch flour tortillas and two muffin pans. Spritz a muffin tray with baking spray. Moisten the tortillas press them in place. Sprinkle with Old Saratoga TFC Mix. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown. (You can choose to fill before cooking as long as your filling isn't too wet.)
For filling, we grill a chicken breast (split to 3/4 inch), about a half pound of haddock, and a small steak (less than 1 lb). Alternately, you could use 2 lbs ground beef, cooked, drained, and seasoned. We grill the protein with either GSSP or GSS5P and dice.
De-seed and dice 1 cup of tomato, 1/4 cup sweet onion, and one de-seeded jalapeno and mix with 1 tbsp lime juice, chopped cilantro, and OSSR Smoked Kosher Salt (to taste).
Flavor your sour cream- 1 teaspoon of the dry mix added to 2/3 of a cup of whatever you are mixing it with whether it's sour cream or greek yogurt.
Have your shredded cheese and shredded lettuce standing by. Sprinkle on some added personal heat on yours with GMJ, SWZ, or OKMFR.
BREAKFAST- I know this will sound crazy to some, but we recently enjoyed Sweet Dragon Spice on French toast, pancakes, and waffles- all with a touch of syrup. Trust me on this one.
AUGUST
Our new flavor, Hot-Que, is an extra spicy barbecue dry rub. Registers a solid 5.5-6.5 on the heat range. Not as hot as GSSD or OKMFR but definitely not for the faint of heart. That said, one of the best spicy flavors available. Beef, chicken, salmon or other fish, chops, pulled pork, grilled vegetables, all are in play.
Add to regular baked beans to make spicy. Combine with crushed tomatoes, roasted garlic, and diced onion for a Diavalo sauce. Add to plain BBQ sauce or when you make the family the regular mild pulled pork, have a bottle standing by to sprinkle onto just your sandwich.
SPICY SWEET ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP
Combine 1- 12 oz container of sour cream with 1- 8 oz brick of cream cheese. Can replace with a like amount of hummus. Drain and chop a small jar of roasted red peppers. Add peppers to dairy mix or hummus and add 1 1/2 to 2 tsp Hot-Que. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Enjoy on crackers, bagels, sandwiches or roasted chicken.
JULY
Start with enough fat. Go for 80/20 or 85/15. Press out your own 3/4- 1 inch thick 5-8 oz burgers when you can. (Most frozen patties can only stay juicy if the middle is under cooked.) Sprinkle on a light touch of Smoked Kosher Salt on one side and pat on before you cook. Season after the second flip before you lay on the cheese. If you are seasoning with one of our G-SS- flavors, make sure to leave "enough room" for the added salt.
Lay on some PBF Mix for an easy Mushroom-Swiss burger
A good layer of HGC is the base of a Horseradish-Cheddar burger
OKMFR and Pepper Jack cheese will make the fire eaters happy little boys and girls.
BACON- Season fresh cooked thick cut bacon with GMJ, HGC, SWZ, PBF, or OKMFR. Then place the seasoned bacon on your salad, burger, or BBQ chicken sandwich.
TOMATO or AVOCADO- season slices with SKS, GSSP, GSS5P, or GSSD.
BUNS!!!!- lest we forget the delicious toasty-ness of lightly roasted bread, put a little olive oil butter on a bun before sprinkling on your favorite flavor before grilling. PHG, Sugar free BBQ, GSSP, GSSJ, GSS5P, any of the lower salt flavors, they all work.
JUNE
When you can, use lower sodium breakfast meats or butter to leave room to add better tasting salt!
EGGS- scrambled, fried, poached, or in a fritata- SKS is the way to go. Recommendation #1: A little of each- SKS, GMJ or SWZ, and GSS5P or GSSD. Mix in before cooking. #2: SKS sprinkled on the egg frying in the pan, HGC between the egg and the cheese.
HAM, SAUSAGE, BACON: Sprinkle any of the following on as soon as the meat is pulled from the pan while it is still sizzling-GMJ, SWZ, OKMFR, HGC, (Sugar Free) BBQ. Imagine horseradish or jalapeno bacon or super spicy sweet Virginia ham.
HOME FRIES- Dice small potatoes, onions, and peppers. Place in micro safe bowl, cover with water, and zap 10-12 minutes on high. Drain, go to a non-stick pan with unsalted butter, and then the floor is yours. Herb and garlic? Spicy with smoked salt? Classic with GSSP? Sweet Dragon on sweet potato home fries?
PANCAKES: Add GMJ, Sweet Dragon, or Sweet & Smoky to your pancake mix for a twist on the same old- same old.
MAY
Because HGC is low salt, it is vary versatile. Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy:
Almost any SANDWICH with MAYONNAISE (cold sandwiches from roast beef to leftover chicken or breakfast sandwiches)
Use as a condiment on tuna, potato, or macaroni SALADS or on a BAKED POTATO
Mix with EGG salads, deviled eggs, scrambled eggs, or egg sandwiches
DAIRY- sour cream or Greek yogurt for DIPS; cream cheese for SPREADS; melted cheddar or American for cheese SAUCE or nachos or mac and cheese; cottage cheese
MEATS- put a good shake between your cheese and your BURGER; sprinkle on just cooked, still hot BACON or PRIME RIB
APRIL
Here is a list of things I added GMJ to in the last couple of months:
Stewart's and McD's breakfast sandwiches
Wendy's and Sonic burgers
Pizza slices
Diner home fries
Mac and cheese and tuna salad
Tenderloin (with SKS)
Boneless leg of lamb- I added 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp SKS to 1 tsp GMJ and coated the outside.
Scrambled eggs and omelets- 1/2 tsp per every three eggs
Bloody Mary (also with a little SKS)
Baja Chicken Breast- 2 tsp GMJ Mix, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp lime juice, 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped small. Combine and marinate chicken breast 2-24 hours before grilling.
MARCH 2018
SWEET DRAGON & TERIYAKI CHICKEN
Both recipes call for chicken breast filleted so the pieces are about 3/4 inch thick but the same would apply to cut up pieces. Each can be applied before freezing, before refrigerating for a couple of hours, or right before cooking. (It's always better to give them some time together.) For Sweet Dragon Chicken just sprinkle on. For teriyaki, mix equal parts Sweet Dragon Spice, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Apply to the bird. Grill/roast/bake
SWEET DRAGON POTATOES
Peel and dice 3-5 sweet potatoes. Toss in 1 tbsp canola oil and SWEET DRAGON SPICE to taste (for us just a little more than a tbsp). Place on a parchment paper covered baking sheet at 350 deg until tender and slightly browned. Serve as is or mash with butter or a little cream.
SWEET (AND SOUR) DRAGON PORK ROAST
Too easy. Lightly spray your slow cooker so things don't stick. Place a pork roast fat side up in the bottom and sprinkle with a good dose of SWEET DRAGON SPICE. Surround with sauerkraut and cook until the pork is tender.
SWEET DRAGON PEACH CHUTNEY
(Great for poultry, pork and fish) Peel (or not) and dice 3 sweet peaches. Combine with 1/2 med red onion, diced, and about 2 tsp SWEET DRAGON SPICE and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer 15-20 minutes.
FEBRUARY 2018
YELLOW RICE WITH FRIED PORK
Two small or one large prepared yellow rice (can substitute with prepared pasta or potato dishes) prepared as directed
1 1/2-2 lbs pork or chicken cubed small
1 14 oz can corn
1 4-6 oz can green chiles
1/2 pkg frozen onion and pepper strips
1-2 tsp Old Saratoga GMJ, SWZ, or OKMFR
1 tsp Old Saratoga GSSP, GSSJ, GSS5P, or GSSD
Start water for rice. Start Fry Daddy and set on 350 deg or use a well oiled iron skillet. Rough chop onions and peppers and cook in the microwave with a pinch of the GSS-- seasoning. Cook rice to instructions. Cook meat in small batches with NO FLOUR. That way it absorbs very little oil. Place cooked meat in a large paper towel lined mixing bowl. After last batch, remove paper towels and add drained corn and chile peppers along with cooked onions and peppers and remainder of GSS-- spice. Combine. Add GMJ to cooked rice and then add to meat and veggies in mixing bowl. Serves 5-7.
January 2018
WINGS
Marinate you wings in a healthy dose of one of our garlic and smoked salt blends (GSSP, GSSJ, GSS5P, or for the crazy hot people- GSSD) for several hours if not overnight in the fridge. Unless you really like scrubbing pans, get some parchment paper. Lay it out on baking sheets and bake your wings for 45 min at 350 deg. Remove the lot to a paper towel lined big bowl to lose excess moisture before moving to the Fry-Daddy. 350 degrees, 5-7 at a time, 2-3 minutes. While still sizzling, toss in Old Saratoga Sweet & Smoky or Sweet Dragon Spice or in your favorite sauce.
THEN..... grab one our super creamy dips and combine. Buffalo wings go great with our HORSERADISH, GARLIC, & CHIVE. Garlic Parm wings match well with our HERB & GARLIC flavor. Our GARLIC-JALAPENO tastes awesome with Buffalo or BBQ wings. And yes, for those who love the hot stuff, we made an OKMFR dip to put on any flavor wing.
BECAUSE our dips are so thick and creamy, they also work on crackers, baked potatoes, tater tots, roast beef sandwiches,
and steamed cauliflower.
NOVEMBER
MARTIANS
When our children were children, I was making some store bought biscuits and decided to top them with some shredded cheese. The kids kept bugging me about what I was making so finally in exasperation I said "Martians!" The name stuck. Now, we take store bought biscuits and about halfway through the baking time sprinkle them with an Old Saratoga flavor mix and a cheese of choice. PHG works well with parmesan or feta. Cheddar works well with GMJ, HGC, SWZ, PBF, or OKMFR (for the crazies).
FAST BEEF STEW
Dice potatoes, carrots, a sweet onion, and some celery. Put them in the biggest bowl that fits in the microwave. Cover with water, and cook on high in the microwave for 15-20 minutes. Leave them almost cooked. While they "wave"...
Toss/coat 2 lbs of 1 inch chuck roast cubes in a mix of 2 tsp GSSP and 3 tbsp flour and brown in a 5 qt dutch oven (with a little oil if the fat has been removed). Once they are browned on med heat and some fat has cooked out, add 1 cup of the vegetable water, Stir. Add 1 can low sodium beef broth and drained vegetables. Add more veggie water if desired and finish covered, on a low simmer for about 35-45 minutes. Start to finish a little more than 1 hour.
OCTOBER
FIRED-UP CHICKEN MAC & CHEESE
Start with chicken breast that is all about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. OVERSEASON (!) with Old Saratoga GSS5P or Southwest Zest Mix. Grill, roast, or bake. Dice. Using cheese sauce recipe below from caso dip, make a plain mac and cheese. Fold in the diced chicken. Much of the seasoning will come off giving the cheese sauce a grilled chicken flavor in addition to the spice added.
ROASTED SQUASH OR SWEET POTATOES
Using Sweet Potatoes: Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes (depending on how many you are preparing). Cut each lengthwise into four logs. Spritz each cut side with a little baking spray. Season with your favorite Old Saratoga Spice Rub. Our favorites are SKS, GSSP, Sweet BBQ, and Sweet Dragon Spice. Then either roast in the oven at 350 deg or over a slow flame on the 'cue.
Using Squash: peel and dice butternut type or split and
de-seed acorn type squashes. Toss diced pieces in a mix of olive (NOT EV) or canola oil and your choice of any of our smoked salt blends. Place on a PARCHMENT PAPER covered sheet pan (if you value your pans and your time) and bake/roast at 350 deg until done. For acorn types, after prepping, rub with butter, sprinkle on OSSR salt variety or Sugar Free BBQ and bake at 350 deg until tender.
FAVORITES
BBQ SUNDAES
SOUTHWEST CORN MUFFINS
Use a boxed corn bread mix and add a small can of drained Mexican style corn and 1/2 tsp OSSR Southwest Zest Mix for each box of cornbread mix. Prepare according to instructions. These will be the base.
PULLED PORK
If you have tried our pulled pork at an event, this is how we do it. This requires one pork butt and one pork picnic (uncooked ham) Using as small knife, remove the "sleeve" from the picnic. Set sleeve aside while both pieces get a good coat of dry rub, either Sweet BBQ or Sweet & Smoky. We use a big disposable pan and place the butt, the picnic, and the sleeve all in. We place them in dense oak smoke for about 1 hour. (Remember, you can use a gas grill as a smoker if you have a pan for your wood and put that on the hot side, meat on cooler side. It may take a bit longer than a regular smoker to get good smoke flavor.) Remove to an oven or turn the smoke off and finish. Keep the pan bottom covered in liquid so the juices can be used in the sauce. When the bone pulls out easily, it is done.
Before they cool off, we start pulling by hand and fork and yes, I do sometimes burn my fingers. The sacrifice of art. We remove any fat, bones, or other material that we don't want to eat. When they are pulled and mixed, add sauce. Our recipe for this much is 1- 28 oz can tomato sauce,1- 12oz jar molasses, 3/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup spicy brown mustard, 2 tbsp dried minced onion, and 1 1/2 tbsp OSSR BBQ rub and 1 cup hot water. Combine in a sauce pan and turn off once thoroughly heated. Add back to pork, combine well, and place back in the oven for 1 hour at 350 deg. We call this "Happy Hour". We will cool this off and store in 2 lb bags in the freezer between parties.
BAKED BEANS
Sometimes we use canned with GMJ added. Other times we take canned navy beans, add molasses, ketchup, cooked bacon, and minced raw onion, along with GMJ or GSS5P. Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Turn off after the first few bubbles. It just needs to come together, not be cooked.
EASY COLE SLAW
1 pkg Slaw Mix
1 cup Mayo
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 `1/2 tsp Old Saratoga GSSP Mix
Combine mayo, sugar, vinegar, and GSSP and pour over mixing bowl of Slaw Mix and stir together. Best if refrigerated 1 hour before serving.
NOW STACK 'EM. CORNBREAD BASE, PULLED PORK NEXT, A SHOT OF BAKED BEANS, TOPPED BY THE COLE SLAW. YOU NOW HAVE A BBQ SUNDAE. ENJOY!!!
CLASSIC (OR TWISTED) MAC & CHEESE
1 lb shredded cheddar
1 lb American cheese slices
1 pint whole milk
1/4 sweet onion grated or food processed
1/2 tsp GSSP Mix (Spicy versions use GSSJ, GSS5P, or GSSD)
1 tsp OSSR Flavor Mix (GMJ, HGC, SWZ, TFC, PBF, or OKMFR)
1 lb uncooked pasta
Gently cook shredded onion and set aside. We use a microwave for that. Slowly heat milk and add cheese stirring regularly until melted. We use either the microwave or the oven on about 200 deg for that step. Once cheese and milk have combined for a basic sauce add the onion and divide in half. Flavor half the sauce and save the other half for a different meal or snack. Cook the pasta and combine with flavored half of cheese sauce.
Classic: Use only GSSP to season
Portobello: Use PBF Mix and add sliced cooked mushrooms
Taco: Use TFC Mix, add cooked and drained ground beef
Jalapeno: Use GMJ, add finely diced, cooked poblano pepper
Horseradish: Use HGC and add optional bacon
Southwest: Use SWZ and add drained corn and black beans
CRAZY HOT: Use OKMFR, cooked poblano and ground beef
SPICY or SAVORY (No Syrup) BREAKFAST PANCAKES
Use regular pancake mix. Add 1/2 tsp of seasoning per cup of mix and prepare as normal. Own favorite flavors to use are GMJ, SWZ, HGC, and OKMFR. Cover with this sauce:
1/2 lb uncooked breakfast sausage
1 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
Crumble sausage in a pan and cook. Drain excess fat. Add milk and cheese and stir over low heat until melted. Pour this over your pancake stacks, throw on a spoon of salsa to cut the fat taste, and then top with a fried egg and maybe a little Smoked Kosher Salt.
SUGGESTED USES
For dips or spreads made with cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, hummus, or salsa, add about 1 tsp of the dry mix to 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the base.
S-K-S- Use just like regular salt on meats, poultry, fish, vegetable, potatoes, eggs, anything.
G-SS-P- grilled or roasted anything (veggies, potatoes, meats, poultry, fish, use as garlic/salt/pepper base for any dish and add herbs or other spices.
G-SS-J- popcorn, cheese spreads, Ranch style dressing, dip
G-SS-5P- SPICY popcorn, spreads, dips
G-SS-D- VERY HOT Burgers, popcorn, eggs, dips,hot chili
HGC- steak, salmon, popcorn, spreads or dips, baked potatoes, oven fries, dressing
GMJ- anything with eggs, macaroni, or dairy, spreads, dips, prepared mac & cheese, leftover chicken sandwich
TFC- taco or fajita meat, chili or meat sauce (for hot dogs), popcorn, dips, oven fries or tots
PHG- poultry, fish, roasted potatoes, vinaigrette dressing, microwave veggies, dips, spreads
SWZ- dips, spreads, Ranch dressing, cornbread, store-bought salsa
PBF- eggs, dips, potatoes, steak, chicken, burgers
OKMFR- EXTREMELY SPICY! Dips, eggs, chicken or tuna salad, steaks, popcorn
BBQ, Sweet & Smoky, Sweet & Spicy: any BBQ application, homemade (sweet) potato chips, most fish, grilled veggies
Sweet Dragon: to make teriyaki flavor, mix equal parts Sweet Dragon Spice, brown sugar, and soy sauce (suggestion 1 tbsp each), popcorn or popcorn balls, pumpkin bread, apple pie slice
YOUR ONLY LIMIT IS YOUR OWN IMAGINATION!