Cooking with Graham's Texas Tea

We had the pleasure of spending an evening last week with Chef Kyle Jentsch at Barbeques Galore (in the Hill Country Galleria). He came up with some truly inspired recipes using Graham's Texas Tea, so we thought we'd share! For more information about the Barbeques Galore Cooking Experience, visit http://www.learn2grill.com/. We highly recommend it!

First Course: Sweet Tea Chipotle Shrimp with Jicama Orange Salad

For the salad:

1 jicama
1 can Mandarin Oranges
1 cup orange juice
chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 cup cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Put orange juice and chipotle pepper in saucepan and reduce by half on low heat. Chill. Balance mixture with oil, salt, and pepper. Peel jicama and slice into small strips. Toss jicama and mandarin oranges in the orange/chipotle mixture, reserving some of the sauce for a garnish. Put jicama salad on plate and top with shrimp, cilantro, and reserved sauce.

For the shrimp:

2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground chipotle chile powder
1/4 cup Graham's Texas Tea
32 peeled and deveined large shrimp, skewered

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl.

Pat shrimp dry and lightly brush with light olive oil. Heat grill on medium-high heat. Cook shrimp about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Place shrmp in the bowl with the mixture, coat, and serve atop a bed of jicama orange salad!

Second Course: Raspberry Sweet Tea Jerk Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Green Beans

For the green beans:

1 pound green beans of choice, picked
Stone Wall Kitchen Chicken and Pork Rub
1-2 oz oil of choice

Place your green beans (seasoned with oil and chicken and pork rub) on your grill topper. Grill over a mediu heat until browned and roasted. Stir the beans on the topper during cooking or they will burn. Once browned, remove from the grill and place in a bowl. Immediately cover the bowl in plastic wrap to let the beans finish cooking by steaming.

Once they are done steaming, remove the plastic wrap and season the green beans to taste with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

For the sweet potatoes:

HINT: These can be done a couple hours ahead of time and re-heated on the grill to save time!

1 yam per person
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Wash the yams thoroughly. Preheat grill to low with barbeque toppers in place. Slice yams into quarters or 1/2 inch slices. Coat lightly with cooking oil and place on grill. Cook until golden brown an all sides. Once brown, place in bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and steam for 10-15 minutes. Remove from wrap and serve.

For the pork chops:

4 bone-in pork chops
2 tbsp John Henry's Raspberry Chipotle sauce
2 tbsp Caribbean Jerk Rub
Graham's Texas Tea (as needed)

Combine all rubs and add tea slowly to make a thick paste. Rub the paste on the pork chops and marinate overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Remove excess rub from porkchops and lightly coat with cooking oil.

Grill to desired doneness, and serve!

Third Course: Grilled Sweet Tea Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

4 or 5 peaches, halved and pitted
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup Graham's Texas Tea
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Baste the entire peach halves with the sauce and place them cut side down on the grill over medium-low heat. Cook them for about three minutes each side and turn.

Spoon some of the sauce into each peach half and heat for another 4 to 5 minutes, until soft.

Serve atop your favorite vanilla ice cream!