February is universally known as “The Month of Love”. Valentine’s Day is February 14, and on this day millions will exchange cards, send flowers and present wrapped sparkly gifts to show love to their Valentines. Supposedly, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so I thought I’d get creative in the kitchen. I knew that I could find some recipes and ingredients that would “spice things up a bit”.
Johnnies carries Franks RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce and it came highly recommended. This product is so versatile that you can use it for anything and everything. I became obsessed about finding different ways to use this sauce. I would love to say that I found 101 ways to use Franks Red Hot Sweet Chili Sauce, but I settled for 10 instead. Recipes for dips, meatballs, wings, shrimp, ribs, turkey, burgers, chicken, salads and even dessert. I pulled all of the recipes (except for the frosting) from Frank’s very own website, www.franksredhot.com. Some (of the recipes) are predictable. Some are a bit more unconventional. All of them require 15 minutes or less to prepare. (not including cooking times….) Johnnies carries a super size 64 oz. bottle of Franks RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce, so I had enough sauce to try several of the recipes below.
Here we go, hopefully you will find one or two to try.
1) FRANK’S SWEET CHILI CREAM CHEESE DIP
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
8 ozs Cream Cheese
cut raw vegetables or tortilla chips to dip
PUT Cream cheese in shallow soup bowl. POUR FRANK’S RedHot Sweet Chili Sauce over. Serve with veggies or chips.
2) SWEET CHILI BBQ MEATBALLS
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
3/4 cup FRANKS RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
36 (1 inch) frozen meatballs
DIRECTIONS:
COMBINE barbecue sauce and Sweet Chili Sauce in large skillet. Heat to a boil. STIR in meatballs. Simmer, covered, about 10 min. until meatballs are heated through. Stir often.
Tip: This recipe can easily be doubled and heated in a slow cooker for a party buffet.
3) SWEET CHILI WINGS
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 lbs. chicken wing pieces
3/4 cup FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
DIRECTIONS:
BAKE wings in foil-lined pan at 500 °F on lowest oven rack for 20 to 25 min. until crispy, turning once. TOSS wings in sauce to coat.
TIPS:
Alternate Cooking Directions: Deep-fry at 375°F for 10 min.
Broil 6-inches from heat 15 to 20 min., turning once.
Grill over medium heat 20 to 25 min., turning often.
4) SWEET CHILI SHRIMP STIR-FRY
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. grated peeled ginger
1 1/4 lbs. large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 cup chopped green, red or yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
DIRECTIONS:
HEAT Sweet Chili Sauce, oil, garlic and ginger in medium skillet. Cook over high heat until sauce is bubbly. ADD shrimp, bell peppers and onion.
STIR-FRY about 3 min. until shrimp turn pink and coat with sauce. SERVE over rice, if desired.
5) SWEET CHILI RIBS
INGREDIENTS:
2 full racks pork spareribs, trimmed (about 6 lbs.)
1/4 cup prepared seasoned spice rub for ribs
1/2 cup FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
DIRECTIONS:
TO COOK RIBS: prepare grill for indirect cooking over medium-low heat (250°F). Sprinkle ribs with spice rub. Place ribs on rib rack or in foil pan. Cook on covered grill 2 1/2 to 3 hours until very tender.
MIX Sweet Chili Sauce and barbecue sauce.
BASTE ribs with sweet chili mixture during last 15 min. of cooking. If desired, grill ribs over direct heat at end of cooking to char slightly.
TIPS:
To ensure that ribs will be very tender, score membrane on underside of ribs with sharp knife.
Bake the ribs at 250°F for 3 hours or until very tender. Baste with sauce during last 15 min. of baking.
Note: Indirect Grill Method – Set drip pan filled halfway with water under grilling rack. Arrange coals around drip pan. Place food on rack over drip pan. Cover grill. If using a gas grill, turn gas off under drip pan.
6) SPICY TURKEY LETTUCE CUPS
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 1/2 tbsp. oil, divided
1 tsp. each minced ginger and garlic
1 tbsp. minced oinon
1 cup FRANK’S REDHOT Sweet Chili Sauce
1 to 2 heads bibb lettuce, pulled apart to make 12 lettuce cups
DIRECTIONS:
PREPARE filling: brown turkey in 1/2 tbsp. oil in large skillet until cooked through. Transfer to bowl. SAUTE ginger, garlic and onion in remaining oil until soft and lightly golden. ADD Sweet Chili Sauce and cooked turkey to skillet. Simmer 5 min. SERVE filling in lettuce cups, spooning about 1/4 cup filling into each cup.
TIPS:
Jazz it up, sprinkle the lettuce cups with one of the following garnishes: sliced red onion, cilantro leaves, scallions, chopped peanuts, julienne carrots, or bean sprouts. Serve with extra Sweet Chili Sauce for drizzling.
7) GRILLED BURGERS WITH SWEET CHILI MAYO
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup FRANK’S REDHOT Sweet Chili Sauce
6 (4 oz.) ground beef patties
6 large Kaiser or hamburger rolls, split and toasted
DIRECTIONS:
MIX mayonnaise with Sweet Chili Sauce; set aside. GRILL or broil patties about 10 min. for medium rare.
SERVE burgers on rolls with lettuce and tomatoes. Spoon Sweet Chili Mayo on burgers before covering with top half of rolls.
8) SWEET & SPICY BBQ CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup honey barbecue sauce
1/3 cup any flavor FRANK’S RED HOT sweet chili Sauce
3 to 4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces
DIRECTIONS:
MIX barbecue sauce and Frank’s RedHot Sauce. Reserve 2/3 cup to serve on the side. GRILL chicken over medium direct heat for 45 min., turning pieces occasionally. BASTE chicken with remaining 2/3 cup of the barbecue sauce mixture. Cook 15 min. longer until no longer pink near bone. Serve reserved sauce on the side.
9) ASIAN GRILLED BEEF SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. boneless sirloin steak
1 (5 oz.) pkg. mixed salad greens
3 cups assorted cut-up vegetables such as red bell pepper, carrots, cucumbers
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup Asian sesame salad dressing
1/4 cup FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
DIRECTIONS:
GRILL steak over medium-high for 8 min. per side for medium-rare or to desired doneness. Set aside.
PREPARE salad: toss salad greens, red pepper, carrots, cucumber and red onion in large bowl with salad dressing.
THINLY slice steak and toss with FRANK’S RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce. Arrange salad on four serving plates and top each with a portion of steak.
10) Dessert
Finding a “spicy” dessert idea proved more difficult. Frank didn’t have any easy answers for me, but as I love chocolate and I love cupcakes, I decided to attempt a new cupcake creation. (maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of CupCake Wars….) What resulted was a Dark Chocolate Cupcake with a Sweet Chili Cream Cheese Frosting. I simply added the Sweet Chili Sauce to my buttercream frosting. For those who were brave enough to give them a try, they were a surprising success.
Sweet Chili Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups confectioners sugar
(1) 8oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frank’s RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce
Sift together the cinnamon with the confectioner’s sugar. Beat in the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Add the Red Hot Sweet Chili Sauce to taste. (I think I added about a 1/2 cup.) Spread on cooled cupcakes of your choice. (I used a devil’s food cake mix)
Please, let us know what you tried and how you liked it! And if you have your own recipe using Franks RED HOT Sweet Chili Sauce, send it to us! We would love to hear from you.