A Little Mess of Green Beans

Ohio, Detroit, North Carolina, St. Louis, Fayetteville, Little Rock.
That’ll get us down the road.
Here’s where.

Tex Mex bean salad and sashimi avocado with black cherry miso dressing
These two recipes will compliment your bbq picnic just fine. Don’t forget the Liquid Summer Hot Sauce!

For the bean salad, mix all together:
One can of pintos (Drain and Rinse)
One can of chick peas (Drain and Rinse)
1/2 cup minced celery (or more)
A little mess of fresh green beans steamed
One medium onion
One head of minced, then grilled garlic
Two ears of corn (Cut the corn off the cob)
One good dash of cumin
Two chopped jalapeños
½ cup chopped sweet pepper
Juice of two lemons
Three Tbs Liquid Summer Hot Sauce (or more)
Fresh ground black pepper

Then peel and slice an avocado. I use fruit and miso paste to make the dressing. I like to use ripe persimmons. Just mix the miso and fruit together. This time there were no ripe persimmons to be had, so I used St. Dalfour Black Cherry Preserves. ( sweetened with fruit juice rather than sugar. It’s real good.) Schmeer the dressing over the avocado.

Coming Soon.
Detailed instructions of how to make my Grandaddy’s South Carolina BBQ Hash

Somebody SCREAM!

Let’s Rock. It’s Time to Dime.

Sanford (The Alley), Tampa (Skippers), Jammin’ Jambalaya Cajun Crawfish Jamboree at the one and only Florabama, then the Northeast and Midwest.  Here’s the skinny on where we gonna be at when

Green Papaya Salad

1 small green papaya
2/3 cup roasted peanuts
2 tomatoes, cut up
4 cloves of garlic mashed and minced
Fresh cilantro chopped
2 hot peppers julienne
2 Tbs Liquid Summer Hot Sauce (or more)

DRESSING:

2 Tbsp. fish sauce
Juice of two limes

Shred the Papaya with a grater
Crush the garlic and tomatoes
Mix all ingredients
Add dressing
Let it all marry for an hour or more

Skipper’s Smokehouse

Lonnie Mack called Skipper’s “The club that washed ashore”.  Now celebrating 32 smokin’ years, this venerable Tampa Bay landmark  has grown from a small smokehouse takeout operation with a casual Sunday jam to a full-service restaurant and much-loved purveyor of world-class music. The architecture is a smorgasbord of “cracker” and islandy-Key West styles with overturned boats, wooden walkways, large murals dot the landscape while artfully rusted walls contain the sounds of revelry. In the Oyster Bar, a vintage moonshine still hangs over the bar.

Raw oysters, smoked mullet, gator tail, fish dip, beer boiled shrimp, black beans and rice, deviled crab, conch fritters, fried okra,  and key lime pie, gives this place a real Florida feel. The list of performers who have played Skipper’s is a who’s who of  music. And the dance floor is always…interpretive. We will be back to Skipper’s once more on Saturday, April 4th for your dining and dancing pleasure. Y’all come on down to Tampa, ya hear?!

 

Planet Gumbo

New Years Eve 1989, I made gumbo on stage for the first time at a little place north of Tampa. 190,000 bowls of gumbo later, here we are. WOW!  What a feeling. Servin up the gumbo night after night got me thinkin that there’s got to be a way to put some of this energy back into the community. So 10 years ago, I discovered Planet Gumbo. A super cool place to dwell. Now I live on Planet Gumbo. I have always liked to share. However on Planet Gumbo, sharing is a way of life.  Now when we’re out on the road with a day off, we take the gumbo show to a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen. We have shared a meal and  some uplifting music with good people in shelters all over the country. And the good people have shared their stories with us.

Please share this story with your friends in your social networks.  And follow us on Planet Gumbo’s Facebook page.

The Winners Are…

WOW!

We have a winner for the Best Way to Use Liquid Summer Hot Sauce Contest. Actually we have a bunch of winners. Just reading all of the ways that people use Liquid Summer made me HONGRY. I put on five pounds in the last two weeks, thanks to all who sent their ideas and recipes. They were all so good, that I have decided to give everyone who entered a little something for sharing.

Here are the top 10 winning entries.

1. “With collard greens… of course! ” by Wanda Graham Schlib (Wanda wins a case of Liquid Summer Hot Sauce)

2. “I carry a bottle with me in my purse, no other “hot sauce” will do, I use it on EVERYTHING… I even crave it and slurp spoonfuls if there is no food in sight to slap it on.” by Tracy File (Tracy wins a “Recipes” Multimedia CD and two bottles of hot sauce)

3. There is a tie for Third place: 3A. By Lori Basch Siler”Frozen summer strawberry sizzler.
Ingredients
3 cups of Sweet Ice tea
1 Tbsp. Honey
2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 bottleLiquid Summer Hot Sauce
2 cup ice cubes
Pour all ingredients in blender. Add ice cubes, one at a time, and process until blended. Serve immediately.”

3B. By Barbara Sorensen: “I love my Liquid Summer hot sauce in my Sunday Bloody Caesars and in the cocktail sauce for the shrimp  mmmmm mmmmmm goooood” (Both Lori and Barbara win a bottle of hot sauce and a “Recipes” Multimedia CD)

Winners 4-10 will each win a download code for “Live at the Green Parrot” CD.
4. “Quite simply, the Datil Pepper sauce on raw Apalachicola oysters.” by Shaun Kern.

5. “As many of your friends have indicated, there is an unlimited number of uses, but my personal favorite is on my eggs. Over easy eggs on seperate halves of an English muffin or toasted bagel with a topping of hot sauce. This breakfast is not only an eye opener, but a start to your day with a smile on your face.” by George Jakulsky

6. “I LLLL my Liquid Summer Hot Sauce on my Popcorn! Winter or Summer! Popcorn popcorn popcorn!!!! MMMmmmmm the hotter the Mo’ Bet!” by Hollymae Smith

7. “Tonight it’s going in my shrimp and grits. Hurry up dinner time.” by Kelby Marlett

8. “Shish kabob on the grill…” by Dan Hall

9. “Liquid Summer Habanero mixed with a little drawn butter and soy sauce is my universal marinade, baste and seasoning sauce for all my veggies. Gotta have some warm on the table side and dip in it too! MMMMM-Goood!” by Brian Everheart

10. “I do not care what Barry uses it on, as long as he uses it!” by Irene McIntyre
“10 Mix Datil into the Chillie
09 Add to mayonnaise for what ever you use mayonnaise on!
08 Add to the Hot Salsa to correct the flavor
07 Kick up your Ketchup for the burger & fries
06 Hefty dose for the pulled pork
05 GUMBO, yes GUMBO
04 Wing Sauce any one!
03 Mix into scrambled eggs serve on pita
02 Seafood Linguine
01 Add to rim of garbage pail, keeps the squirrels out”

All other participants will receive a download code for my album, “Florida Blues”.  (If you want to see all the suggestions for using Liquid Summer Hot Sauce, click here)

Congratulations, and thanks for the great ideas!

 

 

Here’s a FREE mp3 of my version of “Goin Back To Florida” from my 2004 CD “Come and Get It”, a song originally done by Bumble Bee Slim in 1937.

Wet Willie in yer ear, and Sauce boss in yer tummy!

Hangin in FLA:
Orlando, Tampa. Englewood. Bradenton, Jupiter, Brooksville, Deland, Tallahassee, Sanford, and back to Tampa.

Please “Like” me on Facebook.
Everybody wants to be liked. Me too. If you dig the Sauce Boss, go to my page and “Like” me. If you really dig the Sauce Boss, Go to my page and “Like ” me, then comment, “Like, Like, Likey, Like”. Or you can just comment using my new acronym. LLLL. If you do this, I will LMAO.

Win a Case of Liquid Summer Hot Sauce!
Enter your favorite way to use my Liquid Summer Hot Sauce on the Contest Event on Sauce Boss Facebook Page, and on March 31, 2013, I will choose the top ten. My favorite entry will get a free case of hot sauce sent anywhere in the continental US. First runner up gets two bottles of sauce and a “Recipes” multimedia CD, second runner up gets a bottle of hot sauce and a “Recipes” CD. Top entries 4-10 will each receive a free download of “Live at the Green Parrot”. Comment there as many times as you like; however, entries must appear on this event to be considered. In case of duplicate entries, first one gets it. The top ten uses will be featured in the “Sauce Boss Blog”.

Jalapeño Sourdough Cornbread
Making sourdough bread is a process that takes time. Some recipes require lots of time. However there are some recipes that depend upon the sourdough more for flavor than leavening. Like the sourdough banana pancakes I like to make. Here’s a recipe that uses a sponge for flavor and a little rise. It’s easy to make. And soo tasty. I got my starter from Linda C. Wilbourne. A very cool, accessible baker, who shares her recipes. She is all things sourdough. She originally got her strain from San Francisco.

1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of milk
2 tbs flax meal
1 and 1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
5 jalapenos diced
1 small onion diced
½ cup corn
2 tbs honey

Mix the starter, flour, water, milk, and flax, and let it sit for four or five hours in in a warm place (up to 85 degrees). I sometimes leave it overnight. This will be your sponge.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Saute the peppers, onion, and corn, then mix in the honey. For this recipe, I used dark, unfiltered honey. It’s really tastes great, and it gives the bread a beautiful tawny color.
Mix 1 cup of flour with soda, and salt
Combine wet and dry ingredients
Lightly oil a frying pan and add ¼ cup cornmeal
Shake it , coating the bottom with the meal
Add the bread mixture and bake for 30 minutes or till golden brown

Parking lot in front of S & W Automotive Buffalo, NY

Poetry in the Parking Lot
This may seem like a waste of time, a completely dull and dreary hassle to wade through until your life resumes. This may seem like adolescent drivel, an old man’s ramble, an inconvenience, a contrivance of little or no value, but I think not. I call it poetry in the parking lot. Like the twitch of the discount liquor salesman’s moustache, like the journey of a flea, like the boot heel print in the snow, fifty five gallon drums, silent, waiting. Like the silent howl never heard, way down in the counties that don’t count. In the backyards of the harbors, in the empty lots, in the delapidated residence across the street, a for sale sign in the window. Why bother with the winter’s cough, a nose full of snot? Because it’s poetry in the parking lot.

Apple Gumbo!

Mardi Gras! And we’re takin it all the way to New York City. Along with Sarver, PA, DuBois, Ellicottville, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Sharon, PA. Then we high tail it back to Fla. for our annual show at the International Fiddler Crab Festival in Steinhatchee. Tour info here.
.

Wed. Feb.6 we are in Greenwich Village at Terra Blues. If you live in the city, or close by, come join us for a night of Blues and Gumbo. If you have friends or relatives in or near the city, please pass the word to them. Send them to my website sauceboss.com. That will let them know what they are in for.

The band is wickedly rockin these days. This is gonna be a good one.
Reservations:   terrablues@aol.com   212-777-7776 (after 5 pm)

For your valentine: any CD and two bottles of Liquid Summer Hot Sauce.

Liquid Summer

Only $20 at the Sauce Boss Store.

 

Mardi Gras is the perfect time for gumbo. Over the last twenty two years, I have fed over 185,000 people for free. Never charged a penny for my gumbo.  It’s all part of my message of sharing. We are all a great big gumbo. African slaves brought the okra (gumbo) to the new world. American natives supplied the file’ powder (sassafras). Those crazy french guys brought the roux. Spanish, Italians, and Germans, also had influences on the dish. It’s not just a recipe in a book. It’s many cultures mixing like the ingredients in the pot. Many different ingredients came together to make something nourishing and comforting. If we celebrate our differences, and concentrate on what we have in common, then, we will  make this rainbow of a gumbo JUMP AND SHOUT!

Photo: Joe Sekora

This recipe feeds 8-12 people.

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oil
1 chicken, cooked and de-boned
1 gallon of chicken stock
2 large onions
2 large green peppers
1/2 cup LIQUID SUMMER HOT SAUCE
1 pound smoked sausage
2 medium zucchini
1 pound okra
1 pound of shrimp
1 pint of oysters
1 pound of crawdads

Make a roux: mix 2 cups of flour into 1 1/2 cups hot oil. Cook on high, stirring constantly until brown. Add the chicken, chicken stock, onions, and green peppers. Bring to a boil, then simmer down. Add salt to taste and 1/2 cup of . . . (drum roll) BILL WHARTON’S LIQUID SUMMER HOT SAUCE. Slice and add: 1 pound of smoked sausage, 2 medium zucchini, and 1 pound of okra. When the okra is done, bring the gumbo to a rolling boil and add shrimp, oysters, and crawdads. Cook for 3 minutes, or until shrimp are just barely cooked. Serve over rice and splash with more Liquid Summer Hot Sauce.

HAPPY BLUE YEAR! 2013 Florida Keys, Key Lime Banana Ice Cream, Sauce Boss Solo Gigs, Munchies 4:20 Cafe

2013 IS HERE!
And the Sauce Boss is still kickin hard.

Never thought I would get this far
I’ve been takin it on the arm
Got myself a cosmic credit card
Couple of times I almost bought the farm

From “Somewhere Down the Road”

That’s where I’m goin.  Where the weather suits my clothes. Starting at Sundowners for the annual  Key Largo Food and Wine Festival, then to Margaritaville in key west for a week of fun.  Then way up north to Sarasota and Tampa for a couple of solo gigs. I will be singing in the shade of the coconut palms. Down by the sea.

My favorite recipe from 2012

Key Lime Banana Ice Cream
6 frozen bananas chopped
3 key limes
3 oz plain yogurt
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
Juice the limes and dump all the ingredients into a food processor

Sauce Boss Opens for Willie Nelson 2010 at the Moon in Tallahassee 

Sauce Boss Solo
Couple of years ago, an old friend needed a front act for a show in Tallahassee. There was not enough time to set up a whole band, so he wanted a solo performer. The headliner was Willie Nelson. Although I had not performed solo in more than a decade, I took the gig, and I had a great time. The response was mega, as the audience was well lubricated, and I was on top of my game. I blew the roof off the place. Willie’s sister was back stage asking, “Who is that guy?”  The crowd was in my hipsack. I was feeling pretty sporty. So now I have booked a few solo dates to let me stretch out a little bit. The first solo date will be Jan. 25th at the Myakka River State Park near Sarasota for their Moon over Myakka  music series. The next is The following evening at The Yard in Tampa, Florida. Both dates promise to be high energy Sauce Boss Gumbo Shows. I’m fixin to make some noise.

Munchies 4:20 Cafe
6639 Superior Ave. Gulf Gate Village, FL 941-929-9893  Munchies420cafe.com
“Once upon a time, there were two guys who came home from the bar; and yes…they wanted food. There was nothing to eat around the house, and no one delivered at such late hours. They went to bed hungry, and then…”
So began the saga of Munchies 4:20 Cafe. From the portions served in this place, I thought the cook musta been high on meatballs. Monster sandwiches, fat, fat, wraps, hellaciously hot wings, foot longs, super subs, gimongous breakfasts, and obscene burgers, make this restaurant perfect for those who have imbibed whatever.  And their timing is perfect. They open at 4:20 pm and close at 4:20 am…
Hmmmmmm…

The Bad Santa Tour, Win Liquid Summer, Sauce Boss Swag Store, Sweet Potato Oranges, Hunan Chinese Restaurant,

White Mountain Blues Fest 2012

It’s that time again. December is hitting me from behind. Hard to believe another year has passed. But we have one more tour before we bid 2012 adieu.  We will be hitting all our old haunts on this tour. Here’s the scoop on our Baaaad Santa Tour.

Win a case of Liquid Summer Hot Sauce.
Here’s how to do it. Go to the Sauce Boss Facebook page and “Like” it.  Post your guess as to what my best recipe of the year is. If you are the first to guess it correctly, you will receive a case of Liquid Summer in time to stuff yer stocking. Contest ends Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.

Now’s the perfect time to do yer holiday shopping at the Sauce Boss Store. Hot Sauce–you know you need a case of sauce for the holidaze. CDs– have you gotten “Live at the Green Parrot” yet? It’s live, live, live!  Check this deal out:   Your choice:  Any CD and any two bottles of sauce only $20.

Cornbread stuffing and  Sweet Potato Oranges

My Grandmother used to make these sweet potatoes in oranges. She would put a marshmallow on top of each of them and bake em.  This is my own version of “Mimi’s Sweet Potato Oranges”.

3 large sweet Potatoes
6 oranges
6 oz. soft tofu
Dash of each: Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves
3 tbls maple syrup
Bake or wave the potatoes. Cut the oranges in half and juice them. Drink all but 1/2 cup of the juice. Mash the juice with the rest of the ingredients, and put the mixture in the orange shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes.

Hunan Chinese Restaurant
386-328-0222 10 Eastgate Square Hwy 17 South East Palatka, FL 32131 Mon–Thurs: 11 am-9:30 pm Fri-Sat: 11am-10:30 pm Sun: 12 pm-9pm Lunch Special – 11 am-3 pm

Here’s a good one. I love it when I find a modest, out of the way place with true artisans doing what they love to do, and doing it soooo well. Our server, Linda was super attentive, and perfectly capable of making sure that our “special” dietary needs were met. Every dish from the kitchen was top notch and the portions were grand. Steamed dumplings. At most restaurants ya get six little teasers. I guess that’s why they call em appetizers. But at Hunan, there’s enough to fill up two people, never mind the entree. Every dish we had was more than enough. And the whole vibe and attitude was one of facilitating a great meal. It’s the difference between having a job, and doing your life’s work. The work that you were meant to do. The work that make’s you happy and prosperous in riches beyond money. Thank you Linda and you able partner in the kitchen for making our meal, our evening, and our lives better.