Cocktail Wienies with Grape Jelly-Chili Sauce from The Southern Slow Cooker Cookbook
Cocktail Wienies with Grape Jelly-Chili Sauce from The Southern Slow Cooker a tasty snack perfect for game day or family gatherings!
Our usual dinner time is somewhere around seven. Since school has started my boys are ready to eat the minute they walk through the door. Not one second later.
If I don’t have something ready to go, they are digging in the cabinet eating chips or they have both hands in the cookie jar eating cookies one after another. Not the best.
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If it weren’t for the slow cooker helping me out I would never have anything ready by 4:15! When I got the opportunity to review The Southern Slow Cooker by Kendra Bailey Morris, I couldn’t wait for it to arrive. I mean what’s not to love? My favorite southern fare in the crock pot? I knew I would love it.
I decided to share the Cocktail Wienies with Grape Jelly-Chili Sauce with you today. I prefer to call them Lit’l Smokies just because I hate the word wienie unless I’m referring to my weanie dog, Coco.
Anyway, I’ve always heard how good Lit’l Smokies were cooked in grape jelly and chili sauce, but I had never tried it.
I liked the idea of making homemade chili sauce because the store bought variety does not thrill me. This sauce cooks low and slow and then when you add in the grape jelly and Lit’l Smokies something magic happens. Now I know why this is so popular!
Appetizer parties are my favorite, no matter what the occasion happens to be. These Jalapeño Poppers with Brisket and Bacon, Barbecue Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots, Knorr Spinach Dip and Loaded Potato Skins are show stoppers for game day. Add in a some Easy Party Punch or Pineapple Margaritas and are all set for any get together!
This would be perfect for game day, tailgating, family game night or for an after school snack. I cut up a fresh pineapple and let me tell you two packages of Lit’l Smokies were gone in the blink of an eye!
The whole clan loved them and I think they were disappointed when they discovered that the crock pot was empty!
With recipes like Chicken and Cornmeal Dumplings, Beer-Braised Beef Po’ Boys, and Gingerbread Peach Upside-Down Cake this is going to be a cookbook that I reach for often.
Cocktail Wienies with Grape Jelly-Chili Sauce from The Southern Slow Cooker Cookbook
Ingredients
Chili Sauce
- 1/4 cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1 3/4 cup pureed tomatoes or tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 small jalapeño seeded and minced
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and black pepper
- 2 cups grape jelly
- 2 14-ounce packages of smoked mini cocktail links (such as Lit'l Smokies)
Instructions
- Spray a slow cooker with cooking spray.
- To make the chili sauce, combine cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, green bell pepper, and jalapeño in the slow cooker and stir well.
- Cut a small pieced of cheese cloth and make a sachet to hold the cinnamon stick, cloves an bay leaf. Add the sachet with the spices to the slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 6 hours, stirring every couple of hours, so the sides don't burn.
- Then turn down to warm for 1 more hour. Remove the spice sachet and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add the grape jelly and sausage links to the slow cooker, and stir to cover them with the sauce. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low fora n additional 1 to 2 hours or until the grape jelly has melted and the sausages are fully heated through. Set the slow cooker to warm until ready to serve. Serve the links straight from the pot with toothpicks.
Notes
Disclosure: I received a copy of the cookbook for review and the giveaway is being sponsored by Ten Speed Press. All opinions are my own.