Slow Cooker Seafood Chili

Hi All!

This first recipe in many months! Sorry about that (sometimes I forget that I have this website)! Any way, below is the recipe for Seafood Chili in the slow cooker.

Ingredients:
– 1/2 lb of shrimp (raw, deveined, and chopped) … I chopped each shrimp into 3
– 1/2 lb of scallops (large bay scallops and cut in half or quarters depending on size)
– 1/2 lb of mussels (I used fully cooked mussels from Shop Rite and then removed the mussels from their shell before putting into the slow cooker
– 2 medium bell peppers (I did one green and 1 red for color variety)
– 2 jalapeño peppers (thinly sliced)
– 1 onion, chopped
– 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
– 4 celery stalks, chopped
– 1 can of 15oz tomato sauce
– 2 -8oz cans of tomato paste
– 1/2c. bone broth
– 1/2c. water
– 1 tsp. chili powder
– 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
– 2 tsp of parsley
– dash of salt and pepper
– dash of garlic powder

Steps:
1. Slice up the bell peppers into bite size, slice the garlic, chop up the onions, slice the jalapenos, cut up the celery stalks.
2. Oil up the slow cooker and add in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, bone broth, water.
3. Add in the peppers, garlic, onions, celery into the slow cooker and stir the ingredients together.
4. Cut up the shrimp and scallops and remove the mussels from the shells. Once that is complete, add to the slow cooker.
5. Add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder to the slow cooker and stir.
6. Set the slow-cooker on LOW for 3 1/2 hours.
7. ENJOY!

We weren’t sure if this would be as filling as a typically meaty chili so we made some pasta to accompany it. It definitely a dish that would last a few nights of the week.

Smoked Corned Beef … A Twist on tradition

St. Patrick’s Day is a big holiday in my eyes. I always saw it as being the real Thanksgiving in my house growing up. Maybe it was the Irish music? Maybe the shamrock tablecloth? Maybe the smell of delicious meat and cabbage being cooked by my mom? Maybe it’s the fact that we extend the invitation to anyone to join us? I don’t know, but what I do know St. Patrick’s Day is one of the best holidays (right behind Halloween!) of the year.

So this year for St. Patrick’s Day, I convinced my parents to let me try smoking some corned beef in the smoker. While they said sure, they made sure to buy backup just in case what I was envisioning didn’t pan out as expected …

The corned beef didn’t come out as expected. It actually came out way better than anticipated! In fact, my parents have been talking to everyone about it and now I’ve been tasked with smoking more corned beef once the Coronavirus pandemic is over! A task I am willing and able to take on 🙂 Honestly, before St. Patrick’s Day, I didn’t think you could smoke corned beef, but you can!

Okay, Let’s get started with the ingredients:
– 3-4lb Corned Beef (I used a 3.6lb corned beef brisket)
– 1/2cup brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
– 1/2cup salt (not iodine table salt)
– the packet of pickling spice that comes with the corned beef
– 2 tbsp. of dried/ground mustard
– 8-10 cups of water
– 2 tbsp. of black pepper
– 3tsp of onion
– 3tsp of garlic powder
– 3tbsp. of paprika
– 3 tbsp. of ground mustard
– 2-3 tbsp. of brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
– one aluminum pan for the smoker (may depend on size of smoker)
– aluminum foil
– wood chips (I used apple wood chips instead of a heavier, bolder flavor)

Okay, now that we have our ingredients, let’s create some delicious magic, shall we?

1. First things first, we want to soak the corned beef in cold water for about 4-6hours to release the salts and preservatives that were added in. I used about 5 cups to soak it, but it’ll depend on your bowel choice and size of the meat. It could be more, could be less. (In the notes section, I will give you a timeline on what I did to maybe help illustrate steps 1 to the end.)

2. About 45 mins to 1 hour before the corned beef needs to be taken out of the water, start the brine (I actually made mine 3 hours earlier because I was doing other things). We will need to add the following in to a pot of water: 1/2c brown sugar (Sugar in the Raw), 1/2c salt (I used Mortons), pickling spice packet that came with the meat, 4-5 cups of water, and 2tbsp. of ground mustard. Let this simmer to a light boil for about 5 minutes then take it off the heat. (As this sits, the mixture is going to look absolutely disgusting and make you question yourself, but keep going. It will be okay!)

3. Once your time is up on soaking the corned beef in water, dump out the water and replace with the brine. I recommend giving the brine one last stir before adding to the meat, just to make sure everything is evenly dispersed. Let the sit over night (I left mine in for 7 hours).

4. Remove corned beef from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the (do not rub) the corned beef until it is dry. Make sure the corned beef is not dripping in brine.

5. In a bowl, mix all the spices (pepper, onion, garlic, paprika, brown sugar (sugar in the raw), salt (Morton’s), and ground mustard in a bowl. Once mixed, generously rub all over the corned beef. Place the corned beef in the aluminum tray and put in the refrigerator for about 4 1/2 -5 hours.

6. About 15-20 minutes before removing the corned beef from the refrigerator, fire up your smoker. Fill the water pan about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way with water (room temperature is fine), toss a handful of wood chips in its respective location, and set your smoker to 300F. I used apple smoked wood chips and thought it complimented the meat beautifully.

7. Once the smoker has reached the desire temperature of 300F, add the corned beef into the smoker. We put the corned beef with the aluminum tray in together and let it smoke for about 5 hours.

8. After 5 hours, take out the tray and cover the beef with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes to allow tinting and to let the meat rest.

9. Finally, slice the corned beef up and enjoy the delicious crisp edges, the light sweetness of the seasoning, and juicy dish you just created!

Here was my timeline to give you an idea of how I did this:
1. On 3/16/2020 at 8pm: added the corned beef to cold water to filter out the salts and preservatives.

2. At 8:30pm, I started making the brine since I was already in the kitchen supervising dessert time. Once the brine was ready, I set it off to the side to cool down.
3. 3/17/2020 at 12:00am, I dumped the water from the bowl the corned beef was in and added the brine. You can use the same bowl, no need to dirty a new bowl.

4. 3/17/202 at 7:30am, I dumped the brine, patted the corned beef down to dry it, and then added the spices/seasoning. Once that was done, I put the corned beef in the aluminum tray (uncovered) until 12:30pm.

5. At 12:15pm, the smoker was turned on and set to 300F.

6. At 12:30pm, the corned beef and tray were added to the smoker.

7. At 5pm, the corned beef and tray were removed from the smoker and covered with aluminum foil.

8. At 5:20pm, the corned beef was uncovered and the was being sliced.

So roughly, from beginning to end, took about 21 hours to do. It was not bad and the end result was delicious, well worth it, and mouthwatering.

Enjoy!

After a few month hiatus …

Hi, all!

Sorry for the lack of slow-cooker recipe posts the pass few months. I’ve been a little distracted with … a smoker!! So much so that I’m in the process of revamping my site to include smoker recipes!

With the changes you’ll see some additional menu tabs at the top, which breaks the recipes down into meats, seafood, chicken, etc. However, if you don’t know what to make, but you know you want to slow cook something (or use the smoker), there are tabs as well. Those will be all the recipes categorized as either slow-cooker or smoker.

There is also a search bar to the right of the page that will help you navigate to certain recipes (i.e.: “chimichurri pork” should bring you directly there). If it doesn’t work, leave me a message and I promise to spend an ungodly amount of time trying to figure it out 🙂

Lastly, I’ve linked my Instagram page (@Kirstiesmokesmeats) to the website! So now, you can follow me on Instagram for pictures of my creations/adventures/mishaps/pictures of the beer or wine that I am “cooking” with and then come here for the recipe(s)!

Hope you like the changes to the site!

Kirstie

Attempt #1 at making Carnitas …

Hi, everyone! Last week, I made my first attempt at trying to make carnitas in the slowcooker. It had flavor, but I think next time I’m going to try a different meat cut. Try it out and let me know your thoughts! (Bonus: I’ve also include my first attempt at making guacamole!)

Ingredients!
– 2lbs of pork shoulder. We ended up getting half a shoulder, which was plenty for 3 people, with leftovers.
– 1 – 1 1/2 chopped white onion
– 1 large jalapeno or 2 medium size jalapenos
– 8 cloves of garlic
– 1 cup of orange juice. I used with pulp because that’s what we have in the house, but you can use anything: pulp, no pulp, freshly squeezed. You won’t taste the oranges in the meat, but the acidity helps the meat brown later.
– 1 1/2 TBL of oregano
– 1 TSP of dried cilantro
– 4 TSP of Cumin (you can decrease the amount, if cumin is not your thing)
– Salt and pepper to taste
– Olive oil

Steps!
1. Oil the slow cooker with either olive oil or butter to avoid the meat from sticking and burning!
2. Rub the pork should with the spices (oregano, cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper)!
3. Add the pork should to the slow cooker on HIGH for 4 hours.
4. While the pork is cooking, cut up the onion, mince the garlic, and jalapenos (make sure to remove the seeds!) and mix into the orange juice. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes then pour over the meat, and recover the meat for the remaining time.
5. After the 4 hours is complete, take the pork out and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then shred the pork. While the pork is sitting, put some olive oil in a pan and put on medium high. Once the pan is hot, take the shredded pork and brown it for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve on tacos, in a wrap, whatever you want, and enjoy!

Side note:
1. I was not a fan of the pork shoulder, I thought it was too tough/muscle, so I’m going to experiment with maybe a different cut for next time.
2. I made guacamole with this and that was fun! Here is what I put in it:
– 3 avocados
– 2 TBL of white truffle oil
– 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
– 1 jalapeno, no seed and chopped
– 1 red onion, chopped
– 1 TBL of lime juice (prevent browning in the refrigerator)
– salt and pepper to taste
1. mashed the avocados and mix with: onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, white truffle oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Let sit in fridge until ready to use!

Delicious (& Cheesy) Shrimp and Grits!

Hi, All! Sorry about the lack of posts, I’ve been busy enjoying Spooky Season of 2019! Anywho, here is a recipe for Shrimp and Grits in the slowcooker. It was an interesting experiment since 1. I’ve never made shrimp and grits, 2. I’ve only had Shrimp and Grits once (and it was in NOLA!), and 3. I bought the wrong shrimp so it went from a neat meal to a super messy one real quick!

… In other words, this recipe will need some tweaks to perfect it, but overall I enjoyed it!

Ingredients!
– 3 cups of chicken broth
– 3-4 cloves of garlic (minced)
– 2 lbs of shrimp (make sure deveined, no tail, all that good stuff … use that entire bag of shrimp!)
– 2 cups of quick cooking grits (I used Quaker, because I don’t know of any other brands)
– 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a 4 cheese blend – Parmesan, Asiago, Provolone, and Fontina)
– 4 to 6 oz of cream cheese
– 1/2 cup of cream or half-and-half (no more than that because you don’t want the dish to be too soupy)
– 3 TBL of butter (I used Kerrygold, because I find it easier to cook with, but any kind will do)
– 1 TBL of Garlic Powder and Onion Powder (you measure that with your heart though!)
– salt and pepper to taste
– chives (It’s for presentation, so either fresh or dried is fine!)

Steps!
1. Oil the slow cooker with olive oil or butter to make sure nothing sticks while cooking.

2. Add in the chicken broth, grits, spices (garlic powder, onion powder, a little salt, a little pepper), and the cheeses (cream cheese and 4 cheese blend)! Make sure to stir well and set the slow cooker on LOW. I recommend cooking for 3-4 hours. Stir occasionally (maybe every 45 minutes to make sure none of the cheese is stuck or burning).

3. Once the 3-4 hours is complete, let’s add more things! Let’s add in the half-and-half, or cream, the butter, minced garlic, and the real star of the show: the shrimp. To ensure the shrimp is cooked thoroughly, I recommend letting the slow cooker to its job for at least another 45 minutes. If the shrimp isn’t pink or done yet, give it another 15 minutes.

4. Scoop into a bowl or on a plate and add some chives for decoration … or maybe more cheese!

5. Enjoy!

Chimichurri Pork

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the lack of recipes lately, life just has a way of getting distracting and busy! Anyway, here is the recipe for the ever famous (in my house at least), chimichurri pork recipe. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you make it!

Ingredients:
– 2 – 3 lbs of pork loin (3lbs can make about 6 meals depending on how you slice the meat after cooking)
– 1 shallot or 1/4 of an onion (use the shallot it’s easier than trying to determine a 1/4 of an onion while crying!)
– about 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
– 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
– 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
– 1/3 cup of fresh cilantro (or 1 1/2 TLB of dried cilantro)
– 1/3 cup of parsley (or 1 1/2 TBL of dried parsley)
– 1/4 cup of oregano (or 1 TBL of dried oregano)
– 1 1/2 TSP of cumin (less if you don’t like cumin. You can add more later)
– 1 1/2 TSP of red pepper flakes (less if you don’t like red pepper flakes. You can add more later)
– salt and pepper to taste
-Vermicelli or any spaghetti or fettuccine

Recipe:
1. Blend together shallot, garlic cloves, olive oil, red wine vinegar, cilantro, parsley, oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. The texture of the sauce should be smooth and green (if you use fresh ingredients expect a bright green shade and if you use dried spices it’ll be more of a pastel mint green)
2. Taste the sauce and see if you need to adjust the spices. This recipe typical will have an after taste with a bit. If it’s too much, add some onion powder and garlic powder and blend again for a few seconds. If it does not have a good enough kick, add that cumin and red pepper flakes and blend again for a few seconds!
3. Oil your slow cooker and add the pork loins. Pour your chimichurri sauce over the pork and rub. I typically have two (2) pork loins in the slow cooker so make sure you give them enough room.
4. Put the slow cooker on high for 3 1/2-4 hours OR slow for 6-7 hours.
5. Cook your vermicelli or pasta according to the box. I recommend to start boiling your water about 15 minutes before the meat is cooked. That way you can let the pork rest for a few minutes and then cut the meat while your starch (or grain) is cooking.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Chili … chili anyone?

One of my all-time favorite and easiest recipes to make in the slow cooker: chili! It’s great for the fall, winter, rainy day … really any day!

If possible, I recommend making the chili the night before and letting it sit in the refrigerator over night. Trust me, you’ll thank me because all of the flavors start to marinate and blend together.

Ingredients:
4-5 lb of ground beef (I try to stay around 85-93% lean beef)
2-12 ounce cans of tomato sauce
3-6 ounce cans of tomato paste
2 bell peppers, sliced into 1/4″ stripes (I usually try to get 1 red and 1 green or 1 yellow)
6-7 cloves of garlic, minced
2-15 ounce can of black beans, drained
1-15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1-2 jalapenos, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1-16 ounce container of slices mushrooms (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6 tbl. of wing sauce (choose your favorite! I love using Syberg’s original wing sauce from St. Louis!)
2 tbl. of olive oil

Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Recipe:
1. Oil the slow cooker. Always, always, always use some base to protect the pot from food being burnt on or stuck (olive oil or butter do wonders!)

2. Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan with the minced garlic. Brown the meat (5 minutes) and drain the grease into a can.

3. Combine the tomato sauce, tomato paste, bell peppers, jalapenos, poblano, black beans, chickpeas, salt, pepper, wing sauce, and mushrooms into the slow-cooker.

4. Add in the meat and garlic to the slow-cooker and leave in the refrigerator overnight. If you are not making it ahead of time, skip the refrigerator and jump to the next step!

5. Put the slow-cooker on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours. Remember to stir occasionally, about once an hour, and remove the grease the rises to the top.

6. Serve in bowls and add your favorite toppings!

Notes:
1. I know adding chickpeas to chili is weird, but here me out! They add a different texture feel to the chili and take on a lot of flavor, surprisingly! The same with adding in mushrooms. I get it, it’s weird, but a definitely a weirdness worth trying.

2. As mentioned before, if possible, I like to make the chili a day ahead so that all the flavors mingle and add a little bit of kick to the chili itself. I also love adding in Syberg’s Wing Sauce (not an add, just really like them) because of the undertone kick it has.

3. In addition, to the tomato sauce, if the chili is too thick for your liken, fill each of the tomato paste cans with cold water and add them to the slow-cooker. It’ll thin out the paste, but adding water will dilute flavors so you will have to counteract and add more flavor, if needed!

4. This is super good on hotdogs.

Attempt #1 Chicken Paella

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the first of hopefully many recipes on my blog!

So for starters, in our house, we take turns on who’s week it is and whatever they choose, I have to try to make. It’s like a weird challenge that I find fun and a good way to explore different dishes (to an extent).

Last week was my week and all I know is I wanted shrimp. For whatever reason, shrimp had to be part of the game plan, so off I went to the grocery store. (Side note: when it is my week, I typically don’t decide until I walk through the door and let the sales tell me what I should make!) With shrimp in mind and chicken on sale, I came to conclusion that Chicken Paella is what we are having for dinner with Brussel sprouts that I completely forgot to make.

Anyway, here is the recipe for my first attempt ever at Chicken Paella! I’ll let you know my thoughts after the recipe and any suggestions/modifications that I would make for future chicken paella.

P.S.: You’ll notice that I do not use tomatoes in my recipes (fresh tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, diced canned tomatoes, etc.) due to my dad being allergic to the seeds. However, I’ve found the red bell peppers are a great substitute for tomatoes due to their consistency, juiciness, and uniqueness in recipes. I do use tomato sauce and tomato paste since neither have seeds.

Ingredients:
1 package of cooked andouille sausage (I used smoke andouille sausage but you can use whatever you like)
6 boneless chicken thighs (I used small ones)
2 lb of shrimp (I used deveined, cooked, with shells on)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 onion (chopped)
1 1/2 cup of peas
16 ounces of chicken broth
2 cups of long grain brown rice (I used brown rice, but you can use yellow, white, etc.)
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/4 tsp. Turmeric
Salt and pepper

Recipe:
Before doing anything, make sure you oil the slow-cooker. I typically zigzag olive oil back and forth and then take a paper towel to spread the olive oil up the sides. Trust me, you do not want your food to stick!

  1. Added chicken broth, bell pepper, onion, garlic, paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper to the slow-cooker. Stir the ingredients a few times then time the slow cooker on HIGH and cover. This gets the spices to start marinating and mingling with each other while you get the rest of the ingredients together.
  2. Slice the andouille sausage to about 1/4″.
  3. Add the rice, peas, and andouille slices to the slow-cooker and stir again. Once you feel that the ingredients are mixed, add the chicken thighs on top and cover. Let the ingredients marinate and cook for 3 1/2 hours on HIGH while you relax, watch TV, read a book, nap, whatever.
  4. Add the shrimp to the slow cooker and add another 30-35 minutes on high.
  5. Serve and enjoy!

Things I’ve learned making this recipe:

  1. The rice consistency was off. Some of the grains cooked nicely and some tasted like they just came out of the box. I suggest making the rice separately, about 45 minutes before show time, and combining it with the rest of the ingredients before serving.
  2. The overall dish was good, but definitely a little more liquid than I was expecting. In the future, I’ll probably cut back on the chicken broth or increase the amount of rice to absorb more of the liquid.
  3. Increase the paprika and turmeric. You can taste both spices, but they were a little too subtle for my liking.

And so it begins …

Hey, all! Thanks for checking out my blog!  I’m pretty excited (and semi-nervous) to share with you some of my slow cooker recipes that I have developed over the years.

About four years ago, during my journey in good old St. Louis, I purchased a slow cooker because 1) it was on-sale during Black Friday and 2) I can be pretty lazy in the kitchen, so it seemed like a no-brainer … welp, four years later, here I am writing about how much I’ve enjoyed my slow cooker and ready to share my recipes with you all!

If you do make any of the recipes, let me know and leave some feedback! I’m always open to suggestions on making things better (or in this case, yummier)!

I’ll try to remember to post pictures before making the dish, while making the dish, and ideally after making the dish (but sometimes I get too excited and completely forget that last one 🙂 )

Anyway, thank you again for stopping by and I hope you find something you like along the way!

~Kirstie