Recipe for the Day

[SouthPaw]

This is an easy and very tasty recipe. It's also low in fat without sacrificing flavor. You can start it the night before and leave it all day.

Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup

Ingreidients needed:
(5lbs) Skinless Chicken breasts
(3) red bell peppers
(3) green bell peppers
(2) yellow onions
(2) packets of fajita seasoning (spicy kind if you like it hot)
(2) cans of chopped green chiles (hot if you like spicy food)
(1) cup of water
Instant white rice

Arrange chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot and dust with fajita seasoning. Chop peppers and onions into rings and then cut in half. Place on top of chicken breasts and sprinkle with fajita seasoning. Add water and chopped green chiles. Turn crock pot on high and leave. I left it on high for 6 hours and then switched it to low another 4 hours. Best part about this is you can't over cook it. When you are ready to eat it, make some white rice. Place the white rice at the bottom of your bowl and top with soup and as much juice as you like. Goes great with red or green Tabasco.

[Irving]

Perfect, we've been looking for a crockpot meal. Thanks for posting.

[Ah Pook]

Had some leftover parts from a lamb we bought last year. Never done lamb shanks before.

Ingredients:

• 4 shanks
• salt & pepper
• oil to coat the bottom of the pot. I use canola or olive.
• two onions
• 3-4 carrots
• 12 garlic cloves or 3 big spoon fulls of prepped garlic.
• 3 stalks celery. I didn't have any this time.
• 28oz can whole tomatoes.
• 22oz beef broth. Spit 1/2 beef and 1/2 chicken also works.
• 3/4 bottle of red wine (Cab or merlot). Got to save some for the cook.
• 5 sprigs rosemary.
• 5 sprigs thyme.
• 4 bay leaves.

Cooking:

• Salt & pepper the shanks and let sit for about 20 minutes.
• Heat a large pot or dutch over to medium high and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
• Braise, two shanks at a time, on all sides. Let all sides get brown. This will take about 30 minutes.
• Set shanks on a plate and add onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the hot oil. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pot. The brown bits are flavor. Cook til caramelized. About 20 minutes.
• Add tomatoes and juice to pot. I cut mine in half. Bring to boil.
• Add wine, broth, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves.
• Bring to boil and set to medium-medium high heat. Turn down if sticking occurs. Cook 20-30 minutes.
• Add shanks back into the pot. They should be covered in liquid. If not add some more stock or water.
• Cover and put in a pre-heated 400˚ oven.
• Cook at least 2 hours, turning the shanks every 45 minutes.
• Remove pot from oven and remove shanks from pot.
• Simmer juices til desired thickness is obtained. Mine was pretty thick coming out of the oven and I was hungry, so I skipped this step.
• Plate shanks and pour juices over shanks or off to the side.
• Eat!

Fixin's

Lamb shanks

Braise

Ready for the oven

Out of the oven

Plated with roasted russets and sweet potatoes


This was one of the richest sauces I have ever made. The meat fell off the bone and could be cut with a fork.

This isn't a 30 minute meal!! Set aside at least 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours!

Definitely worth the time.

[theGinsue]

PLEASE Post the entire recipe, not just the ingredients and a link to the rest of the recipe! (Nudge..Stu...Nudge)

[Irving]

It looked like I posted all the recipes, but you must have done it for me ninja style. I can try to explain stuff in the future, but I don't know how to cook, which is why I watch the videos.

[Ah Pook]

My new favorite dipping sauce.

Dynamite Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon+ (plus) Sriracha hot sauce

• 1 tablespoon masago orange capelin caviar

• 1 stalk green onion greens only – thinly sliced

Instructions

• In a bowl, mix together mayo, Siracha, masago, and green onions.
• Chill and serve or just dig in.

Nom!

[Great-Kazoo]

Anyone got any tips for doing some thick cut pork chops on the smoker? Neighbor picked up 1/2 a cow, and a whole pig, and couldn't fit it all in their freezer, so we got a bunch of chops, along with a bunch of ground pork, some pork belly for making bacon, and a pork shoulder that we'll smoke in a couple weeks.

I've used this one, then afterwards like other recipes we try different rubs and brines, like pineapple juice & soy sauce with red pepper flakes.
you have to wade through the authors pimping of his products, SO scroll down about 1/4 where the recipe starts.

http://www.smoking-meat.com/may-16-2...ps-extra-thick
We've used these from traegar recipe files.

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
• 6 pork chops, each at least 1/2-inch thick
• lemon, garlic seasoning & or salt and pepper

Make the vinaigrette: In a small mixing bowl, combine the lime juice, orange juice, honey, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Whisk in the olive oil until an emulsion forms. Stir in the parsley. When ready to cook, start the grill on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Season the pork chops with Salt & pepper . We like to do an olive oil rub then dry seasonings.

Arrange the pork chops on the grill grate and smoke for 30 minutes. Increase the heat to 300 degrees F (Medium) and continue to cook the chops until they reach an internal temperature of 145 to 160 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Arrange the chops on a platter or plates and pour some of the vinaigrette over the chops. Serve the remaining vinaigrette on the side.

• 1 1/2 " Thick Pork Chops
• olive oil
• red wine
• rosemary leaves (chopped)
• dry seasoning of choice. preferably something that accents the pork

Marinate Pork Chops in mixture of ingredients for 2 hours. Start your grill on smoke or bring to temp of 375 - 425. Place chops on grill and cook for 30 minutes Remove from grill and season with salt and/or lemon juice to taste. Serve and enjoy!
make sure pork is cooked to temp , checking with a good temp probe.

[theGinsue]

It's been far too long since any of the sites culinary geniuses have posted in here so I figured I'd better get the ball rolling again.

These are my go-to rubs for pork ribs & for other smoked pork (like Pulled Pork).


Kansas City Rib Rub

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (light or dark)
1/4 Cup Paprika
1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
3/4 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
3/4 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
(I cut the Chili Powder & Cayenne pepper in half, else the ribs are too spicy for many folks)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Work 1/2 mixture into meat 12-24 hours before cooking. Apply remaining rub just before smoking.

************************************************** ***

Basic Pork Rub
(Great for Pulled Pork)

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Paprika
3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
2 Tablespoons Salt
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper. (I cut the Cayenne pepper in half, else some folks (wife) say it's too spicy.)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients. Work 1/2 mixture into meat 12-24 hours before cooking. Apply remaining rub just before smoking.

[Lucky]

Refrigerator Pickled Beets

Recipe yields 1 QT of liquid/brine
Fills 3 tightly packed PINT jars
About an hour, start to finish.

Originally from whatscookingamerica.net, modified by me and I added the brand names of ingredients I use. This is not a canning recipe so it does not require canning equipment, just clean jars and some refrigerator space. Be sure to use apple cider, not white, vinegar.

You will need:

1 medium red onion, cut in wide/thick strips
6 large beets (or about 10 medium beets)
2 cups apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg organic, raw, unfiltered)
2 cups water
1 and 1/8 cup Sugar in the Raw natural cane sugar (or use 2 cups white granulated sugar)
4 garlic cloves, sliced in half
2 clean pint jars with lids

1) Wash beets with a vegetable brush and cut leaves off. Cook using preferred method until tender. I half and boil them until they are really soft, this usually takes a good 35 minutes. Another method is to oven roast, instructions online.

2) Strain and allow beets to cool enough to handle. Peel the skin off with hands or use paring knife to assist. Beet juice stains very easily so wipe splatter off kitchen appliances/counters immediately. You might also wear gloves but they don’t stain your hands for too long, if at all.

3) Prepare the brine: In a large pan, bring apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and garlic cloves to a boil. Stir until sugar melts. Turn off heat and allow to cool while loading jars.

4) Cut peeled beets into pieces you can easily get out of your jars with a fork- any size or shape will do. Load jars with beets and raw onion. Take garlic out of brine and divide evenly into jars.

5) Pour warm brine over beets, leaving about one inch of head space between brine and rim of jar. Allow jars to cool to room temperature before adding lids and storing in refrigerator.

They are ready in 5-7 days and are safe in the fridge for at least two months. If you like vinegar, or pickled anything, these won’t last long in your house. Beets and onion excellent on their own and amazing on salads. A small cold beet salad can be made by simply tossing a few cups of beets with feta cheese and slices of either banana pepper or chopped green onion. When beets are gone, don’t toss brine immediately- instead, boil 4 or 5 eggs. Drop cool, peeled eggs in brine. Put the lid back on, store in fridge about 5 days. Amazing.

[Lucky]

Refrigerator Pickled Asparagus
Recipe yields about 3 cups of brine
Fills 1 tightly packed Quart jar (Note: picture shows 3 jars, recipe is for one.)
30 minutes, start to finish.

Originally from foodpreservation.about.com, modified by me and I added the brand names of ingredients I use. This is not a canning recipe so it does not require canning equipment, just clean jars and some refrigerator space. Be sure to use apple cider, not white, vinegar.

You will need:
1 bunch (roughly 40 spears of fresh asparagus)
2 and 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg organic, raw, unfiltered)
1 and 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon Sugar in the Raw natural cane sugar
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Ball Mixed Pickling Spice*
1 clean quart jar with lid

(*Original recipe calls for 2 sprigs fresh dill, 1 tsp whole mustard seed, and 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns. I tried that once, it’s great, but then I discovered Ball’s Mix. Whoa. It has these three plus: cardamom, cassia, ginger, coriander, all spice, chili pepper, cloves, and bay leaves. So good.)

1) Wash asparagus and cut/trim to fit in your selected jar. If jar tapers at all up towards the lid, cut some shorter and really pack them in the widest part of jar.

2) Remove asparagus from jar and blanch. (Drop vegetable in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Remove with tongs and drop immediately in a bowl of ice water. Allow it to sit in water 30-45 seconds. Remove with tongs, set on a plate.)

3) Prepare brine: In a large pan, bring water, apple cider vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil. Stir a little and remove from heat as soon as salt and sugar have dissolved.

4) Load jar with raw garlic and your chosen spice blend. Lay jar on its side and load asparagus in before standing it upright again. Pour warm brine into jar, leaving about an inch of headspace. Allow jar to cool to room temp before adding lid and storing in fridge.

These are ready in about 5 days, but they’re even better in 14 days. Stores in fridge at least 3 months before the texture starts to change. They are good alone, on salads, as a side dish with brisket or freshwater fish, and go great in a Bloody Mary.