Tag Archives: sweet

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Crab Corn Chowder

I haven’t written up a recipe in awhile. But rest assured, I stayed busy in the kitchen all year.

I tend to prefer broth-like soups, but every wet, cold wintry day demands a spicy stick-to-your-ribs seafood chowder.

This recipe pairs crab and corn together for liquid gold creamy goodness. During warmer months, I usually omit the potatoes, but recently DH demanded potatoes in his chowder, so in they went.

Lite crab corn soup – minus the potatoes

The result is a kicky, New England-style chowder that’s sweet, spicy and chunky.

Base:

  • 4 oz onion, chopped or diced
  • 1 tablespoons evoo (for onion saute)
  • 16 oz lobster broth
  • 15 oz canned cream corn
  • 8 oz light cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit for less spicy)
  • .25 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp stevia or sweetener of your preference
Make your own lobster broth for best flavor! Slow cooked shells

Saute the onions over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients above and mix thoroughly. Immersion blend till desired liquid consistency. Pour into slow cooker, then add the following ingredients.

  • 16 oz russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 medium or large jalapeno, diced (remove veins for less spicy)
  • 4oz heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 6- 8 oz claw meat
  • 12 oz roasted corn
  • 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme

Slow cook until thickened and potatoes are tender and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes over high heat. I don’t recommend pressure cooking because there isn’t enough liquid in this recipe, which will trigger the burn warning. Slow cooking will let this dish develop its flavor over time and thicken as it cooks.

Prior to serving, stir in 6-8 oz of crab meat. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Smoked Glazed Pork Belly (aka Pork Belly Burnt Ends)

The Labor Day weekend is summer’s last bow before fall arrives, and the holiday is usually marked with backyard cookouts across the US, involving grills and smokers.

My household planned on staying home during the weekend, spending some intimate time with the Big Green Egg XL…and I wanted to do something different with pork belly from my usual crispy smoked roast pork. I wanted something sweet, smoky…and spicy a la Sichuan style. And of course I’d heard of pork belly burnt ends so…

This here hunk of smoked pork belly with crisped skin…

…went back into the BGE with a generous application of my spice rub, along with helpings of butter, honey and brown sugar…

Which then turned into the sticky-sweet-and-savory pork belly dish below!

The only things I would have changed to this recipe: get a larger slab of pork and add some real heat–Sriracha or chili oil–to the glaze.  Oh, and I could’ve certainly used a lot less butter.

The recipe as is:

  • 6 tbsp salted butter (2 or 4 tbsp would be less wasteful)
  • 3oz Neem honey
  • 3oz light brown sugar
  • 1-2oz of spice rub (I used my cajun rub)
  • about 3 lbs of skin-on, boneless pork belly
  • a bunch of green onions, sliced, for garnish (optional)

In contrast to some burnt end methods that I’ve read, we didn’t cut or rub the pork belly before the smoke. We slapped the raw, uncut and unadorned pork belly onto the BGE to smoke at 300F (over hardwood coals and post oak logs) for about 15-20 minutes. We then applied direct heat to the skin for another 5-10 minutes to get crispy.

After pulling it off the smoker to slice and cube, I tossed the pork belly chunks in a foil pan with the glaze ingredients.  Then back onto the BGE they went for another 10-15 minutes to caramelize.

Once the pork belly got sticky and a little blackened, I pulled the pan from the smoker and let it sit while I chopped up the garnish.

It was mighty hard sneaking bites in of the hot bits of pork…but it was soooo delicious!