Crock Pot Red Beans

Yes, I know that I do a lot of crock pot cooking. I am busy girl, and I do love to cook. However, I also have limited time. Red beans on a stove take time, and so does the crock pot. Both take planning and prep work. On the other hand, I don’t have to hover over the crock pot like I would over the stove.

This isn’t necessarily a new recipe, but it is the way I do my beans. My next post will show you how to turn the leftovers from this recipe into a pot of chili, so there is a method to my madness.

Crock Pot Red Beans:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry red beans
• 1 big onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 lb of andouille or any smoked sausage
• 8oz of pickled pork or tasso
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Sriracha (optional)
• 8 oz chicken broth
• ham bouillon packet w/8oz of water (I found goya makes one that I like with the hispanic foods in the grocery)
• salt, pepper, and/or tony chachere’s for taste
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce (optional)
• dash of oregano and thyme
• smoked paprika

 

Directions:
Put dry beans, onion, garlic, and bell pepper in the crock pot. Fill crock pot with water to about an inch above the red beans. Sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, tony’s, worcestershire sauce, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika and sriracha over the whole pot, stir. Add bay leaves. Cover and let your beans soak overnight with all those delicious flavors. The next morning add the chicken broth, ham bouillon with 8 oz of water, and meat. You are also welcome to add additional seasonings before cooking thoroughly. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice.

Special Notes:
-Many people put celery in their beans. I am not a huge fan, but if you want it, then add the celery when you add the other veggies to the pot.

– If you find the beans are too watery when done then add gumbo file to the pot and let sit on warm, it will thicken before serving. Also, you can mash a few of the soft beans with a fork it will thicken the dish too.

– I also love mayo in my beans for dinner in my own plate, but many people add a tablespoon of mayo before serving just to add an extra touch of creamy-ness

– It’s even a great idea for leftover smoked meat and ribs that you’re tired of eat alone. Toss that leftover meat into the bottom of the pot before you cook on low, and it’ll come apart in your beans. Just pick the bones out before you eat.

Next post I want to show you how to make these leftovers into chili!

Shrimp Leftovers: what to do?

So on this blog I’d like to share with ya’ll how we reinvented our shrimp remoulade and BBQ shrimp leftovers.

I explain to others that I am A.D.D. with food. I can’t eat at the restaurant or fast food place in the same week much less the month. I have a hard time eating leftovers and particularly if those leftovers last for days. Typically, this food would go bad until I had an epiphany! My mom and I started wondering what we could make out of what was present or freezing half and using it later to eat or add to a dish.

So I’d like to share our ideas for these leftovers.

First off the remoulade sauce, we ate it originally the traditional way, boiled shrimp and lettuce. My mom also ate it with a creole tomato and some of the boiled shrimp. She said it was delicious, but I am not a fan of tomatoes. For lunch one day I mixed the remoulade with a can of tuna. I just ate it with crackers. It was very flavorful version of tuna salad. Another night after we received more shrimp, mom fried some, tossed over lettuce with remoulade.

There are a few more ideas I have in mind but have not tried. I think remoulade would make a great pasta salad base or in a tomato cucumber salad. It work in almost any dish which calls for an alternative to just plain mayo, sandwiches, potato salad, etc. I even thinking it may work well with an Alfredo sauce.

We also did a few different meals with the BBQ shrimp. Mom made BBQ shrimp quesadillas! She peeled the shrimp, put them on tortillas, added cheese, and a bit of remoulade and BBQ shrimp sauce. We ate it all and dipped them in remoulade too! We also used the BBQ shrimp for breakfast. Scrambled some eggs, cheese, tortilla, and shrimp. Mom did the same for some the fried shrimp she made: scrambled eggs, cheese, tortilla, with remoulade.

There are tons of options for your leftovers! Don’t limit yourself!

The fried shrimp remoulade salad

The Best Easy BBQ Shrimp

My mom makes the best BBQ shrimp. Yes, it is even better than Pascal Manale’s. Yea, I have had both. The best thing about this recipe is that it is super easy!

The Best Easy BBQ shrimp:
• 2.5 lbs of headless shrimp
• 1.5 bottles of Wishbone Italian Dressing
• 20 cloves of garlic sliced
• 3-4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 5-10 squirts of Lemon Juice
• 2 sticks of butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• Tabasco and/or cayenne (optional)
• French bread to serve with the shrimp

Directions:
Add all ingredients into a Tupperware dish except the butter. Marinate for 2 days in refrigerator. If possible shake and flip over every 12 hours. Preheat over to 350°. Before baking add the two sticks of butter to the mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes in covered pan. Stir every 15 minutes. Serve with french bread!

Crock Pot Shrimp Tacos

Last night, there was an impromptu swim party at my house. Being the gracious hostess I am, I cooked. I love cooking for others and sharing what I make.

Originally, I was just going to make shredded chicken tacos in the crock pot. Low maintenance cooking, so I could spend time with my guests.

Lately, my grandfather (Poppy) has been bringing us a ton of shrimp. He lives down by the bayou and shrimp boats, so these are high quality, fresh shrimp. Our fridge packed, but we hate to say no because then he’ll never bring any again.

My mom is a speed peeler! She gets crawfish and shrimp done faster than anyone I know. Luckily for me and my guests, she peeled all the shrimp or else this tasty dish would have never happened!

Crock Pot Shrimp and Chicken Tacos:
• 1 can of black beans drained
• 1 can of corn drained
• 1 can of Rotel
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 can of mango salsa
• 1 lime
• 2 tbsp of garlic powder
• fresh chopped parsley (optional)
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
• Peeled deveined shrimp
Add all ingredients into crock pot. Cook for 4 hours on high. Shred chicken by pulling apart with forks. Serve with desired taco toppings and tortillas!

Special Notes: This recipe comes out really juicy and I did dump about half of the juice out before serving. I fed 8 very hungry people on this recipe, and I still had a small container to spare.

I used about a pound of shrimp and a pack of 12 chicken tenders. The picture above is what my pot looked like after all ingredients were added.

      The delicious finished product!

Shrimp Remoulade Recipe

Big Mama made the best Shrimp Remoulade, so says my mom. Big Mama even gave my mother the cook book with her recipe and notes. The thought of Big Mama cooking is surprising to me as she as never cooked much while I, her granddaughter, was around. She always fed me frozen dinners, rotisserie chicken, whatever I wanted in the house. We also did lots of eating out picadilly, shoney’s, and chinese restaurants. Seafood was always her favorite besides desserts. 

Anyway, we had a ton of shrimp from a boil this past friday, and mom decided to try her hand at making this dish. This recipe I am about to share is the result of four recipes, and our own flair.

Ingredients:

• Boiled peeled shrimp
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 tbsp parsely
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1/4 cup salad vinegar
• 2 tbsp coarse dijon mustard
• 1 tsp minced onion
• 1/2cup green onion
• 2 tsp chives
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sweet relish
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• salt, pepper, and/or cayenne to taste

Add all ingredients in a blender, except for the olive oil, blend for 17 seconds, then add the olive oil gradually as you blend. If this step is not followed properly the ingredients will separate! Remoulade sauce is best served after marinating in the fridge for two days. Also, to get the best results for this dish, use fresh ingredients, like a lemon versus lemon juice, fresh parsely over dried parsely, etc.

Traditionally, remoulade sauce is served over cold boiled shrimp and lettuce. We will proabably serve it over Romaine lettuce. I personally feel it would be good over spring mix or spinach too. My mom says she likes it served over a creole tomato. I have seen restaurants serve this dish over fried green tomatoes too. I could also see shrimp remoulade making a good pasta salad.