Blackened Chicken

Having just returned from a short vacation where I was able to consume much fresh seafood, much of it blackened, I was not ready to give up on this great taste. Here in Kansas City fresh seafood is not as plentiful, however beef and poultry is.

I decided to try to make my own blackened seasoning and with a little research and effort it was a great success.

Here is the final recipe

1 1/2 Tablespoons Paprika
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 Tablespoon Ground Dried Thyme
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano

I recommend making a double batch
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and you can save your leftovers indefinitely for future uses.

I had all these ingredients on hand and found this combination to be spot on to the blackened taste I had either had in restaurants or store bought.

Smoke um If You Got um
Randy

Smoked Pork Chops

With the weather here in K.C. being so great this past weekend I wanted to break out the Pit again and try something different. I decided on smoking Pork Chops.

I had never smoked Pork Chops and was somewhat apprehensive as my  past experiences with them was less than satisfying. (shoe leather comes to mind) I did a little research and used some ideas I had for my smoke.

I came up with a new rub recipe (see below) and purchased 4 of the large chops (we from Iowa call Iowa Chops)

I first injected them with apple juice and then applied squeeze butter liberally to the outside and coated with the rub.

I fired the pit to 225 and used pecan wood for my smoke.

Well as you can see below the outcome was great.

I kept my pit temp between 225 - 250 and added smoke for a full two hours. I was looking for an internal temp of about 150. I then took them off the smoker and put on a hot grill to sear the chops and add the nice lines for aesthetic looks. After 6 minutes a side my internal temp was 160 which is where you want to be for your pork. If you do not care about the grill marks you can smoke the chops until they reach 160,  however I believe you will find them much better when searing after smoking. Also if you sear them before you smoke you run the risk of not soaking up enough smoke flavor.

Smoked Avocado and Bacon Deviled Eggs

In addition to the chops I made some smoked avocado and Bacon Deviled Eggs.

These may have been some the best deviled eggs to date and were very easy.

Start with either smoked eggs (see this blog post for info on smoking eggs) or use hard boiled eggs.
Take out the yolks and put in a mixing bowl.
Combine with about 1 avocado for every 6 eggs
Mix in some mayo and garlic powder to taste.
Mix toughly and put back into your egg whites
Top with bacon bits.

A bonus is that if you have any of your mix left as we did it was great with a slice of cheese on a cracker.

Pork Chop Rub Recipe
6 tablespoons ground cumin
4 tablespoons hot chili powder ( I did not have hot chili powder, just dark chili powder so I added a teaspoon of cayenne pepper) more or less depending on how my heat you seek.
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice (I left this out as I am not a fan of allspice)
2 teaspoons black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Makes enough for about 12 pork chops or save leftover for later uses

Happy Smoking
Randy