Wood fired Lobster Tails with Ash Minuto® smoker wood chips on the Plancha stove-top grill
When the temperatures go down and you simply can’t stand the thought of firing up the grill, but you crave something smoked, think plancha. This is a great method of bringing wood fired flavor to foods using the heat from your gas, electric, conduction, or infrared stove top.
I’m going to add a unique flavor to traditional chili by cooking lobster tail meat on the plancha using AshMinuto® Wood Chips. This will give not only great sear to the lobster meat but a true smoked flavor.
Get ready as we give the SmokinLicious® take on Wood Fired Lobster Tails Chili.
Our finished beef short ribs after applying our techniques we describe in this blog
SMOKED BEEF SHORT RIBS
Of all the cuts of ribs, this is likely my favorite. Found between the 6th and the 10th ribs of the animal, the meat on these ribs lays on top of the bones rather than between them like with back ribs. Short ribs require a method of cooking that will allow them to tenderize as they have a lot more meat, fat, connective tissue and flavor than pork ribs. Because of all that fat and connective tissue, beef short ribs need to be cooked to an internal temperature of 200°F.
Today, I’m going to cook my beef short ribs on the gas grill using an indirect method of cooking and wood chunks to bring great smoke flavor.
You’ve seen us use our plancha to do squid, now we’re going to smoke some artichoke hearts and mushroom caps using just one application of wood chips. This time, our plancha will be set up with BeechPiccolo® wood chips to infuse wood flavoring into artichoke hearts and button mushroom caps for the ultimate stuffed mushroom appetizer. I’ll take you through the recipe and cooking technique using my plancha on the gas range. Easy entertaining starts here with Stuffed Smoked Artichoke Mushrooms.
Wood Firing the Artichoke Hearts
We start off with a 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts packed in water. This will be roughly 8 artichoke hearts. After draining, rinsing, and patting dry, we fire up the plancha on our gas range placing a small handful of SmokinLicious® Beech Piccolo° wood chips on the plancha. As the plancha temperature rises close to 300° F, it’s time to add the artichoke hearts to the smoker racks. Place the cover on the plancha and let the artichoke smoke for about 8 minutes, turning one time half way through the cooking time. Then remove the hearts from the plancha, rough chop them, and put aside for the mushroom filling.
Button Mushroom Caps
Next on the plancha go the mushroom caps. We prepared them by first washing them, patting them dry, and then removing the stems. The stems are reserved to be used in the filling mix. If you want extra smoky flavor, feel free to smoke the stems as well but you should smoke them separate from the caps so they don’t shrink and lose too much water.
We’re still using the Beech wood chips that were used for the artichoke hearts as these still have plenty of smoke vapor to be released. Again, these mushroom caps will only take a matter of minutes. Remember, mushrooms are loaded with water so don’t let the caps stay on the plancha too long causing them to shrink and fall apart. Just bronze them with the smoke vapor, then remove to be stuffed. A good sign that they are ready to come off the plancha is when you see a small puddle of water forming in the cap.
Mushroom Cap Filling
With the artichoke hearts and mushroom caps smoked, it’s time to start on the filling. Here are the ingredients need for the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup grated parmesan
¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
1 egg white
First, I chop the mushroom stems, dice the shallots, and mince the garlic cloves. In goes the butter to a hot skillet, then all three prepared ingredients are added. Once cooked down, the white wine is added to the mixture with cooking continuing until the wine has evaporated. This is a highly aromatic filling that will blend well with the smoky flavors of the artichoke and mushroom.
The aromatics are now ready for the rest of the filling ingredients. First, add the chopped smoked artichokes hearts. Next in, the parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, and egg white. Mix everything together until it binds well. Time to fill the smoked mushroom caps. Using a teaspoon, I fill each mushroom cap heaping the filling on top. Although we prepared 20 mushroom caps, there is enough filling to do 40-50 caps depending on the size of the mushrooms selected. I place these in a baking dish and slide them into a pre-heated 350°F oven for about 30 minutes.
Soon to be the Favorite Stuffed Mushroom Appetizer
After smoking both the artichoke hearts and the mushroom caps, I infused the filling with the smoked, chopped artichoke hearts. With the additional flavors of parmesan, thyme, parsley, garlic, shallot and wine, these mushroom caps are full of flavors including that subtle smoke undertone. These are sure to become a favorite appetizer or snack. Plus, when done on the plancha, they can be smoked year round without concern for the weather.
Smiling Burmese child before surgery for wide, bi-lateral cleft Lip repair. After surgery photo of same child showing the correction! DINING FOR SMILES EVENTPREPARATIONS
DINING FOR SMILES EVENT PREPARATIONS
With the goal to repair children’s broken smiles by providing free comprehensive treatment for cleft lip and palate anomalies in under-served areas of the world, Alliance for Smiles, founded by six members of the San Francisco Rotary Club, Board member Carl Vahl (Chef Calle) hosted a gourmet, six-course dinner to raise funds for this exceptional cause at the Enchanted Valley Inn. And SmokinLicious® was right there to lend our support. We’re going to provide you with a behind-the-scenes look at what goes in to preparing a six-course gourmet meal featuring wood-fired fresh Canadian salmon and wood-fired leg and loin of lamb.
Dining for Smiles- Early Fire Start
For SmokinLicious®, set up is crucial for a long event that has the menu relying on the perfection of the wood-fired proteins. That means ensuring plenty of charwood and wood chunks are at the ready. We keep two chimney starters loaded with charwood to keep a steady flow of hot coals going into the grills. Since this event’s gourmet menu featured four foods to be wood fired – lamb, salmon, red peppers, and Brussels sprouts – it’s necessary to get the fires going early so they can burn down to hot coal beds. That is the key to successful wood-fire cooking. Don’t cook over flames, only hot coals that will radiate heat throughout the grill.
Wood Firing the Artichoke Hearts
Button Mushroom Caps
For 
