Thu 25 Jul 2019
Our wood fired stuffed tomato filled with tuna salad and melted cheese is ‘over the top’ in taste!
Wed 24 Jul 2019
Smoking Snow Peas steps featured in this blog.
Let's try smoking Snow Peas! Click To Tweet
One of the most versatile vegetables is now in season and can be used in both hot and cold side dishes and main courses. In this series, we will be roasting our peas using a hot smoking method to bring the great wood-fired flavour.
I’ll be using my Stok Drum Charcoal Grill for this series. As the Stok has its own charcoal basket, I won’t need to prepare any additional lump hardwood charcoal. I am using a direct method of cooking. I place my charcoal in the unit’s charcoal basket leaving my grate insert off for now. Once the coals turn gray, I will lift the charcoal basket and allow the coals to advance into the cooking drum. I then grate insert off as I will use my vegetable pan to go right over the top of the insert area.
Adding Grande Sapore cherry wood chips
While the coals have been firing, I start preparation on the peas. As I am using sugar snap peas for this recipe there is very little preparation that has to be done. I first will remove all the string membrane that is attached to one side of the snap pea. If any stems are left on, I will remove those as well. I then wash the peas in a colander and then allow them to drip dry, shaking my colander occasionally to rid any excess water. If needed, I will pat dry the peas to ensure they are ready for the fire. Then I sprinkle on some Almond oil, sea salt, and fresh pepper to the peas. Now, we’re ready to wood fire!
My coals are hot, the wood chips are smoking, and the peas are ready to be kissed by fire! I place the vegetable pan on the center of the grill and leave my grill cover off. When cooking with wood, know that some temperature fluctuation can occur due to the natural variation in combustion so don’t leave the Peas unattended. Once you see the peas start to char, give them a toss with a spoon to ensure an even char cook.
Placing the peas on the Stok grill pan
Usually, you will see char begin about 4-5 minutes into the cooking cycle. Once that occurs, you will be looking at another couple of minutes before the peas will be ready to come off the grill. Be sure you monitor that you don’t go too far with the smoking process. If the peas begin to shrivel and wrinkle, you went too far. You can remove them and place in an ice bath or run under cold water to stop any additional cooking from taking place.
It’s so hard to explain the aroma that comes from the grill when you wood fire vegetables. Keep in mind, that even when the vegetables are chilled, they will retain their char flavor. Here are some tips to finishing these beautiful smoked sugar snow peas: add some crumbled feta cheese and serve, or a splash of lemon juice and dill, or even a dollop of ricotta cheese that’s been whipped with a bit of cream. You can also check into our next blog on peas where we feature these scrumptious beauties in a Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad, just perfect on a hot summer’s day!
First Turn on the Grill
… that when it comes to the forgotten method of direct ember cooking with wood, there are many great food varieties besides your typical meats, poultry and seafoods that offer awesome flavor. This blog demonstrates how snow peas are one of many tasty garden variety veggies that will tickle your pallet with a great smoky wood-fired taste. There are many more foods for you to enjoy with this technique! Go ahead, experiment with your favorite vegetables or fruits and treat yourself to a “world of flavor” possibilities!
Bon-Bar-B-Q!
Dr. Smoke- You’re in store for a real flavor treat by smoking snow peas!
For more reading on Smoking Snow Peas, try these recipes
Thu 11 Jul 2019
Our Finished Strawberry Rhubarb Fool with a Smokey Twist!
Strawberry Rhubarb Fool–Fresh rhubarb means great recipes most of which consist of dessert! This one is no exception. Not only am I going to use smoked rhubarb but I’m including smoked strawberry as well.
Thu 13 Jun 2019
Our Fresh peas get all smokey for a terrific pea mash
With the arrival of Spring on the East Coast, we have an opportunity to get some fresh vegetables and one of my favorites to locate are peas. Today, I’m going to remove fresh peas from their pods and wood-fire them using wood chunks on the gas grill. Then I’ll produce a tasty pea mash that I plan to serve on toasted bread for a healthy snack or appetizer. The time consuming part of this recipe is the removal of the peas but this task will be worth it.
Time to get to the store and locate about 2-1/2 pounds of fresh peas and fire up the grill for our flavorful take on pea mash.
Thu 30 May 2019
A must try is this smoked Beet Hummus!
I’ve got another great recipe for wood fired beets that will provide a quick way to prepare a fabulous beet hummus for guests, bring-a-dish parties, or just as a great snack for your own family. Wood fired flavor will come from the gas grill equipped with wood chunks using a two-zone cooking method. The outcome is a full flavor, beautiful beet hummus color to delight all who have the pleasure of partaking in this treat. Just one good size beet will do the trick but I always do an extra to keep around.
Join me at the grill as we make ricotta and smoked beet hummus.
Wed 8 May 2019
RADISH SALAD WITH A WOOD-FIRED FLARE- it will totally change the taste. Try some in a refreshing salad for extra flavor
RADISH SALAD WITH A WOOD-FIRED FLARE- The peak season for radishes is April thru July so I’m taking advantage of this great seasonal vegetable and putting them on the gas grill with some wood chunks to smoke up the flavors. I’ll first provide you my technique for bringing a wood flavor to these red beauties on a traditional gas grill, then I’ll use the finished product in a smoked radish and cannellini bean salad that is perfect as a side dish or for those vegetarians, add some non-animal protein to be a main dish favorite. Let’s get started!
Wed 24 Apr 2019
The first step for ember roasting fresh asparagus on a Hibachi!
It’s Asparagus season and that means you should get the most out of this sensational vegetable while it’s fresh! Learn how easy it is to ember roast this thick skinned vegetable to bring out the fantastic flavor of this vegetable as a side dish, or used as an ingredient in other recipes like a refreshing dip, soup, or stuffing for meat or fish.
Thu 28 Feb 2019
This Avocado recipe features melted cheese stuffed avocado inside Turkey, wrapped with Zucchini strips.!
I love taking a basic recipe and being able to offer variations to that recipe which allows the cook to customize for those being served. That’s why I refer to this recipe as the Versatile Smoked Avocado Loaf since you will have options in the ground meat or poultry used to surround the cheese filled avocado as well as the cheese and outer covering to the loaf. This is referred to as a meat wrapped, stuffed avocado recipe.
Thu 21 Feb 2019
Our Smoky Okra Soup rich and flavorful pieces in a wonderful tomato based broth!
Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to check out my smoked okra technique so you’ll be ready to take on this recipe for Wood Fired Okra Soup. This is incredibly easy to prepare soup recipe that has a total of 12 common ingredients which includes our super smoked fresh okra.
For those who may never have eaten okra, this is a great first recipe to give it a try. Okra is considered a warm-season vegetable but you can find imported varieties available so you can enjoy during colder months as well. Okra is rich is fiber, Vitamin K and folate, as well as being considered an anti-cancer fighting food.
Thu 31 Jan 2019
We’ve reviewed the numbers and are pleased to introduce the best recipes of 2018!
These are the recipes that garnered the most views and hopefully, were cooked in your household. Vegetable recipes by far dominated this listed.
Without further delay, here are the top 6 recipes starting with number six.
