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.
Our Smoked Carrot Cake starts with us grilling our carrots to add a hint of smokey flavor to this vegetable! Then we bake these carrots into a perfect looking cake for our Smoked Carrot Cake!
ROOT VEGETABLE MAKES AWESOME SMOKED CARROT CAKE!
Carrots are ready for picking and for cooking! We’ve got an easy smoking technique that can be done with whole, sliced, even grated carrot. Once smoked, we are taking all that flavor and making an oil-free, carrot-almond cake with ricotta cream.
Smoked Carrot Cake- Nutrition for Your Bones
Carrots are known for their supply of antioxidant nutrients but they are also prized for their benefit to bone mass. Rich in Vitamin A, biotin, vitamin K, fiber and so much more, carrots offer a variety of color options: traditional orange, yellow, white, purple, and red. As they are considered a hardy root vegetable, they tend to keep longer than most other vegetables. On the grill or smoker, they work perfectly at absorbing the level of smoke vapor you want for recipes.
Carrot and Grill Preparation
As carrots are a root vegetable, they can get a lot of dirt on them. It’s important that you wash them well and then pat dry. If you want to smoke your carrots whole, simply trim the ends. My plan is to use these in our smoked carrot cake recipe so I’ll introduce my carrots to the food processor to produce even shredding. Once shredded, I place in a grill safe, flat pan. I’ll be using two SmokinLicious® single filet wood chunks in Wild Cherry to keep the flavor on the mild side. These chunks are placed on a lit burner set to medium-low. Only that burner will be on! Preheat the grill using all burners, then when the carrots go on the grill, turn off all the burners but the one with the wood chunks.
Smoked Carrot Cake- Just a Little Time
As I’ve elected to pre-shred my carrot for the eventual cake recipe, the actual smoking time will be quite short. I don’t want to remove all the water content naturally found in carrot as I want a moist cake. My total cooking time is roughly 15 minutes. If you do want additional smoke flavor without dehydrating your carrots, you can do a handheld food smoker application as well as this a cold smoking technique that will not affect the moisture of the food nor provide any cooking.
Smoked Carrot Cake- Recipe Time
With our carrots wood grilled, it’s time to start with the cake ingredients. Preheat the oven to 375°F. First up, 1-1/2 cups of finely ground almonds, preferably blanched, finely grated lemon zest from 2 lemons, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. If you cannot locate pre-ground almonds, you may use blanched slivered almonds and process in the food processor. Add all three ingredients to the food processor and pulse until a fine, ground consistency is achieved. Time to prepare the 9-inch springform pan. First, butter the bottom and sides. Feel free to add a buttered parchment round to the bottom of the pan if you wish. Then take a small amount of the ground almond mixture and apply to the sides of the pan. Before we start on the cake batter, melt four tablespoons of butter and set aside.
Smoked Carrot Cake- Cake Batter
Now it’s time for the basic dry ingredients for our smoked carrot cake batter. This is a recipe that is oil free. I’ll be using cake flour to bring more lightness to this cake. Here’s what you’ll need for the start of the cake batter
Unbleached cake flour-1-1/4 cups
baking powder-2 teaspoons
salt-¼ teaspoon
sifter
All these ingredients will be sifted into a medium bowl to bring airiness to the cake. Next up, the wet ingredients. You will need:
sugar-¾ cup
4 large eggs
almond extract-¼ teaspoon
Crack the eggs in a large bowl and add the sugar. With an electric mixer set to medium-high speed, beat the egg mixture until pale, foamy, and thickened. Reduce the speed to low and add in the remaining almond mixture, almond extract, and the flour mixture. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated into the cake batter, take the 4 tablespoons of melted butter and pour over the batter, gently incorporating. In goes the smoked, grated carrot – about two cups. Just combine those items and then spread the batter into your prepared 9-inch springform pan. I’ve used the orange carrot for this recipe as they were available in the garden but I prefer yellow carrot for a golden color all the way through the cake.
Baking Time
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F once the cake is placed on the middle rack (From the preheated oven of 375°F). It will take about 40 minutes to cook through. While it’s baking, I make the ricotta cream. Gather together:
ricotta cheese-1 cup
sour cream-1 cup
honey-2 tablespoons
confectioner’s sugar-2 tablespoons
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Combine all these ingredients and refrigerator until the cake is ready to serve.
Smoked Carrot Cake- Spongy, Light Goodness!
With our cake lightly browned and springing back when touched in the center, it’s ready to come out of the oven and cool. Once the cooled cake can be plated to a cake stand, I take about ¼ cup of confectioner’s sugar and sift the sugar over the cake. Now it’s time to slice this succulent cake and serve our ricotta cream on the side. This is a very subtle smoked carrot so you will not get an overwhelming smoked flavor. In fact, if you don’t tell anyone you smoked the carrot, they likely will never know. Experiment with flavors you like – swap crushed pistachio for the almond, coconut extract for the almond extract. You can even dust with cocoa powder. Anything goes! Don’t forget, only dust the cake with the confectioner’s sugar before you’re ready to serve as this cake is very moist and will increase in moisture as it sits.
Did we spur your imagination with this recipe?
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The stages of cooking acorn squash on the grill-stuffing with brown sugar-cooking over wood on the gas grill-finished product!
One of the most popular winter squash that can be found pretty much anytime of the year, acorn squash is rich in fiber and potassium. Time to take this squash favorite and smoke it on the gas grill with cherry wood chunks. But first, we’ll give it some flavorful stuffing to make this exceptionally sweet.
Clean the Acorn Squash
Most acorn squash weigh between 1-2 pounds. After cleaning the outside under running water, cut off the pointed end and ensure the bottom is flat so the squash won’t tip while cooking. Now, scoop out the seeds and membrane until clean, just like you would do with a pumpkin. The seed-free squash is going to be our ingredient vessel that will make the acorn squash so sweet and full of goodness.
Sweeten Things Up
Once the acorn squash is clean of seeds and membrane, it’s time to stuff it. The ingredients are simple: brown sugar mixed with cinnamon and butter. That’s it!
First put approximately ¾ stick of softened butter into the acorn squash center. Then pack in the brown sugar-cinnamon mix. And I mean pack it in! Be sure to press down so the butter and brown sugar mix combine. Once filled, I sprinkle a bit extra of the sugar mixture on the cut top. Now place the acorns in a pan that will be heat safe on the gas grill. Time to prepare the gas grill.
Smoking on the Gas Grill
I’ve turned two burners to “on” of my 4-burner grill. I add two SmokinLicious® Single Filet CherryWood Chunks to one of the heat shields on my grill. Next, I add the acorn squash to a roasting pan and set it on the grate of the grill that has the burners turned “off”. This is known as an indirect method of cooking. The squash will cook until tender all the way through. Depending on the size of the squash, this will take between 1-1/2 to 3 hours. Then get ready for the sweet, buttery smooth squash meat!
A Side Dish or Dessert
Even though the butter was placed to the bottom of our squash and the brown sugar mix on top, the lighter weight of the butter will rise to the surface while the brown sugar mix sinks to the base. These ingredients will mix during cooking to sweeten the squash meat. Once tenderized, remove and allow to cool before handling. Then scrap out the squash meat with the cooked butter-brown sugar mix, combine, and enjoy. This is sweet so you can enjoy it as a side dish or as a dessert – a spoonful on pound cake or puffed pastry is define.
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Carrots are ready for picking and for cooking! We’ve got an easy smoking technique that can be done with whole, sliced, even grated carrot. Once smoked, we are taking all that flavor and making an oil-free, carrot-almond cake with ricotta cream.
shredded, I place in a grill safe, flat pan. I’ll be using two 
Crack the eggs in a large bowl and add the sugar. With an electric mixer set to medium-high speed, beat the egg mixture until pale, foamy, and thickened. Reduce the speed to low and add in the remaining almond mixture, almond extract, and the flour mixture. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated into the cake batter, take the 4 tablespoons of melted butter and pour over the batter, gently incorporating. In goes the smoked, grated carrot – about two cups. Just combine those items and then spread the batter into your prepared 9-inch springform pan. I’ve used the orange carrot for this recipe as they were available in the garden but I prefer yellow carrot for a golden color all the way through the cake.
Did we spur your imagination with this recipe?
is rich in fiber and potassium. Time to take this squash favorite and 
the seeds and membrane until clean, just like you would do with a pumpkin. The seed-free squash is going to be our ingredient vessel that will make the acorn squash so sweet and full of goodness.
First put approximately ¾ stick of softened butter into the acorn squash center. Then pack in the brown sugar-cinnamon mix. And I mean pack it in! Be sure to press down so the butter and brown sugar mix combine. Once filled, I sprinkle a bit extra of the sugar mixture on the cut top. Now place the acorns in a pan that will be heat safe on the gas grill. Time to prepare the gas grill.
the burners turned “off”. This is known as an indirect method of cooking. The squash will cook until tender all the way through. Depending on the size of the squash, this will take between 1-1/2 to 3 hours. Then get ready for the sweet, buttery smooth squash meat!
cool before handling. Then scrap out the squash meat with the cooked butter-brown sugar mix, combine, and enjoy. This is sweet so you can enjoy it as a side dish or as a dessert – a spoonful on pound cake or puffed pastry is define.
