With four select ingredients readily available throughout the year, you can make this flavorful and healthy salad anytime of the year. Perfect on its own for lunch or as a side dish to beef, pork, poultry, and fish, you’ll find your own variations to keep it unique.
If you joined us for our series on a smoking banana , now it’s time to learn just what you can do with this flavorful fruit. This recipe for Smoked Banana Double Bites makes for a perfect snack, kid loving dessert, or even a sweet party item. Gather together the following:
One of the easiest techniques to do with fruit on a gas or charcoal grill is wood firing peaches. Take advantage of the season with this fruit by bringing different flavors and textures for great recipe. Why not start with my recipe for a summer gazpacho that will cool you off during the hot season. It’s time to take advantage of the summer harvest with fresh peaches and yellow tomatoes for fabulous summer cuisine
Clams are at peak season and the perfect time to add some wood flavoring to this hot season favorite. We’ll show you how on a charcoal grill then use our golden, crispy clam meat in a super light and flavorful dish we call ‘Wood Fired Clams in Orzo with Dijon Caper Sauce’. The best part, you can use fresh clams that you remove the meat from or simply buy clam meat from the store’s seafood department or in cans in most grocery stores. A simple, delicious and oh, so flavorful dish that will be a hit with everyone who tries it.
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!
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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Grilled fresh corn is the one vegetable that you MUST try on any grill!
It’s that time of year! Fresh corn has arrived but not for long. Time to get your hands on a few dozen and do something truly special with this favorite
Grilled Fresh Corn- There’s Nothing Like It!
Yes, you can get corn all year by purchasing in the freezer section of your local grocer. Seriously though. Who wants frozen when by waiting nearly 10 months on the east coast you can have fabulous grilled fresh corn? There is a taste difference between fresh and frozen and boiled and grilled!
On The Grill With Wood For Smoky Char
Corn is one of those vegetables that just begs to be put on the grill. There are many techniques but I prefer to remove the husks and silks, and grill my corn on the cob
with wood chunks on the grill’s heat shields. In answer to the question about soaking the wood in water first – no, I do not do this step as I want my corn kernels to really crackle on the grill. Just see our posting on how to add wood chunks to the LP grill.
Spicy-char hummus is made by grilling/smoking the hot peppers and then add to your Hummus! Great way to keep the grill flavors when the weather turns colder!
The centuries old Arabic bean dip has gained in popularity substantially over the past few years in United States. Part of the draw is the fact that hummus is high in protein and fiber, and low in fat.
SUCCULENT WOOD FIRED STUFFED TOMATO WITH HERB RICE
It’s tomato season! Boy, do we have a great technique for you to try on your charcoal grill as well as a tasty recipe to make- wood fired stuffed tomato.
Bring 8 large tomatoes in from the garden or purchased at the fresh market, clean out the charcoal grill, fire pit, or fireplace, and give a few hours to a great cooking experience and exceptionally flavorful recipe.
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?
