Smokinlicious® Wood Recipe Blog

Bringing smoke flavor to stuffed squid done on the plancha will provide wonderful and unique flavor to this appetizer.

STUFFED SQUID COOKED ON THE PLANCHA

We love demonstrating the versatility of SmokinLicious® products with all types of equipment. We’re taking our Piccolo® wood chips to the plancha to smoke infuse some stuffed squid for a unique appetizer. Don’t own a plancha? You can do the same thing with a standard stovetop griddle and a small roasting rack. Or, use a charcoal or gas grill with some wood chunks for the same smoky flavor.

Plancha Cooking

A plancha is a flat top grill made of heavy metal that can be placed on any type of heat source: electric, gas, infrared, induction, charcoal grill, gas grill. Basically, a plancha is a griddle made of metal.

What’s great about a plancha is you can do simple hot smoke infusion using a micro wood chip that is quite fast due to the intense heat these quality metal cookware pieces produce.

My plancha is made by the French company, Mastrad. I prepare the plancha by placing it on my heat source – in this case my gas range – set the heat level to medium-high, place a handful of SmokinLicious® Piccolo® Wood Chips in Beech size #10 on the plancha, and place the two smoking racks on the griddle. I’ll give the wood chips about 5 minutes to heat up and start releasing smoke, then it’s time to place on the stuffed squid bodies.

Stuffed Squid Ingredients

For our stuffed squid you’ll need to gather the following ingredients in addition to SmokinLicious® Piccolo® Smoker Wood Chips (Beech):

• 2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1-1/2 heads of frisee or other green lettuce, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons capers
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1-1/2 pounds squid, bodies only, rinsed – should be about 8 bodies

Stuffed Squid- Making Stuffing

Time to make the squid stuffing. Taking a medium bowl, combine the seeded and diced tomato, chopped greens, and capers. In a small bowl, make the dressing by whisking together the 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and zest, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over the stuffing mixture and toss to coat.

Stuffing the Squid

Taking one squid body at a time, fill with the stuffing mix using a teaspoon within ½ inch of the open top. Then lace a toothpick through the top. Brush all the bodies with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil. Then they’re ready to place on the hot plancha.

Stuffed Squid- Plancha Cooking

With the wood chips hot and releasing smoke vapor, I place the readied stuffed squid on the cooking racks. These will cook and smoke for about 7 minutes before I will turn them. Another 4-5 minutes on the other side, and you’ll see a golden hue and plump shiny bodies emerge. Turn off the heat to your plancha and carefully remove the squid. Cut into 1-inch slices and serve warm.

There are many variations to stuffing squid bodies but this is one that is essentially vegetarian in design so it can be enjoyed by everyone.

Purchase products:

Wood Chips- Piccolo®

Additional reading:

-WOOD FIRED CLAMS MAKE THIS THE PERFECT BITE

-BBQ SHRIMP INSTANT GRATIFICATION!

-SUCCULANT WOOD FIRED STUFFED TOMATO WITH HERB RICE

Dr Smoke- “This is a must try appetizer combination and very easy to do on the plancha.”

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 Cherry Wood 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.

How did we do? Leave a comment, love us, and subscribe. We’re all about wood fired cooking techniques, idea, recipes, and the science behind the smoke and fire.

Related reading:

-HOW TO TURN YOUR LP/GAS GRILL INTO A SMOKER

-Stove Top Smoked Butternut Squash

-Smoked Squash & Kale Soup

Purchase products:

Wood Chunks- Single Filet

Dr Smoke- “Try this sweet and savory recipe on your gas grill to add a little flare to your outdoor barbecue.”

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Grilled Fresh Corn- There’s Nothing Like It!

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On The Grill With Wood For Smoky Char

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Try our ember fired Zucchini with a galette twist Click To Tweet

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Try Wood Fired Cauliflower on Your Gas Grill! Click To Tweet

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