I'm Smokin'!!!! July 2005 reviews.

[LonghornGal]

So today I had to spend all day at the house waiting on various people. In order to pass the time, I had a smoke-o-rama with the charcoal grill and the recipes from the July CL.

Smokin' is fun! It was super easy too, the recipes I tried all required a minimum of effort. It's harder to read the recipes than it is to actually do the smoking, so don't let the length of the instructions deter you. You just need to plan ahead for the smoking time. Everything came out with great flavor, I will definitely be doing this more! I definitely recommend smoking a bunch of things at a time to save!

I made:
Smoky Tomato Salsa - The tomatoes got this nice aroma and were super easy to peel, the jalapeno had grill marks... mmmm. The salsa is tasty, I just did a rough chop of the tomatoes instead of the puree as I like a chunky salsa.

Smoked Trout (for the Apple/Pecan salad recipe) This was easy, I have yet to try it (it's for lunches this week).

Smoked Shrimp (for the Orange/Lime Recipe) Again, easy, I just put the shrimp on foil and left it. The rub goes well with the smoky flavor. I know the orange will really shine on this finished dish!

Smoked Onion Soup Wow, did the house smell good with this one. It may almost be TOO smoky. We'll see. I bought smoked Gruyere because I thought that sounded good with it.

Smoked Roasted Red Pepper I had a GIANT red pepper so I threw it on the grill at the same time as the tomatoes. I turned it 25 minutes later when I added the fish and shrimp and a few more wood chips. AWESOME flavor, perfectly roasted, easy to peel without a zillion little black flakes.

I was actually planning to eat some of this tonight, but then my mom and dad volunteered dinner out. So I am saving it all.

[Kerri]

Hello,

I also made the smoked tomato salsa and have been meaning to post a review. I ended up throwing everything in my food processor. I mean why chop onions and cilantro if you are going to process the tomatoes anyways??!?!? This had a great impressive flavor, great consistancy, and ended up pretty spicy. I think if I made it again, I would only smoke half of the tomatoes. It ended up a little sweet for me and I missed having some fresh tomato flavor.

Kerri

[LonghornGal]

I seeded the jalapeno so that probably cut a lot of heat. This would be a fun recipe to experiment with, to contrast the smoky with a bit of sweet. I bet it would be good with mango or peach or nectarine chunks.

[Ann Sanders]

An onion question for you, since you made the Smoky Onion Soup, How many onions did it take to make the 6 cups???

[LonghornGal]

well.... i actually never bother to measure... I just eyeball my whole onions and say "that looks like 2 cups" or whatever. So I used 3 1015 onions.

As a follow-up on my incomplete reviews -

The Trout Salad is awesome! I was a bit leery of the apple-onion-fish combo, but the apple really set off the fish and vice versa. It was a really great combination of smoky and sweet and tart and onion.

The smoked shrimp with orange slices made me the envy of all my chinese-take-out eating coworkers. I got quizzed about my shrimp.

Tomorrow I plan to have the salsa with an omlette, the trout salad for lunch, and onion soup with ??? for dinner.

--Kristin

[sage]

Kristin,

If it's not too much trouble---if you have a chance,
could you post the recipe for the smoky tomato salsa?

Thanks in advance-
-Shannon

[LonghornGal]

I'm off to work right now but here's what I recall.

Smoke the tomatoes and jalapeno for about an hour, chop everything, mix. I think that was the basics!
You need 2 lbs tomatoes, a red onion, cilantro, and one jalapeno

Today's breakfast was an omelette with smoked Gruyere and smoky tomato salsa. yum!

[sage]

Thanks so much---that sounds easy enough!

-Shannon

[stacy7272]

Here you go, Shannon!

Smoky Tomato Salsa


Smoked tomatoes and jalapeño pepper make a world of difference in this salsa and blend beautifully with the garlic and lime. Garnish with a cilantro sprig, if desired.

2 cups wood chips
Cooking spray
5 large plum tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
1 jalapeño pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup diced red onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak wood chips in water 30 minutes; drain well.
Prepare the grill for indirect grilling, heating one side to low and leaving one side with no heat. Maintain grill temperature at 200° to 225°.

Place the wood chips on hot coals. Place a disposable aluminum foil pan on unheated side of grill. Pour 2 cups water in pan. Coat grill rack with cooking spray, and place on grill. Place tomatoes and pepper on grill rack over foil pan on unheated side. Close lid; cook 50 minutes. Remove tomatoes and pepper from grill; discard stem from pepper.

Place tomatoes, pepper, lime juice, marjoram, and garlic in a food processor; process 1 minute or until smooth. Pour mixture into a medium bowl; stir in onion, cilantro, and salt. Cover and chill at least 45 minutes before serving.

Yield: 2 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 16(11% from fat); FAT 0.2g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 0.6g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 8mg; SODIUM 152mg; FIBER 0.7g; IRON 0.0mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.7g

Bill and Cheryl Jamison
Cooking Light, JULY 2005