When you fire up the smoker, you want to take advantage of every waft of smoke. Our smoker holds a couple of shelves of comestibles, so we planned ahead with marinades and so forth.We smoked three kinds of meat. Two were seafood, and the other was not chicken. I hate smoked chicken. (I will tell you soon, of course, what it was.)
Voila, the smoked teriyaki salmon. My dad used to make smoked salmon jerky when he was in Alaska, pretending he wasn't hauling nukes on his antisubmarine patrol plane. (He was.) I loved the dense, chewy texture, even though that's not really standard for smoked salmon. And I wanted to recreate it.
But Cranky cut the meat into largish chunks, so it wouldn't fall through the grill, and it came out sort of in between. In between jerky and tender fillet.
I'm not going to go on about textures and cooking times. We were very happy with the results, though we may pull the fish out of the smoker earlier next time and forget about salmon candy. Or, we might aim for salmon candy next time.
There will be a next time, before the rains of winter.
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It must be smoker time. Something seasonal maybe, though I know you're not having the weather we're having, nor headed into the same winter. Tamar inspired me to smoke some duck, so I did two frenched breasts today with a mixture of different woods. Then I treated one of the breasts as if it were magret de canard and cooked it like I learned to do in the south of France. It didn't come out like I learned to do in the south of France though. Big meaty smoky yum. I have another smoked breast waiting for more culinary hijinks tomorrow night. Can't say I blame you for the antipathy to smoked chicken. But smoked duck? A yes in my book.
Do you ever sneak any vegetables or non-meaty things into the smoker while you've got it fired up anyways?
I would be all over smoking some cheeses as well. Mozzarella, gouda, cheddar, oh my. Scallops also smoke very well - those large day boat ones. Your oysters made me want to enjoy a few on the half shell just because.
Salmon candy? Well Halloween is right around the corner, though your trick o' treaters might not be thrilled :-)
Oh, homemade smoked salmon. Now that's something I miss. My grandparents lived in Oregon for the last decade of their life. My grandfather would go fishing, bring back the salmon and smoke it in the back yard. I remember it as being softer than what you describe. My grandmother would fix salad, boiled potatoes and those, with a side of the smoked salmon was about as close to heaven as one could get this side of the pearly gates.
You can have your oysters. I never could stand them in any form - fried, raw, smoked or in chowder. So, that leaves more for you.
I am proud of you.
Hey, Kate. How's the farm?
I am _enchanted_ by the idea of smoked duck! Completely different from chicken, yes. That's on the list, and pronto. Thanks.
I have smoked a couple pots of Tuscan beans, but it's all for naught. Mainly I'm about the meat, though if you saw Little Pots' comment about smoking cheese, I might waver.
Little Pots: Smoked cheese! I had never thought of it. The temperature in there might be a little high, but I bet I could get results by taking the cheese out before it gets too hot. Then cool it and put it back in. Yeah!
Listen, those little costumed brats ain't getting my salmon candy. :)
Nancy: When we took the salmon off the grill, it was almost buttery soft. But it firmed up in the fridge. So many things to explore, yum.
Chilebrown: I get the Mad Meat Merit Badge? Squee!
Smokin!! What kind of wood do you use? I tend toward apple.
Smoked fruit. Like raspberries or peaches. Why not?
Greg: We used a combination of alder and hickory. Alder first, for the seafood, followed by hickory for the meat.
I love the idea of apple wood. Where do you get it?
We have a chunky limb from our pear tree that we have been planning to use, but have to saw it up!
Zoomie: Wondrous idea! Kinda Grant Achatz-y, if done intelligently. I suspect raspberries would fall apart in the heat, but peaches sounds good. Sadly, out of season now.
I second the duck...although all I can "taste" now in fantasy is pork. Ribs. Sorry -- must be the beautiful almost-summer day that has me going there. Sturgeon? (One of my favorite Jewish deli treats in NYC.)
Kudzu: For the "reveal" -- yes, pork spareribs coming up! But aren't you intrigued by the duck idea? I'm thinking of duck legs.
The homestead is going fine I suppose, though far too many things on the list never got done this year. With the other smoked duck breast I made a version of this recipe from Hank:
http://honest-food.net/2011/04/03/bulrushes-and-flyway-fried-rice/
We put in burdock instead of his bulrushes, smoked turkey stock instead of his duck stock, chicken eggs instead of his duck eggs. It was very good, unusual, a fall dish worthy of outdoor work in crisp temperatures. Was hard not to eat what should be the leftovers.
Kate: Sounds really good. I can't wait to get my duck legs. Yeah, legs. :)
I AM EDSCAN. WHO AM I?
Before the rains of winter *sigh*
I love smoked chicken (don't hate me)
Mouse: I wish I could share the rain with you. I don't like it at all, and you are suffering in the heat.
PS, Mouse: It's just idiosyncratic. I like smoked meats when something like a cure happens. Some of my best friends like smoked chicken. ;)
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