Smoked Scallops with Green Tomato Chutney

Mix 3 tablespoons brown sugar with 1 tablespoon Kosher salt. Sprinkle evenly on 1 pound large scallops. Let the scallops cure in the fridge for an hour before cold smoking. Smoke for 45 minutes to 1 hour with apple wood, cherry or alder wood chips. Grill till medium. Serve with green tomato chutney
2 cups apple juice
2 cups sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 chopped small red onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
a pinch red pepper flakes
3 cups diced, green tomatoes
Method
Simmer the apple juice, sugar, vinegar, onions, ginger, cinnamon
sticks and pepper flakes until a thick syrup begins to form. Add the green tomatoes.
Simmer for 5 minutes then cool. This chutney may be kept in the
refrigerator for weeks. Yield 6 cups chutney

Smoked Fried Chicken

The Fam loved this one. All right this is the USA, everyone loves fried chicken so I thought I would turn it up a notch. I brined some boneless skinless chicken thighs (eight bucks for 12 pieces) in the basic brine for 1 hour then cool smoked it for an hour with apple wood chips. Next I coated it like my mom used to do, dipped in seasoned flour then egg wash and then back in the flour. I browned it in canola oil over medium heat and then finished it in the oven.
Wow

Smoked Fillet Mignon with Guinness Stout Marinade and Guinness Barbecue Sauce

This recipe I worked up on St. Patty Day a few years ago. It just came off the top of my head and was superb. You could also do it with top sirloin steaks or rib eyes. Heck it would be great with venison or other game meats.


Marinade
Ingredients
1 de-fatted fillet mignon tail and head trimmed (about 3 ½ to 4 pounds)
1 bottle Guinness Stout
½ cups molasses
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-teaspoon whole cloves chopped
Method
Trim fillet by cutting off the tail and trim the “head” part to square off the meat. Blend marinade ingredients and marinate meat for 2 hours. Pat dry, and “cool” smoke fillet for 1 and ½ hours. Let rest in fridge for 1 hour to let smoke penetrate. Heat oil in a large sauté pan and sear meat on all sides. Preheat oven to 400°F. Put seared fillet in oven on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for approx 30 minutes. Internal temperature should be between 120° and 125° for medium rare to medium. Let rest 20 minutes before carving.
Serves 8
Serve with roasted new potatoes and asparagus

Guinness Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
3 bottles Guinness Stout
2 cups molasses
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons whole cloves chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-tablespoon kosher salt 4 cups veal stock
Method
Mix together in a stainless saucepot. Cook slowly taking care not to boil over. Reduce until lightly syrupy.

Best Smoked Salmon Ever

This recipe makes the best smoked salmon you will ever have.
Take 2 tablespoons of pickling spice and grind it in a coffee grinder. Mix that with 3 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of Kosher salt. Coat 1 good sized salmon fillet, about 2 pounds, on both sides. Cover and refrigerate for 2 day turning after the first day. The salmon should lose a lot of water and start to firm up. If it is not firming up turn over and let sit another day.
To smoke remove from dish rub and rinse off excess coating. Dry thoroughly with paper towels. Cool smoke for 1 1/2 hours (I prefer apple, cherry or alder wood - never hickory) then wrap well in PVC. Let set in fridge over night before slicing or do as I do - freeze it over night. To slice frozen salmon remove from freezer and let thaw until it starts to soften. Using a sharp knife slice salmon at an angle to get wider slices.
This is great with bagels, cream cheese, capers and thin sliced red onions.
People will scream...

Smoked Boston Pork Butt Stew

OK this turned out great. My wife bought a small Boston pork butt on sale and I was thinking what could I do to make this really awesome. Then it came to me. Smoked pork stew.
First I brined it in the basic brine recipe in a previous posting. I left it in overnight and cold smoked it for about an hour the next morning. I let it rest for two hours in the fridge so the smoke would penetrate the meat then I cut it into two big chunks and browned them in a large saute pan. I put the chunks in a crockpot and added a box of chicken stock. Next I sauteed some diced celery, carrots and onions to the pot. I also added 2 cans of diced tomatoes, dried oregano, chopped parsley, bay leaf, ground black pepper, a little brown sugar and a little salt. I left it on high for 4 hours.
The result was incredible. the meat just fell apart and was like the best BBQ you ever had but with a savory smokey sauce.
We served it with grits with fresh corn in it.
We also make sandwiches and tacos with the left overs.
Now that's economical and tasty too.

Smoked Cheeses

So this guy emails me about my smoker and wants to know if I can smoke cheese in it. Of course I say yes and that gets me thinking. Wow, I've smoked mozzarella in it before but what about other cheeses. So I decided to do a tasting. We bought some mild cheddar, gouda, mozzarella and brie. Then I cold smoked them with apple wood chips for an hour and a half and let them rest in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
I sliced up some peaches and added some grapes and an assortment of crackers to the plate with the cheese.
The four of us sat around drinking chardonnay, tasting and judging which was the best.
Well they all were great but decided that a Sauvignon blanc would have been a better wine choice and that the brie was incredible.
The brie would be great stuffed into chicken breast or in ravioli.

Grilled Smoked Chicken Breast with Peach Salsa

This is a really great and easy to make brine.

Basic Brine for Smoking Poultry (chicken, duck, pheasant, turkey, squab etc.)

2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cups kosher salt
1 cup pickling spice (or peppercorns, whole cloves, whole cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole coriander seed etc.
4 cups water
Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Sugar and salt should be dissolved.
Remove from heat and add 4 cups ice. Taste when cool. If it is too salty add more ice water.

Place poultry in a non-reactive (not aluminum, copper, etc.) container (glass, plastic or stainless OK). Pour enough brine over poultry to cover. Marinate at least 4 hours. Drain off brine and dry the breasts on paper towels before smoking. "Cool Smoke" for 1 hour and quickly chill or cook off.

It also works well with beef short ribs, pork butt and brisket.

WARNING: do not save brine that has touched the poultry.

Peach & Cherry Salsa to serve with smoked chicken breasts.
4 servings

6 peaches, pitted and diced small
15 cherries, pitted and diced small
1/2 c. diced red onion
1 lime, zest and juice
1 tblsp. sugar
1/4 teasp. salt

Method: Combine and let sit in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Grand Cru Wine Barrel Smokers

After years of building and using my wine barrel smokers my friends and family convinced me that I should be making and selling them so I created my company Grand Cru Wine Barrel Smokers.

Grand Cru smokers use a unique satellite wood chip heater that produces cool smoke.
“Cool Smoking” makes the difference. Chicken, Pork, Beef, Fish and Vegetables can be quickly smoked and cooked at a later time. Use the wood chip flavor of your choice for a variety of tastes.
Grand Cru Smokers, with their three racks, can “cool smoke” up to 60 pork chops or 12 sides of salmon at a time. Even turkeys are not too large.
Grand Cru Smokers can be custom made to your wine preference if desired.
For the gourmet home cook or seasoned chef, no other smoker can give the same flavor.