Chef Paul’s "Cookin' with Passion" Tip of the Week
Grilling Tips #2
Smoking in your grill – the only place I’d like to see you smoking since it does create a lot of smoke. Some people have opted to try to do some smoking indoors and it has never really turned out the same after the fire department gets called and everyone gets fined! So never try smoking inside, we’re going to pull our smoking outside. You can buy these little smoke boxes. It’s basically an iron box that you put your wood chips in and it has holes in the side. You put that on top of where the direct flame would be coming from on the grill – usually underneath the grate – and that creates smoke. You shut the top of your grill and that creates a smokehouse.
We’re going to take that one step further and we’re going to make our own flavored chips. We’re going to do this with a cranberry cinnamon tea which you probably have in your cupboard. You probably have a lemon tea or an orange tea – any flavor fruited teas. You make an 8 oz. cup of tea with hot water and you let that tea bag really steep in there so it gets really strong. Take your wood chips – you may have apple chips, you may have hickory, you may have oak, you may have mesquite – whatever you may have – we’re going to add some punch to it. We’re going to let those chips soak in that tea for 24 hours and then we’re going to drain that tea out and put our chips inside that smoke box.
Well you say, “I don’t have a smoke box.” We’re going to make our own smoke box. Take heavy duty aluminum foil and fold it four different times and put the chips inside the foil loosely packed and then punch holes in the aluminum foil. We’re going to make a bowl of chips out of it and we’re going to punch holes in it so the heat can get in and the smoke can get out and we’re going to put it underneath the grate where the flame is. Keep that top closed and that will produce the smoke we’re looking for. Now you don’t want things to get too smoky, so if you’re cooking a 12 oz sirloin or an 8 oz filet you want to leave that in there for approximately 10 – 15 minutes with heavy smoke, but no longer than that because then you’ll get a bitter taste from the smoke.
Another great thing to throw on the grill are fresh Jersey tomatoes. You can have Pennsylvania tomatoes, too but Jersey tomatoes - since I’m from New Jersey - are probably the greatest tomatoes that are out there. Those in the Northeast and actually most of the country now can get Jersey tomatoes on request. You don’t have to use Jersey tomatoes but they are awesome. We’re going to peel those tomatoes before we put them on the grill. We’re going to take boiling water in your kitchen and we’re going to put a little star incision in the top and drop the tomatoes in the water for maybe 7 or 8 seconds and pull them out. Cool them down, let them sit a minute and then peel the skin off them. Then we’re going to take the whole tomatoes and put them on your grill where you have a nice smoke build-up. We’re going to put them on the grill, shut the top and let them sit for 8 minutes. Pull them out and they will be delicious. 8 minutes at the most is what you want for those tomatoes. Take them out, let them cool, slice them down, serve that with a little olive oil and a little goat cheese and you’ve got a meal.
