Some people have you over to dinner and won’t let you leave without leftovers.
My friends make me take appliances.
One wouldn’t let me out the door recently without her stove-top smoker. Plus a grocery bag of wood chips the size of baby Chiclets in plastic containers. It was the start of something big.
Basically, if you can cook something on the grill, you can cook it in a stove-top smoker, with a lot less hassle. You can even smoke things such as cheese, nuts or sausage.
During the course of several weeks, I have smoked salmon, Angus beef, tomatoes, sweet onions, pork loin, pork chops, chicken breasts, Gorgonzola cheese and Finnish, Idaho and purple potatoes. The resulting smoky flavors are intense, permeating the foods so deeply that they linger in your mouth like the afterglow of a fine wine.
The potatoes go right to the table with plain non-fat yogurt and chives, or they become part of the Southwestern Potato Salad. The Gorgonzola cheese emerges with baconlike overtones.
Chicken basted in Indian tandoori paste tastes very close to the authentic tandoor-cooked version. Even fish, one of the hardest things to cook well at home, comes out restaurant-perfect.
The Camerons stove-top smoker looks like a sturdy roasting pan with retractable handle and a flat, fitted lid. Inside, there’s a drip tray and a rack.
In less than 30 minutes over low or medium heat, it produces those deep, wonderful smoky flavors. S imple to use and easy to clean, it gets by on a tablespoon or so of wood chips and leaves only a light smoky fragrance in the kitchen.
Although it was introduced nine years ago, it’s the best-kept secret in the country. It retails for about $65, with a sample of wood chips and recipe booklet included (call 719-573-9932 for more information or to order).
The original Camerons smoker was inspired by a Scandinavian camping product, says Bruce Merriman, a founding partner who recently repurchased CM International in Colorado Springs, which makes the Camerons. Fishermen were using a smaller version to cook freshly caught fish, he says.
Besides an all-weather advantage, the Camerons uses wood chips that are only a little larger than sawdust. This means you can keep a variety of woods on hand in the same space you’d need for a couple of logs.
But what people tell Merriman they like most about the smoker is the way it flavors food without adding fat.
“The fact that it’s a low-fat way to impart flavor in food,” he says, “is probably the No. 1 feedback.”
The only real problem has been the temptation to cook foods too long.
That, and the realization that at some point I have to give the one I’m using back to its owner.
SMOKED CHICKEN CHILI RELLENO
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
This recipe is rich and special enough for guests. For lower fat content, substitute with whole milk instead of cream and use a low-fat cheese.
4 poblano peppers
1 cup each: whipping cream,
grated Monterey jack cheese
1 cup chopped smoked boneless chicken
Ancho chili sauce, recipe follows
1/4 cup each, chopped: tomato, green onion
1. Heat broiler. Place poblano peppers on roasting pan. Broil, 4 inches from heat source, turning occasionally, until black and blistered on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag, seal tightly and set aside for 15 minutes. Wear rubber gloves while handling peppers if desired.
2. Remove peppers from bag and allow to cool enough to handle. Pull off charred skin, slit one side and remove seeds; reserve. Be careful not to tear peppers.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place cream in skillet over medium heat. Cook until cream is reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and smoked chicken. Place peppers in a 1 1/2-quart baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.
4. Fill each pepper with chicken mixture. Pour ancho chili sauce over and around peppers. Bake until sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped tomato and green onion.
Ancho chili sauce: Soak 2 dried ancho chilies in enough warm water to cover until soft, about 15 minutes. Pull out stems and remove seeds. Combine softened chilies with 1 cup whipping cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until cream is thickened and reduced by about one-third. Strain mixture through a fine wire mesh strainer into a bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, salt and white pepper to taste.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories…..1,080 Fat…..77 g Cholesterol…..355 mg
Sodium….1,000 mg
