Smokin': Recipes for Smoking Ribs, Salmon, Chicken, Mozzarella and More with Your Stovetop Smoker

by Christopher Styler

Overview

Get that great taste of wood-smoked food using the top of your kitchen stove.

Contains everything you need to know about smoking foods at home, using a stovetop smoker.

Chris serves up 36 master recipes for smoking everything from whole chickens to shrimp, plus 95 recipes for soups, salads, and sides that use smoked ingredients. There's Tea-Smoked Duck; Smoked Eggplant Soup; and Fettuccine with Smoky Salmon, Peas, and Leeks to name just a few. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and your love for smoky flavor. With Chris Styler's tips, techniques, and pointers, smoking food is simple, fast, and the taste speaks for itself. Smokin' — it's well, smokin'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060548155
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/03/2004
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	593,921
Product dimensions:	7.38(w) x 9.12(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Christopher Styler is the author of Primi Piatti, and his articles have appeared in Family Circle, Redbook, Woman's Day, and New York magazine.

Read an Excerpt

Smokin'
Recipes for Smoking Ribs, Salmon, Chicken, Mozzarella, and More with Your Stovetop Smoker

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Smoked Chicken

Makes 4 Servings

I chose the cheeses listed here to give the casserole a mild, mellow flavor that won't overpower the smoked chicken. If you like, switch to a sharper Cheddar or replace the Jarlsberg altogether with Cheddar.

3 cups elbow pasta

FOR THE BREADCRUMB TOPPING (or use plain breadcrumbs)

¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk, at room temperature
Large pinch grated nutmeg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups coarsely shredded Jarlsberg cheese
1 ½ cups coarsely shredded mild to medium Cheddar
1 ½ cups shredded smoked chicken
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, optional

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and cook, stirring often until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. (It should be very firm to the bite; it will cook more in the oven.)


2. While the pasta is cooking, preheat the oven to 375°F. Stir the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons melted butter together in a small bowl. Set the topping aside.


3. Drain the pasta in a colander and run it under cold water, bouncing it around gently, until it is cool to the touch. Let it drain in the sink while you put the rest of the recipe together.


4. Dry out the pasta cooking pot, set it over medium heat, and add 4 tablespoons butter. When it is bubbling, whisk in the flour. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Pour in the milk slowly, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so the sauce is simmering. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes, whisking often. Pay close attention to the sides and bottom of the pot, where the sauce will stick and burn if you let it.


5. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese until it is melted into the sauce. Fold in the chicken, peas, and parsley, if using. Stir in the pasta until completely coated with sauce and the chicken and peas are evenly distributed throughout. Pour or ladle the pasta into an 11-inch oval baking dish, or any other 6-cup baking dish that is about 1 ½ inches deep. (You can prepare the macaroni and cheese to this point up to one day in advance and store it covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature one hour before baking.) Cover the top of the macaroni and cheese with an even layer of the breadcrumb topping. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

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Tea-Smoked Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry

Makes 4 Servings

1 pound medium (about 25 to the pound) smoked shrimp
3 tablespoons loose green tea
1 pound asparagus with stalks slightly thicker than a pencil (about 20 stalks)
One 8-ounce stalk broccoli
¼ cup homemade or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth, or water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
2 scallions, trimmed and minced
3 quarter size slices peeled fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 medium (about 3-inch) shiitake mushroom caps, sliced ¼ inch

1. Smoke the shrimp according to the directions on page 140, using the green tea in place of the wood chips. Cool them to room temperature. This may be done up to 1 hour in advance.


2. Prepare the remaining stir-fry ingredients: hold each stalk of asparagus with one hand about halfway down the stalk from the tip and the other by the stalk end. Bend the stalk away from you till it snaps. This is the easiest way to remove the tougher part of the stalk. Discard the tough ends and peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler up to about an inch below the tip. Cut off the tips then cut the stalks into 1-inch lengths on the diagonal. Cut the florets from the broccoli and chop them coarsely. Peel the stems and cut into ¼-inch dice. Stir the broth, soy sauce, and oyster sauce together in a small bowl.


3. Heat the oil in a seasoned wok or large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the scallions, ginger, and garlic and stir until you can smell the garlic, about 30 seconds. Scatter the asparagus and broccoli into the wok and immediately start tossing to distribute the seasonings and cook the asparagus evenly. Cook until the vegetables turn bright green, about 1 minute. Add the shiitakes and cook, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms are wilted and the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.


4. When the vegetables are crisp-tender, add the shrimp and pour in the broth mixture. Continue stirring until the sauce is thickened enough to lightly coat the vegetables and the shrimp are heated through. Scoop the contents of the wok onto a platter and serve immediately.

Smokin'
Recipes for Smoking Ribs, Salmon, Chicken, Mozzarella, and More with Your Stovetop Smoker. Copyright © by Christopher Styler. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Editorial Reviews

Move over George Foreman. In the unique tradition of cookbooks constructed for a specific kitchen gadget, Chef Styler (formerly of the Black Dog Tavern in Martha's Vineyard) weighs in with 95 recipes for the CMI Stovetop Smoker, a contraption that requires just a handful of wood chips and heat from any kitchen stove. Often, the simplest of the book's dishes put the salivary glands into overdrive. Corn on the Cob and Garlic Mashed Potatoes speak for themselves. Smoked Corn Chips take 10 minutes to become warm and flavorful, thus enhancing the Smoky-Spicy Salsa, with smoked tomatoes, in which they're dipped. In-Flight Almonds combine sugar, salt, a bit of cayenne pepper and the scent of hickory for the classic savory snack, with no seatbelts required. Beef Jerky employs strips of bottom round, which are tossed in salt and brown sugar and smoked in mesquite or hickory, then oven-dried at low heat for four hours. Most of the recipes involve a finishing off, or some pre-cooking, in the oven or on the stovetop, since the Smoker favors complexity of taste over high heat. Styler doesn't overlook soups and seafood, uniting the two in Smoky Mussel Chowder with plenty of cream and butter offsetting the mollusks' intensity. Among the more complex offerings, Pulled Pork stands a chance of tasting fine given its dry rub and 45 minutes of smoke. And in a nifty variation, Tea-Smoked Duck with Asian Slaw replaces the wood with jasmine tea leaves. Agent, Kim Yorio. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With Smokin', Styler, a prolific food writer and cookbook author, is likely to inspire many readers to buy a stovetop smoker. Simple, sturdy, but fairly inexpensive, it can be used year-round in even the smallest apartment kitchen to smoke anything from corn on the cob to duck breasts to clams. After introducing the technique, Styler presents recipes for sauces and salsas, appetizers, and soups and salads. Each main course chapter opens with "master recipes"-e.g., the poultry chapter includes detailed guidelines for smoking both whole and cut-up chickens, turkey, game hens, and the like-followed by other recipes featuring those ingredients. Styler also includes nonsmoked "extras," or go-withs, such as Coleslaw and Cousins. This reference/cookbook is recommended for most collections. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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