Techniques

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Smoke cooking is a wonderful technique for preparing a wide variety of meats, seafood and vegetables. Smoking generally uses low heat, which reduces shrinkage and helps most products retain their juices, thus producing a more tender and flavorful dish.

There are a variety of different smokers on the market. The three main heat sources are charcoal, propane gas and electricity. Many outdoor smokers include a water pan which fits between the heat source and the food.  This dramatically increases the humidity of the cooking compartment, helping the food to remain moist and tender. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for assembling and using your smoker. It does not require a large amount of wood chips to achieve a well smoked flavor; however, I generally use somewhat more than the manufacturer suggests.

You can also get smoke flavor into your food while using your regular outdoor grill. This is achieved by soaking wood chips in water for one hour, then draining them and wrapping them in an aluminum foil pouch. The pouch is pierced with a small knife to allow the smoke to escape and then placed on the heat source of the grill.

Wood chips for outdoor smokers are generally ½-inch in size. Preferred varieties of wood chips include hickory, mesquite, alder, cherry, apple and orange. Do not use resinous woods such as pine or cedar as they will produce an unpleasant taste. Chips should be soaked in cold water at least one hour prior to using in the smoker or grill. If you use your smoker on a regular basis, you may consider keeping a stock of chips soaking in water. Always drain the chips well prior to using.

Recently, some manufacturers have produced smokers that can be used on the range top. These are smaller and very simple to use, about the size of a shallow roasting pan. They generally use more finely chopped wood chips that often do not require soaking in water prior to use. Again, following the manufacturer’s recommendations is always important. These smokers are particularly effective for smaller, more tender meats and seafood that take 20 minutes or less to cook.

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Preheat broiler to high. Cut the very top and bottom from the bell pepper. Cut in half vertically and remove the stem, seeds and ribs. Place the two halves on a metal sheet pan and brush lightly with olive oil. Place under the broiler and cook until most of the skin is blackened. Remove and let cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin away from the flesh, being certain to scrape away any black bits of skin with a paring knife.

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Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove any loose leaves from the garlic head and cut off the top quarter. Place the head of garlic in a small, thick-bottomed pan and top with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook 35-45 minutes until soft to the touch. Let cool. Squeeze the cloves from the head onto a cutting board and mash and chop finely with a knife until it becomes a paste. Put in a small bowl and set aside.

Cooking with mesquite charcoal gives much more flavor to the foods you grill and the coals remain hot far longer than regular charcoal, insuring plenty of cooking time to prepare your favorite items. Mesquite burns, however, at a higher temperature and takes longer to preheat. For good mesquite grilling, light the coals at least 1 hour prior to grilling time and be very aware of where the hottest spots on the grill are in order not to burn what you are cooking. Don't be afraid to stir the coals often in order to insure proper temperatures around your grill surface.

Rice is one of the most common grains in our daily diet. It comes in many varieties but the basic cooking technique rarely changes. It is extremely easy to cook when you follow these basic steps:

• Only pre-rinse rice when specifically directed
• White rice varieties generally take about 20 minutes to cook
• Brown rice varieties generally take about 40 minutes to cook
• Wild rice varieties generally takes up to 1 hour to cook
• Longer cooking times require more cooking liquid
• Other flavors can be added before or after cooking
• Long grain rice generally cooks fluffier and is more easily separated
• Short grain rice is generally stickier and cooks more densely
• Stirring the rice while cooking releases the glutens from the kernels, making it stickier, which is which can be ruinous to certain types of dishes and beneficial to others (for example, risotto)

The basic method for cooking rice is as follows:

• 1 part white rice
• 2 parts cold water
• salt

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepot and stir once to moisten rice. Do not stir again during the entire cooking process. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepot with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low. Cook approximately 18-22 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and leave covered at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

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Roasting is an easy and excellent way to prepare vegetables. This under-used technique has many advantages over other methods. Roasted vegetables can be served alone or combined with other roasted vegetables for a colorful and delicious accompaniment on the plate or buffet. Generally the vegetables are lightly coated with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper prior to roasting. Other dried herbs and seasonings can be added prior to cooking once you have mastered this basic technique.

Some preferred vegetables and their roasting times are as follows. Always preheat oven to 350°.

• Asparagus, medium 5-inch lengths 6-9 minutes
• Beets, medium whole 1-1½ hours
• Bell Peppers ½-inch strips 8-12 minutes
• Carrots, Baby whole 10-12 minutes
• Corn, whole husked and foiled 12-16 minutes
• Eggplant ½-inch thick slices 10-12 minutes
• Eggplant, Japanese split in half 9-11 minutes
• Garlic, whole top ¼ removed 35-45 minutes (covered)
• Mushrooms* whole, stemmed 7-10 minutes
  *NOTE: Some wild mushrooms such as Portobellos and Criminis are excellent to roast, times varying according to size.
• Onions split in half, skin on 35-45 minutes
• Potatoes, Russet whole 1-1¼ hours
• Root Vegetables ¼-inch slice 10-15 minutes
• Shallots whole, unpeeled 30-40 minutes (covered)
• Winter Squash split and seeded 35-45 minutes
• Yams whole 40-50 minutes