The patches of hardened snow recently wedged into the folds of my grill cover reminded me of how long it has been since I’ve been outside grilling or smoking meat.
No wonder my insides itch. Summer is out there, beneath that black vinyl cover — not just the summer of warm weather and long days, but the primal-sense memories of fire and smoke.
A number of ingredients can add the smokiness of the summer grill to food prepared in our winter kitchens: aromatic smoked salt, Spanish pimenton, chipotle peppers and liquid smoke, that controversial shortcut.
None of them, it must be said, replaces true barbecue. But if you are a barbecue addict, they might serve as an adequate, temporary fix.
When the steak doesn’t go on the grill, let the grill come to the steak. I greased a cast- iron skillet with a few raw slices of applewood-smoked bacon. Turned the heat to high; let the pan smoke until it was blazing hot. Added the steak, allowing it to sizzle until it had become not just charred but a little crusty. Flipped it over and did the same on the other side.
Instead of kosher or sea salt, I used smoked salt to season the meat before, during and after the steak was done. It provided the right hint of summertime. I took a bite while the freezing rain fell and was transported to mid-July, if only for a moment. The accompanying potato salad I made helped channel backyard barbecue, as well.
Another touch of summer comes from the deeply flavorful Spanish smoked paprika called pimenton. It differs from other paprikas in that the peppers are smoke-dried over a two-week period using oak wood. The result is an unmistakable, beautiful smoky scent and flavor. So unique is pimenton that it is protected by denominations of origin (Denominacion de Origen Protegida) to assure quality.
The most famous province is La Vera, southwest of Madrid. Once dried, the peppers are ground to a powder. Pimenton comes in three flavors: sweet, bittersweet and hot. Each, though, is smoky. It can be a challenge finding true pimenton. I buy mine online at .
I added some of the hot pimenton to a spice-and-herb mixture that included thyme and rosemary. Applied it to a butter-coated chicken, inside and out. Roasted the bird. Eating it was almost like having a picnic. Next time, I’ll spread a blanket on the floor for dinner.
One very cold evening, I made a classic no-beans Texas chili. The version I make is based on a recipe of the late Texas historian, author and journalist Frank X. Tolbert. It has plenty of ancho chili pepper for a rustic, pleasantly musky flavor. On this occasion, I added chipotles: partly to heat it up but mainly to give it a dose of their characteristic smokiness.
My final experiment was with liquid smoke.
Prior to writing this article, I had never bought a bottle of the stuff. And here is why: To me, barbecue is a metaphor for life.
Life is hard. Challenging. So is barbecue. Or it ought to be.
You start the fire, then you painstakingly tend it, adding just the right amount of just the right type of wood at just the right time, fretting all the while. As you watch the smoke ascend heavenward — often like meat-scented incense — you pray you did everything right.
But . . . liquid smoke? It’s not even cheating, because the natural substance is to barbecue what ethics are to certain politicians: something that exists yet is not always employed. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try. On vegetables.
I went to the Colgin liquid smoke site for ideas and found a recipe for sweet potatoes that struck me as not altogether revolting. Sliced some sweet potatoes. Layered them with orange slices in a casserole dish.
Drizzled the whole thing with a spicy sauce that contained pecan-flavored liquid smoke, though it turns out the original, hickory-flavored kind works just as well.
When I pulled the dish out of the oven, some of the sweet potatoes were blackened, which, to me, was a good sign. Still not sold on the liquid smoke concept, I hesitantly slid my fork into the pile. Not only was it delicious, it tasted of something resembling smoke.
I wouldn’t say the Liquid Smoke Sweet Potatoes tasted of summer. But they helped me see summer from here.
And while we await the sustained mercies of spring, that ain’t bad.
Pimenton-Rubbed Roast Chicken
A dry-rubbed chicken is a great reminder of summer, and the smokiness of pimenton (smoked Spanish paprika) adds an unmistakable barbecue flavor.
This recipe calls for making a spice rub using picante, or hot, pimenton. If you prefer a milder flavor, use the sweet or bittersweet version.
Pimenton refers to specific peppers smoked for two weeks over smoldering oak. To know that you are getting the real thing, look for the Denominacion de Origen (D.O.), awarded by the Spanish government, on the label. Find it at a specialty spice shop.
You can truss the bird or not, as you like. Jim Shahin admits that he doesn’t always truss the chickens he roasts: “Depends on my mood and the time I have.”
For a great make-believe summer dinner, serve with your favorite potato salad.
You can make the rub a few days in advance; keep it in a sealed container in a dry place. Do not refrigerate.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon picante pimenton (hot smoked Spanish paprika)
1 chicken ( 3 1/2-4 pounds), giblet packet removed
4 tablespoons ( 1/2stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Directions
Combine the salt, sage, rosemary, garlic powder, thyme, black pepper and hot smoked Spanish paprika (to taste) in a bowl to form a dry rub.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Have a roasting pan at hand with a wire rack that fits inside.
Rinse the chicken and use paper towels to pat it thoroughly dry.
Truss with kitchen twine (tying together the legs and trimming the wing tips) if desired. Sprinkle 1/4 of the spice rub into the cavity.
Coat the chicken with the butter, then sprinkle it with the remaining rub.
Set the bird breast side up on the wire rack in the roasting pan.
Roast at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Roast for 45 to 55 minutes or until the chicken’s juices run clear, basting occasionally with the pan drippngs.
Transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with a drizzle of pan juices, if desired.
Per serving (based on 6): 550 calories, 38g protein, 1g carbohydrates, 43g fat, 15g saturated fat, 185mg cholesterol, 540mg sodium, 0g dietary fiber, 0g sugar
Liquid Smoke Sweet Potatoes
I have always taken a dim view of liquid smoke. As Jerry Seinfeld might ask, “Is it smoke or is it liquid?” But if your grill is buried under a snowfall and you crave the flavor of smoke, liquid smoke will suffice until you can get back outside.
Several brands of liquid smoke are sold; some contain only water and natural smoke flavor from a specific wood, such as hickory or pecan. Other brands might contain different flavorings. Check the label.
Sweet potatoes work well with liquid smoke because they take on the distinctive flavor without being overwhelmed by it.
The sauce mixture can be assembled and cooked earlier in the day; keep it in a sealed container at room temperature until ready to use.
Adapted by Jim Shahin from a recipe on the Colgin Liquid Smoke website (colgin.com).
Makes 4-6 servings.
Ingredients
2 (about 1 1/4 pounds) navel oranges
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy
1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke, either hickory- or pecan-smoked
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder
1/2 cup orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
3 medium (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) sweet potatoes, preferably of equal size
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use nonstick cooking oil spray to grease an 8-inch square or round baking dish that is more than 2 inches deep.
Peel the oranges, removing as much pith as possible. Cut each orange in half from top to bottom, placing the halves cut side down on a cutting board. Then cut the halves into half-moon slices about k-inch thick.
Combine the butter, brown sugar, brandy, liquid smoke, salt, chipotle powder and orange juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, to form a thin syrup. Turn off the heat.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into k-inch-thick rounds, saving the tapered end pieces for filling any holes in the assembled dish. As you layer the dish, you might need to cut some of the potato rounds into halves and quarters to make for nice layers.
Arrange a single layer of sweet potato slices in the bottom of the baking dish. At approximately equal intervals, place 6 of the orange slices atop the potatoes. Spoon some of the melted butter mixture evenly over the oranges, then repeat with more layers of sweet potato slices and oranges, using all of the butter mixture and ending with a coating of the butter mixture on top.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil; bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Some parts of the top layer will be blackened; that’s good for both color and flavor.
The top layer might be dry, so gently toss the potatoes and oranges together before serving.
Per serving (based on 6): 210 calories, 8g fat, 5g saturated fat, 20mg cholesterol, 200mg sodium, 33g carbohydrates, 3g dietary fiber, 20g sugar, 2g protein.
