This recipe calls for both smoking and plank-charring, a method that smoke-roasts the cheese for a deeply complex, woodsy flavor.
You’ll need 1 cedar, oak or alder plank, about 6 inches square (although, in this case, size doesn’t matter that much; it’s just a nice size for serving the cheese), and one cup of hardwood chips, such as pecan, oak or apple, soaked in water for an hour.
Serve with your favorite crackers or grilled baguette slices.
4 to 8 servings.
Adapted from “Project Smoke,” by Steven Raichlen (Workman, 2016).
Ingredients
One 8 -ounce wedge Camembert cheese
3 tablespoons of your favorite pepper jelly or apricot jam
1 large or medium jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise
Directions
Prepare the grill for indirect heat. If using a gas grill, turn the heat to high. Drain the chips and put them in a smoker box or foil packet poked with a few fork holes to release the smoke; set it between the grate and the briquettes, close to the flame. When you see smoke, reduce the heat to medium-high (450 degrees). Turn off the burners on one side.
If using a charcoal grill, light the charcoal or briquettes; when the briquettes are ready, distribute them on one side of the grill. For a medium-hot fire, you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above the coals for four or five seconds. Have a spray water bottle ready for taming any flames.
Place the plank directly over the fire and grill until charred on both sides, one to two minutes per side. Let cool.
Place the cheese in the center of the plank. Spread the top with the jelly or jam. Shingle the jalapeño slices on top (to taste) so they overlap in a decorative pattern.
Place the plank on the indirect-heat side of the grill. In the charcoal grill, scatter the soaked wood chips over the coals. (The chips are added earlier to a gas grill because, in the foil pouch, they don’t burn up as quickly as they do on coals.) Close the lid and smoke-roast the cheese until the sides soften and begin to melt, four to eight minutes.
Serve the cheese on its plank, hot off the grill.
Nutrition | Per serving (based on 8): 100 calories, 6 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 3 g sugar