Guide to light summer fare on the BBQ: Part 1

No one likes a massive meat fest more then the guys at Smoke Salt and Fire, but every meal can't be gigantic steaks and whole pigs, sometimes you just feel like something a little lighter. Whether you need a quick lunch or a light summer supper on the barbecue your first stop should be your local butchers shop or meat counter. Most butcher offer all kinds of fantastic light summer options.

Hot Macedonian Sausage with olives, feta, green onions and Bordeaux mustard 

Sausage

Sausages are a summer favorite, with classics like brats and hot Italian available in most grocery stores, but your butcher may  be able to offer you some more creative options.  In the past few weeks our butchers have set us up with wild boar sausage, spicy chorizo sausage and hot Macedonian sausage and we didn't even have to say pretty please.
Of course just having great sausage doesn't make the meal, you have to dress them up. Let's start with the bun, first off stay away from standard grocery store hot dog buns if at all possible, I mean your not a kid anymore, get an adult bun. Head over to your grocery store bakery section, or even better your local bakery, and see if they have something a little better. Recently we picked up some amazing baguette buns at our local bakery, but we've wrapped beautiful sausage in everything from croissants to naan.

Now you're going to need some toppings, get creative here, we went mostly Mediterranean with the toppings for our Macedonian sausage, but then we threw in a Bordeaux mustard twist. We went a completely different direction with our Chorizo, pairing it with some red wine cheddar, an Old Smokey mustard and cilantro. The point is to get creative and make something fun.

Chorizo sausage, on baguette bun.

Burgers and Sliders

Burgers and their smaller cousins sliders are another great summer favorite that's easy to get creative with. Let's start with the meat, first of all you don't need pre-formed frozen patties, making a hamburger patty is the easiest thing in the world, if you ever used Play-doh as a kid you already know the technique. Anybody can make burgers or sliders using grocery store ground beef, but if you want something really special why not ask your butcher to grind some of your favorite cut of beef for you, at SS & F we tend to go for a mix of chuck and brisket, but skirt, flap, rump, short rib and even oxtail can be ground for delicious burgers.

Sliders with a chuck/rump mix by chef Dominic

Kangaroo on top emu on the bottom

Of course you don't have to use beef at all, ground pork, lamb or chicken can also be used for burgers and sliders or you can get even more creative, not long ago Dominic graced us with some fantastic kangaroo and emu sliders. If you have access to it game meat can be another great option for burgers, I've had the opportunity to try, moose, venison and wild duck burgers and they were all fantastic. 

Now for the bun and toppings, as with hot dog buns grocery store burger buns tend to suck so be prepared to get creative bun wise. Kaisers are a great option for burgers, they tend to have more substance and flavour then grocery store burger buns. An even more fun option can be cheese and/or onion buns from your grocery store bakery department or local bakery.  If you don't mind you burger patty hanging out a bit around the edges croissants can be another flakey, buttery delicious bun option for burgers. There are bun options for sliders to, the bakery near me does some fantastic Italian dinner rolls, or why not combined the best parts of breakfast and dinner by serving up some sliders on english muffins? This breakfast staple is excellent for soaking up all that yummy meat juice from a nice juicy slider. 

At Smoke Salt and Fire we believe great cheese is almost a necessity on an amazing burger. While it's important not to feel limited in the types of cheese you can use we recommend staying away from processed cheese slices unless you're specifically going for a very old style burger. That said there are literally hundreds of amazing cheese options, if you want to keep it classic you can go with an old cheddar or a nice jack, but there are other ways to go to. Blue cheeses can be a nice option that often gets overlooked for burgers, Stilton is my personal favorite for burgers. Smoke mozzarella is also great on burgers and a bit out of the ordinary or why not try the mix of gruyere and parmigiano Dominic uses for his sliders.

 Another favorite way to dress up a burger is with bacon, why not see if your butcher has something special put aside bacon wise or even better make up a batch of your own bacon, we have great recipe for red wine bacon or go all out and make you own "King Bacon" to put on your burgers.  

Any way you slice it these barbecue ideas should help to heat up your summer barbecues. Keep and eye out for part 2 of our light summer barbecue guide coming soon, when we'll be looking at how to spice up some more summer barbecue favorites.

Strawberry Bruschetta

Fresh strawberries, that tangy, sweet taste; dancing in perfect harmony with the lemon soaked tomatoes and the fresh from the garden taste of beautiful thyme. The crunch of the baguette against the smooth creamy taste of the goat cheese makes this an appetizer to impress your friends. Or woo the girl of your dreams. Or make up for doing something stupid to your usually loving partner.




Ingredients:
6 Medium size hot house tomatoes.
10-15 Good sized strawberries
6 Lemons
1 Red onion
1 Handful of parsley
1 Sprig of thyme
1 Tbsp of Salt
1 tsp of garlic powder
Vienna loaf or whatever bread you like.
1 Small of soft goats cheese - chilled

Disclaimer: This recipe takes 24hrs! You can rush it but you will not get anywhere near the same flavours!

First the strawberries. Cut them into little cubes by cutting them in half, cutting into strips, then cutting those strips in half. When you have them cut up, throw them in a bowl with the juice of one lemon and the leaves from your sprig of Thyme. Let them sit for 1 minute then throw out any remaining lemon juice in the bowl. Pop them in the fridge and let them sit for 24 hours! When you take them out they should have a bit of the lemon flavour with a nice aftertaste of the thyme. Lovely!

Cut up those delicious looking tomatoes and throw them into a bowl, small cubes is great. Next is the onion, cut up half, very fine and in it goes with the tomatoes. Next is the handful of parsely leaves, cut them up fine and in they go too with the juice from the remaining lemons and the tsp of garlic powder. Stir it up and let it rest beside its starberry friends for 24 hours.




The next day!

Toast your bread or throw it in the frying pan with a little oil and give it a quick fry.

Put a thin layer of the tomato bruschetta on the bread, followed by a thin layer of the starberries then crumble a little of the goat cheese over and  you are done!

Now feed it to your loved one and enjoy the eternal love... or, you're out of the doghouse now. you're welcome.

Dominic

Dominic's Summer Hot Sauce

 Look at those beautiful peppers! Red! Ripe! Perfect to add that summer kick to everything you cook!

Why is it that peppers remind me of the summer? I think of islands, beaches, the sun, sitting in the shade with a burn, looking like a lobster and getting drunk from something that tastes like a coconut did VERY inappropriate things with a bowl of fruit and a bottle of rum. But let’s leave the beaches and bikinis behind and head to that drum cut in half, coals glowing a loving orange colour and throw on some veg!

For my hot sauce I like spice, but above spice I like flavour! If the reaction is, “Mmm this tastes great… oh my god I need a drink.” I'm doing it right.

My hot sauce starts with a citrus note that fills the mouth and gets it watering, then comes the garlic and onion, adding rich notes of BBQ and the same taste one would get from the first bite of pasta sauce. It finishes sweet and then burns a constant and sharp treat that will last for about 30 seconds on a fresh pallet.

Sounds good? Ok, let’s get those veg on the grill!

I will be using:
1 Head of garlic.
1 Large red onion
Aprox 30 Scotch bonnet peppers
Aprox 8 Red hot chili peppers
6 Lemons
1 Tbsp of brown sugar.

Garlic! Grill it! It turn as soft as butter.
(TIP: Pull off as much of the outside husk as you can.)
(TIP: BBQ, cut in half, serve with crusty bread, olive oil and a nice balsamic as an app.)

Onion! You know what happens when you throw it in a pan with butter, same thing happens on the bbq.
(TIP: Cut an ‘X’ halfway through each end so the heat can get in there.)

Peppers! Throw them on and watch them closely, as they cook, the meat will start to separate away from the waxy outside covering.
(TIP: Experiment! There’s an amazing selection of peppers out there and they taste wildly different, see what combinations you like and what works with your best dishes. I’m using Scotch Bonnet and Red Hot Chili Peppers.)

Got the veg on the grill? 

Great!  Flip those peppers and enjoy something cool to drink while you dream of the sand between your toes.

Done? Awesome! Smell that? Mmm, think of all the dishes that you could add a little spice too.
Jerk Chicken. Fried Chicken. Pizza. Curry. Burgers. Wings. Sauces. Drinks(Caesar+). Desserts. Quiche. Etc.

Pull the veg off and let them cool a little so you can touch them with your hands.
Snip an end off the red hot chilies and squeeze the meat and seeds into your container.
Pull off any stems and throw the scotch bonnets into the container too, seeds and all.
In goes the onion when it’s nice and soft.
In goes the garlic when it too is nice and soft.
Squeeze in your lemons using a wire strainer to make sure the seeds stay out.
Now add 1-2 cups of vinegar and blend with an immersion blender until you have a paste that is super hot!

The next step is completely up to you and how hot you like things. The more vinegar you add, the
less viscous and less hot it will become. If you see my picture of the container I chose, it was 1/4^th full of the chili paste and I added 3/4 vinegar.

Add a Tbsp of brown sugar or two and give it a stir.

You’re done! How easy was that!
Now go wash your hands!!
Trust me O_O  

"The King's Bacon"

With a name like "The King's Bacon" you can't help but imagine a host of elephants made from diamonds, bearing platinum swans between them on a pillow of angel feathers, holding aloft a glowing golden object d'art...

The King's Bacon

But wait! What if this is simply peasant food dressed up and given a name as a joke rather than as homage to an outdated political figure? Much like all the pubs named "The Queen's Legs" or "The Queen and Beaver"?

As with most of the best things in life, this dish is both. Something fancy to make the room fall quiet and have glares of jealousy from your friends, and a jovial dish nestled amongst other gloriously over the top creations like bacon fatties and Turduckens. Great dishes! But are they really worth it?
In the end, you and your guests will decide.

Here is the recipe, God Save The Bacon. I mean Queen. Er, King, sorry.

Let's start with the GOLD:                                                                      Gold leaf: (pic)

Does it have taste? No.
Is it good or bad for you? No.
Is it expensive? No.
Do you need  a special kind? YES!!!

The gold is just here for looks. Nothing fancy about it apart from the shine, and the price.

Call around to local cooking and art stores and ask for 24K edible gold. 24K is pretty much pure gold. Gold is inert and will not affect you; however, if you start to go into lower carats of gold you will encounter more impurities and that's where the problems can occur. Stick to 22-24K and you shall be fine.
(But what about all those South Asian candies covered in silver? Google "Vark" for more info.)

Next: The BELLY!
The following recipe is done per pound. The lovely chunk of bacon in the photos is just under 5 pounds.
1 lb of beautiful pork belly
1.5 tsp of salt (Kosher is a great choice)
.5 tsp of Prague salt (aka pink salt, salt #1) [What's Prague salt?]
3 Tbsp of honey (Brown sugar or maple syrup work great too)
1/3 cup of water, or apple juice, or cider, or get creative

Combine the above with your pork, throw it in a ziplock bag and flip it everyday for a week.

Next: FOIE GRAS PÂTÉ! (You could use calf liver or duck if you prefer)

With your foie gras at room temp, remove the veins in the centre, season with some salt and pepper, add a little Grand Marnier and cover in the fridge for 24hrs.

24hrs later, bring out your little gem and let it warm to room temp over an hour, then put it in your

terrine and place that in a water bath at 130F until the internal temp is 130F.

Pour off the beautiful fat that will have appeared and add it to 2 Tbsp of butter in a frying pan. Add a thinly sliced red onion (or shallots) as well as 2 thinly sliced cloves of garlic and a selection of herbs. Allow the garlic and onion to sauté until perfectly cooked. Drain the fat and save for later.

Put half the foie gras and the veg into a food processor with a bit of the fat (3 Tbsp) and puree until smooth. Add the rest of the foie gras and allow it to purée until you have a consistency that is almost smooth but with very small pieces in it (add fat as needed).

Pour back into the terrine, now lined with parchment paper, and throw into the fridge until completely cool. Back out and between two large pieces of parchment paper, use a rolling pin until it is flat. Then again in the fridge to get cold again.

Time to grab that Pork Belly again.
Rinse it off and pat it dry, then with a VERY sharp knife, cut a pocket the length of the bacon as close to the edges as you can without breaking the skin. (Tough step, take your time.)

Use a knife to pull your cold pâté from the fridge and slowly get it inside the belly in a nice even layer. If it heats up and you end up spreading it like butter, this is just fine.

Next is sewing it up. This can be a little tricky but here's an easy method:

Take a bamboo meat skewer and wrap your cooking twine around once, then wrap it around again above the first wrap. Do this on the tapered part at the end. When you push it through the string should tighten onto itself and hold on as it goes through the meat. Use this technique to sew it up nice and tight.

Ready to smoke some bacon?

I decided to spend a little extra and bought some JD cask that had been chipped and gave a wonderful smell when smoked. I like to smoke at about 220-230F for about 45mins per pound but this is again up to you and you should smoke to taste. Flip the bacon halfway through and don't forget to make sure there's some water in the tray to keep things moist.

Then, back into the fridge for 24 hours! (Don't skip or skimp on this step!!)

Time to play with GOLD.

Your gold will probably come in a small book with the actual leaves of gold on individual sheets. Take out a sheet, align it with a corner and then press it down and push it into the natural bumps of the bacon. Do this gently as rubbing will cause the gold to become wrinkled and will leave gaps. If you have left over gold on a sheet you can add it to any gaps.

Touching up is very tough, the best thing to do is apply new gold rather than to try and move gold or press a flake down. After you're done, use a fine brush to

push down any flakes blowing in the wind.

At this point you're more or less done. All that's left is slicing, but how do you slice it if you can't touch it?

1. Use a VERY sharp knife. Anything else will make life tough.

2.  Make sure your bacon is as cold as possible (no, not frozen).

3. Still moving around? Stick a metal BBQ skewer into it and you will have a little more leverage.

You're done!

Now you can sit back and bask in the golden glow of your own royal bacon, The King's Bacon.

Hope you enjoy!

Dominic
(Smoke Salt And Fire)

Rice and Okra bubbling

Cooked rice in a nice spicy chicken broth for about 25 minutes, then added okra, peppers, onions, carrots, garlic and chillies.  Let it cook for another 15 minutes.  Delicious.

Quick easy delicious steaks

So we needed to eat something while our bacon was smoking, I know it's a tough life right? We stopped by one if our local butchers, Mr Greek Meat Market 801 Danforth, and picked up some steaks, I grabbed t-bone and chef Dominic and our friend James picked up some nice New Yorks.

 At chef Dominics suggestion we seared them briefly on the grill, 1 minute a side, then sauteed them in butter and garlic, using a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temp while sauteing, I pulled mine when it hit 130 F because I like it fairly rare, chef Dominic and James pulled theirs at 135 F. This is an old technique and not for the totally health conscious, but it's quick and delicious, great for when you're busy with other things and need a fast delicious meal.

When they were cooked we poured the butter and garlic over the steaks, delicious.

We served them with some grilled zucchini and served roasted potatoes. We also added some of chef Dominic's "secret" sauce (don't tell anyone but it's peppercorn ranch dressing)

 This whole meal took less then 20 minutes to throw together and and makes an easy win when friends stop by.  For those who were hoping for bacon, we'll be posting pics soon.

Breakfast porn

Tomatillo and red wine bacon frying up,  add some nice 5 year old cherry smoked cheddar, perfect.