Smokin’

The flavour of wood smoke adds a real zing to some foods – now the the summer ‘hunting and gathering’ season is almost upon us, dust off your home smoker and enjoy another dimension to your home cooking. Smoking is a nice alternative, or addition to a BBQ.

Seafood, particularly shellfish like mussels and oilier fish like kahawai smokes really well, and doesn’t take long. Steam shellfish open and clean them, then smoke for 30-60 minutes.

To keep the food moist, either marinate it for 20-30 minutes in brine, wine or a little oil, or leave a containers of water in the smoker, to retain moisture. Small items like shellfish will only require 30-60 minutes smoking time, depending on their size.

Experiment with different wood, each adds its own distinctive smell.

Smoked seafood is delicious, but while you have the smoker going, it’s worth adding other items – smoked capsicums are stunning (and can be preserved in oil afterwards), courgettes, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Chicken, duck and venison respond well to smoking (be careful to make sure chicken is cooked through – it is often safer to poach it lightly in stock before putting it in the smoker.

Once you have an array of smoked treats, they can be sliced into salads, drizzled with oil and included on an antipasto platter or used in high-class sandwiches or pasta dishes. You are only limited by your imagination.

Try to remember good smoking etiquette – if it is incredibly windy, you may be sharing your smoke with all your neighbours – and in the interests of good manners, try not to set up a smoker next to a line full of clean washing!