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The summer weather is playing havoc with our summer plans, half of us are cowering indoors with the air conditioning on full, and the other half is watching the hailstones crash about the garden from behind a window. Meanwhile, the barbeque you dusted down at the start of the season is sitting there unused and unloved.
However, if you’re missing the smoky barbecue flavours in your food, there are some ways you can get similar results indoors.
Smoked oil
Cooking your food in smoked oil will give vegetables and meat a subtle but distinctive smoky, barbecue flavour. There are several ways to infuse your oil with barbecue flavour, some will impart the oil with a stronger flavour than others so you can experiment until you get the right balance for you. When you do have the chance to fire up your charcoal barbecue outdoors, smoke a few whole bulbs of garlic while you’re at it. You can then drop these cloves of garlic into bottles of olive oil to use on a rainy day.
A cold smoker is probably the best way to infuse your oil. This is a small kitchen tool that allows you to direct the smoke from burning wood chips onto any food you are preparing. To use a cold smoker to infuse smoke into your oil. Fill a glass jar, about to about a fifth of its volume with good quality cooking oil. Olive oil can be used for cold dressings as well as cooking, while other plain oils can be used for cooking at higher temperatures. Use the cold smoker to direct the smoke from your burning wood chips into the jar. Screw the lid on tightly and shake the jar vigorously. Repeat this step a few times.
If you don’t have a cold smoker, you can get the same results using burning wood chips alone. Place the wood chips in a heat-proof ceramic bowl, with a small amount of tinfoil underneath. Take a large glass jar and pour a small amount of oil into it. Turn and tilt the jar so that the oil smears and covers the whole surface of the inside of the jar. Repeat the process several times to strengthen the flavour, then add more oil to the jar and shake vigorously for a few minutes.
Char your veg
You can char your vegetables directly on your stovetop to give them a strong, smoky character. Aubergines, courgettes, onions, fennel, carrots and peppers all work very well, but you can try it with any vegetable you like. Use the full vegetable for best results, with a wooden skewer simply hold the vegetable over the naked flame of your gas stove hob. Slowly rotate the vegetable over the naked flame until the surface is evenly blackened all over. When the veg is charred/burned all over, leave and allow to cool fully. When the veg is fully cool, carefully and meticulously remove the charred, blackened skin of the vegetable. You will be left with a veg that has a delicious smoky flavour that can be added to any meal for a barbecue effect. Experiment with fruit too as the sweet-smoky combination is surprisingly delicious.
Smoking chips
Wood smoking chips are a great way to achieve the barbecue flavour in the kitchen when it’s raining outside. Wood chips come in a variety of woods, from alder, applewood, hickory, pecan and maple. Each variety imparts different characteristics, for example, alder is good for fish and poultry, while maple gives a stronger flavour and is suitable for red meat like beef, lamb or pork. You will have to open the windows and doors of your home in order to make sure there’s optimum ventilation. Sprinkle the smoked wood chips around your meat, but not on top of it, before placing it in the broiler. The smoke created will add flavour to your meat, but it will fill your kitchen with smoke too.
Burnt herbs
Herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano or whatever you have to hand can be burned over the gas flame on your stovetop and then added to your meats before you put them in the oven or grill. The smoky flavour will tend to be a little on the sharp side, but the herbal nature of the flavours will be complex and deep. Add the bunt herbs to butter in the pan and you’ll get a lovely smoky butter to baste your meat with.
Smoked seasoning
Probably the easiest way to get the smoky flavour without actually firing up the barbecue is to use smoked spices and seasonings. Smoked paprika will always add a deep smoky flavour, but there many others to choose from, including smoked salt, lapsang souchong, chipotle powder, black cardamom and smoked garlic powder. Barbecue rubs and marinades will do the job also. There are of course readymade preparations you can purchase or you can make your own.
The smoking gun
A very useful kitchen tool for achieving smoky flavour in the kitchen is a portable smoking gun. It looks like a kitchen blowtorch, the gun heating wood chips and allowing you to cleanly and precisely direct smoke onto any food with a minimum of fuss. A handheld smoking gun is great for use with cocktails and mocktails. If you’re a dedicated barbecue enthusiast and can’t get enough of real smoked flavours, this is an invaluable gadget to have to hand in your kitchen.
Walk the plank
A cedar plank is basically a piece of cedar wood that is traditionally used to add smoked cedar wood flavour to salmon. The plank is soaked in water before the salmon is placed on top and cooked in the oven. However, its uses aren’t limited to salmon and fish: meat and of course vegetables can also benefit from cooking on this wood.
Smoked pancetta
Adding smoked pancetta or smoked bacon to any dish that you are preparing, be it pasta, salads, or soups, will not only give you a delicious smoked flavour but you’ll get all the benefits of pork.
Go Korean
Korean barbecue beef, called bulgogi, is a dish that typically uses thinly sliced meat, with a marinade made with Korean pepper paste and a dark soy sauce for flavour. Best served with white rice and kimchi, this dish has wonderful smoky complexity, a flash of heat and lots of flavour.
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