Ember Cooked Snow Peas
Let’s start out with one of the most versatile vegetables
available at just about any time of the year that can be used in both hot and
cold side dishes and main courses- sugar snow peas! In this article, we will offer instructions
on roasting peas using a hot smoking method which brings out a great wood-fired
flavor. We know you’ll enjoy this
approach!
Ingredients
• At
least 1 lb of peas, I like sugar snap peas
• Almond
oil
• Sea
Salt & Fresh Pepper
• A
charcoal smoker, any size will do
• A
disposable foil pan or vegetable pan or basket that is high heat tolerant
• 3
lbs. of lump hardwood charcoal
• 1
cup SmokinLicious® Grande Sapore® Wood Chips – Use Wild Cherry chip
Preparation, Fire
Building & “Ember Readiness”
We’ll be using a Stok Drum Charcoal Grill for this
series. As the Stok has its own charcoal
basket, there is no need to prepare any additional lump hardwood charcoal.
We’re using a direct method of cooking.
Place the charcoal in the unit’s charcoal basket leaving the grate
insert off for now. Once the coals turn
gray, lift the charcoal basket and allow the coals to advance into the cooking
drum. Then add SmokinLicious® GrandeSapore® Wood Chips in Wild Cherry to the coals – about ½ cup sprinkled over the
coals. Leave the grate insert off and
use a sturdy, fire-resistant vegetable pan to go right over the top of the
insert area.
Preparing the Peas
While the coals have been firing, start preparation on the
peas. We recommend using sugar snap peas
for this recipe, there is very little preparation that has to be done. First, remove all the string membrane that is
attached to one side of the snap pea. If
any stems are left on, remove those as well.
Then, wash the peas in a colander and allow them to drip dry, shaking
the colander occasionally to rid any excess water. If needed, pat dry the peas
to ensure they are ready for the fire.
Then, sprinkle on some Almond oil, sea salt, and fresh pepper to the
peas. Now, we’re ready to wood fire!
Wood-Fired Ember
Cooking
When the coals are hot and the wood chips are smoking, the
peas are ready to be kissed by fire! Place
the vegetable pan on the center of the grill and leave the grill cover
off. When cooking with wood, know that
some temperature fluctuation can occur due to the natural variation in
combustion so don’t leave the peas unattended.
Once you see the peas start to char, give them a toss with a spoon to
ensure an even char cook.
• Usually
you will see char begin about 4-5 minutes into the cooking cycle. Once that occurs, you will be looking at
another couple of minutes before the peas will be ready to come off the grill. Be sure you monitor that you don’t go too far
with the smoking process. If the peas
begin to shrivel and wrinkle, you went too far.
You can remove them and place in an ice bath or run under cold water to
stop any additional cooking from taking place.
• It’s
so hard to explain the aroma that comes from the grill when you wood fire
vegetables. Keep in mind, that even when
the vegetables are chilled, they will retain their char flavor.
Finishing Tips
Try these tips for finishing these beautiful smoked sugar
snow peas:
·
add some crumbled feta cheese and serve, or
·
a splash of lemon juice and dill, or
·
even a dollop of ricotta cheese that’s been
whipped with a bit of cream.
Ember
cooking offers “a taste in itself” that really can’t be simulated by any other
cooking method. Your smoked sugar snow
peas will treat you and your guests with an exquisite flavor that will certainly
place ember cooking prominently in your culinary repertoire. But, please before you impress others with
this method, give a little thanks to our ancient ancestors who figured this out
a long time ago while keeping a wary eye out for preying sabre tooth tigers and
stampeding mastodons!
Bon-Bar-B-Q!
Dr.
Smoke & the Culinary Team
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