Damn, he'll smoke anything!

    I was at this great tapas bar in Nashville where they serve this kickass dish of Brussel sprouts with red onion, Marcona almonds, finished with red pepper and a smoked white wine vinegar.  Smoked vinegar?!  Yep, I looked on every food site that I could think of and found no recipes for smoked vinegar.  The flavor the vinegar brought to the dish was unbelieveable!  So what do I do?  I smoked the hell out of some vinegar!

    Not really knowing where to begin, I bought a bottle of white wine vinegar and figured I'd smoke it like I would BBQ.  I found a ceramic baking dish that I felt would be safe on the grill, and since I wouldn't be putting it over direct heat I thought it would be cool.  I didn't want to use a metal dish in case it threw off any funky flavors. 

    I built a fire using big Maple chunks that can be used instead of charcoal.  Again, thinking of any possible funky flavors.  In addition to the chunks, I soaked some Jack Daniel smoking chips made from used Jack barrels.  Just taking a whiff out of that bag can make you loopy.   Once the fire was ready, I poured the whole bottle of vinegar in the dish and set it on the cool side of the grill.  I then threw on some of the wet chips and the smoking began.

    I let it smoke with the lid on for about 1 1/2 hours, replenishing the chips when needed.  I pulled the pan off the grill to let everything cool down and then poured the vinegar back into it's bottle and wrote "Smoked" on the bottle with a big Sharpie.  As expected, the flavor was awesome!  There was a good amount of smoky flavor that wasn't too overpowering.  In fact, I could have let it smoke for another hour and been just fine.  The maple was a good choice, but I may try hickory, or possibly cherry or apple wood next time.

    I use this vinegar quite a bit.  I sprinkle it on greens, use it in salad dressings, or anyplace that I would want to spark up some flavor.  What the flavor sort of reminds me of is eastern NC BBQ sauce without a need for meat.  Vegetarian friendly with a smoky bite, because deep down everyone wants some Q.

Ciao down,
Penn

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 12, 2010 at 12:39 PM

    I am brand new to your blog but would love you to take pictures of these fabulous dishes you recreate as it will go a long way to aiding me in copying you! Can't wait to try smoking vinegar...cool idea!

    Just hosted your MIL here in NoCal and she bragged about you TONS.

    Katie from Sonoma Valley

    ReplyDelete
  2. Becky BillingsleyJune 23, 2011 at 6:32 AM

    Speaking of Brussels Sprouts, you need to try the ones Frieser Mills is making at Borgata.
    http://www.myrtlebeachrestaurantnews.com/restaurants/restaurants-by-city/56-restaurants-by-city/80-surfside-beach-restaurants.html

    ReplyDelete

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