Smoking meat or fish is a traditional way of cooking.
It has been used for a long time, and the process is not outlandish. But for many smoked vegetables are something new.
What is the peculiarity of cooking and how to do it correctly?
Smoked vegetables - general cooking principles
For vegetables, you can use any options smokehouse, from real units, to domestic counterparts, and even homemade designs from pots and cauldrons. The choice depends on the possibilities and imagination. But in all cases, sawdust or wood chips are required. It is not necessary to look for a suitable tree, now you can buy ready-made, factory-packed packs of fruit chips. Before use, you only need to moisten it slightly or at least the top layer. In this case, the harmful substances contained in the smoke will linger and will not fall on the products. You can also add cones, juniper berries to the chips.
Vegetables can be smoked in 2 ways:
• spreading on the grid;
• on or wrapped in foil.
For the first method, the fruits are used most often, without cleansing the skin. For smoked vegetables in foil, you can use vegetable spices, the combination of which can be the most diverse. The second option allows you to get an aromatic dish, ready to eat. Whole smoked vegetables can be used immediately or they can be used to cook various flavored snacks, sauces, side dishes.
For smoking, you can use almost all types of vegetables. The better the original product, the tastier and better the result will be. Some fruits can be pre-marinated, flavored with spices and even oiled. It is not necessary to cook smoked meat from some vegetables, you can add bacon, mushrooms, any sausages and meat products.
Recipe 1: Smoked vegetables on skewers
One of the most common options for cooking smoked vegetables, which can be easily done with small skewers (wooden sticks can be used) and seasonal vegetables. It is very important to take small tomatoes, so as not to cut them. Otherwise, in the process of cooking a lot of juice will drip and sawdust will stop smoking.
Ingredients Required
• tomatoes;
• zucchini;
• eggplants;
• bow;
• pepper;
• salt, oil.
Cooking method
1. Wash vegetables, dry thoroughly. We cut into approximately the same pieces everything, except for tomatoes, we will put them on entirely.
2. String vegetables on skewers interspersed, letting air dry for 2-3 hours to surface. There is no need to worry if the puncture will be made crooked or not in the center. Skewers just play the role of holder.
3. Lay in the smokehouse chips, light the fire.
4. Vegetables are seasoned with salt, we grease the pieces with oil (it is more convenient to do this with a brush) and send it to smoked. In 30-60 minutes, the original kebabs will be ready.
Recipe 2: Whole smoked vegetables
And this is the easiest recipe that you can think of. Vegetables are laid in the smoke apparatus as a whole, do not require prior preparation. You can cook them simultaneously with meat, fish and other products, the aroma will be just magical.
Ingredients Required
• pepper;
• tomatoes;
• eggplants.
Cooking method
1. Wash and dry the vegetables.
2. We prick with a fork in several places so that the smoke works better inside.
3. We put on the grill and cook to a pronounced golden color and softness.
Smoked vegetables prepared this way are used to prepare various snacks, sauces, salads, rolls. But you can use them simply as a side dish and even the main course. Vegetarians and dietary supporters will especially appreciate such foods.
Recipe 3: Smoked vegetables in foil
Foil is a great device for making smoked vegetables in slices. It allows you to water the slices with butter, flavor with any sauces, and after the smokehouse immediately serve fragrant treats to the table.
Ingredients Required
• tomatoes;
• cauliflower;
• carrot;
• pepper;
• eggplants;
• bow;
• spices.
Cooking method
1. All vegetables are washed, dried and cut into pieces. Cauliflower can be simply disassembled into inflorescences.
2. Mix everything, add spices to taste.
3. Foil folded in 2-3 layers, form a bowl. We spread the vegetables and put them in the smokehouse.
4. Close the lid and hold until ready. Usually the process takes less than an hour, it all depends on the size of the pieces and the temperature in the apparatus.
Recipe 4: Smoked vegetables from a frozen mixture
Frozen vegetable mixtures have a rich composition and ingredients that can not always be found in the refrigerator. They include green peas, broccoli, green beans. Also add pieces of pepper, carrots and other familiar foods. Smoked vegetables from such mixtures are quite tasty, unusual, but most importantly - useful. It is often recommended to lay them in frozen foil, this can be done, but only if there is some water in the pieces. Otherwise, it is better to heat and drain the excess liquid.
Ingredients Required
• any vegetable mix.
Cooking method
• Fold the foil in 2 layers, form a trough and spread the vegetable mixture.
• From above we cover with a single layer of foil, we make rather large holes and put them on the grill in the smoking unit. Extra holes will come out through the holes, and the vegetables will be soaked with fragrant smoke.
• Cooking 40-50 minutes.
Recipe 5: Smoked vegetables "Potato tale"
Potatoes - this is probably one of the most used and popular vegetables. Not a single table is complete without it, and there are thousands of cooking options. But smoked vegetables are really something that everyone should try. Cooked potatoes only hot.
Ingredients Required
• large potatoes;
• butter.
Cooking method
1. Wash the tubers with a brush, dry them with a towel.
2. We charge the smokehouse, lay the potatoes on the grid, close the lid and cook for at least 60 minutes from the moment a good white smoke comes. It is better to put pressure on the cover.
3. After an hour, open the lid and evaluate the tubers. The skin should swell a little, the potatoes under it become soft.
4. If so, then we take out the tubers, quickly make a hole in the center of each and lay a piece of butter. If the potatoes are solid, then close the lid and continue to smoke, perhaps the reason is hiding in a small temperature and you need to add fire.
Recipe 6: Smoked vegetables in bacon
For the preparation of smoked vegetables for this recipe you need salted bacon, but if it is not there, then you can use fresh lard. First you need to cut it into long and thin strips, sprinkle with salt on both sides, fold it over each other and let it lie down for at least an hour. Smoked vegetables for this recipe are juicy, fragrant, immediately ready for serving.
Ingredients Required
• bacon strips;
• eggplants;
• potatoes;
• zucchini.
Cooking method
1. Peel the potato and cut it in half, if it is small, you can leave it whole. In each piece we do a few puncture to make the haze easier to work.
2. Eggplants and zucchini are cut into arbitrary slices, slightly larger than potatoes. Sprinkle with any spices if desired.
3. Wrap the vegetables with pieces of bacon, fix the tip with a toothpick.
4. We form a trough of foil, fold the prepared vegetable pieces, it is desirable that they do not touch each other. Sent to the smokehouse until ready. On average, the process will take about 1-1.5 hours.
Recipe 7: Smoked vegetables with mushrooms
Mushrooms are cooked in time about the same as solid vegetables, so they can be made together. Mushrooms are best for smoking, as they do not require pre-boiling and the likelihood of poisoning approaches zero, if, of course, the products are grown in a greenhouse way. For cooking, it is better to choose young egg-sized mushrooms, having a closed cap and pink gills.
Ingredients Required
• Champignon;
• onion;
• carrot;
• potatoes;
• salt, oil.
Cooking method
1. Wash the mushrooms, lay on the napkins for drying.
2. Clean the onions, carrots, potatoes. Smoked vegetables can be made on skewers or in foil, depending on the method chosen, we determine the shape of the cut. But in any case it is better to pierce carrots and potatoes with a fork in several places.
3. Salt vegetables with mushrooms, lubricate with vegetable oil and send to the smokehouse. Cook until soft and soft, remove and serve to the table with any sauces, meat or chicken.
Recipe 8: Smoked vegetables "Fragrant corncobs on the cob"
Awesome way to cook corn. You will need young cobs, along with the leaves and any smokehouse, you can even use a regular grill. In some recipes of smoked vegetables in this way is the addition of green onions, any herbs, spices, but this is an amateur, so we will just cook with salt.
Ingredients Required
• corn cobs;
• salt;
• olive oil, can be creamy.
Cooking method
1. From the ears of corn, you need to carefully separate the leaves, bend back, but do not tear. The hairs are removed and discarded, they will not be useful to us.
2. Rub each ear with salt so that it is better distributed and stuck, you can add a few drops of water.
3. Lubricate the cobs with oil. Tastier with creamy, but it must first be softened.
4. We stretch the leaves back onto the corn cobs, put them in the smokehouse on the grate, if there are tails, then we can hang them on hooks. Cooking at a temperature of 80-100 ° C on average 2.5 hours.
5. Serve the cobs with butter, spices, after removing the top leaves.
Recipe 9: Stuffed Smoked Vegetables
Fragrant smoked vegetables that can be cooked with any kind of minced meat: fish, meat, mushroom. The dish is always successful. If minced meat is used, it is advisable to slightly extinguish it in a pan or use boiled and chopped products.
Ingredients Required
• tomatoes;
• Bulgarian pepper;
• eggplants;
• bow;
• chopped meat;
• some oil.
Cooking method
1. Mince the meat slightly in a frying pan, add any spices, salt and finely chopped onion. Cooling down.
2. In tomatoes, cut off the top of the head, select the insides. Pepper cut in half, remove the seeds. Cut out the eggplant boats, the seeds with pulp are also removed.
3. Fill the prepared vegetable molds with minced meat, put them on a foil tray, you can use an old frying pan, which is not a pity to smoke.
4. We send preparations in the smoking shed and we bring to readiness. Since the stuffing has already been processed, we check the softness of the vegetables with the usual puncture.
Smoked vegetables - tips and tricks
• For smoking, it is better to choose fleshy vegetables with low humidity. Preparation of watery fruits will take much longer.
• Smoked vegetables are remarkably stored frozen. Therefore, they can be done for future use, decomposed into portions and thawed when necessary. Of course, they are inferior in taste to a freshly prepared analogue, but they will delight at any moment.
• When smoking vegetables on foil and pallets, it is very important that the smoke works from above. To do this, close the lid tightly, if necessary, put the load. If the cracks remain, then you can wrap the device around the perimeter with foil, some craftsmen use a common dough made from flour and water to seal it.
• In order for the sawdust to smoke well, the juice dripping from the products did not delay the process, you must install a pan under the grate. Its size should be smaller, so that the edges pass well smoke. You can put a layer of salt on the drip tray to absorb the dripping juices.
• If you need to smoke whole tomatoes, then a puncture is done in the skin. Otherwise, under the influence of temperature, it will crack in an arbitrary place and the juice will flow out.
