Friday Routines - 1/30

So so much to do, post and write about.  Firstly…Stove Top Smoking has progressed from UGH, BLICH, YUK to OMG, so moist, tender and flavorful!

I pulled out my stovetop smoker with admittedly more than a little trepidation.  I wasn’t as brave as I professed to be last week.  I even made wincing faces at the thought of putting a piece of something smoked in my mouth again.

I had a few packages of chicken thighs and legs in the fridge.  So I thought start again (I know boring chicken…but I was scared and needed to go back to my comfort ingredient) and put the past behind me.  I also thought, start with ½ cup of wood chips and crossed fingers for good luck. 

I seasoned the pieces with paprika (hoping to get the flavor of smoked paprika when the chicken was done) got the smoker smoking (about 7 minutes under a medium high heat) put the drip pan and rack on top of the wood chips.  Put the lid on, turned the heat down to medium and resisted the strong desire to peak…after 20 minutes I put the entire smoker in a preheated 350°F oven for another 15 minutes.  What came out were delicious moist pieces of chicken (not so much of a paprika flavor) with a not too strong flavor of smokiness.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say I didn’t use enough chips…the taste was more than a strong hint and nowhere near a BLICH. 

So my grand master plan is to smoke some more chicken pieces and make smoked chicken nachos for the Super Bowl get together I’m having.  I’ll pair that with the Texas Beef Brisket Chili from the October 2008 Bon Appetit and not sure what else yet.

I’ve got the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe to post, as well as a curried vegetable noodle dish I made for Chinese New Year and another Picky Palate restaurant review…all in all I am behind but happy I didn’t have another smoking disaster!