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Smoked Appetizers

© Ann Silberman

Here are a couple recipes I tried in my new smoker. The first one I promised, for smoked oysters, is very simple.

Smoked Oysters on the Half Shell

Fill the water pan of your smoker 1/2 full of water. Place oysters in a smoker basket, season with salt and lime juice, and smoke! It's that simple! It takes about 2 hours with a charcoal smoker and hickory chips on a hot sunny day.

Smoked Portobella Mushrooms
This is my all time favorite mushroom, and you can find them everywhere now...

2-3 Large Portobella Mushrooms
1/3 cup olive oil
Fresh chopped basil
Fresh Oregano
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic

Coat mushrooms with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarsely ground pepper, garlic, and chopped herbs. Smoke for 1 1/2 hours, slice and serve. I like to add chopped fresh tomatoes. (You can also grill these directly for about 30 minutes.)

Smoked Onions

2 large onions
2 T butter
1 slice pancetta (or bacon)
Ground black pepper
Garlic salt
Marsala wine

Fill water pan in smoker 1/4 full of liquid. Peel onions, slice off top and bottom so they stand alone. Slice through the onions 3/4 of the way down and make several cuts so they will make a flower. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic salt and bitter. Add bacon and splash of marsala. Wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil, leaving the top of the onion exposed. Smoke for 2 hours or until tender. (It actually took me about 2 1/2 hours to get the flavor and texture I wanted.)

Remember, when using a smoker, the weather outside, the number of times you add more wood or charcoal, and "just checking" will all affect cooking times.

The good thing about these recipes is that you can cook them along with your main dish, just put them in a little earlier.