Smokin'

March 29, 2004
Food

SMOKIN': Recipes for Smoking Ribs, Salmon, Chicken, Mozzarella and More with Your Stovetop Smoker
Christopher Styler
. Morrow
, $17.95 paper (288p) ISBN 0-06-054815-0

Move over George Foreman. In the unique tradition of cookbooks constructed for a specific kitchen gadget, Chef Styler (formerly of the Black Dog Tavern in Martha's Vineyard) weighs in with 95 recipes for the CMI Stovetop Smoker, a contraption that requires just a handful of wood chips and heat from any kitchen stove. Often, the simplest of the book's dishes put the salivary glands into overdrive. Corn on the Cob and Garlic Mashed Potatoes speak for themselves. Smoked Corn Chips take 10 minutes to become warm and flavorful, thus enhancing the Smoky-Spicy Salsa, with smoked tomatoes, in which they're dipped. In-Flight Almonds combine sugar, salt, a bit of cayenne pepper and the scent of hickory for the classic savory snack, with no seatbelts required. Beef Jerky employs strips of bottom round, which are tossed in salt and brown sugar and smoked in mesquite or hickory, then oven-dried at low heat for four hours. Most of the recipes involve a finishing off, or some pre-cooking, in the oven or on the stovetop, since the Smoker favors complexity of taste over high heat. Styler doesn't overlook soups and seafood, uniting the two in Smoky Mussel Chowder with plenty of cream and butter offsetting the mollusks' intensity. Among the more complex offerings, Pulled Pork stands a chance of tasting fine given its dry rub and 45 minutes of smoke. And in a nifty variation, Tea-Smoked Duck with Asian Slaw replaces the wood with jasmine tea leaves. Agent, Kim Yorio.

June 15, 2004
With Smokin', Styler, a prolific food writer and cookbook author, is likely to inspire many readers to buy a stovetop smoker. Simple, sturdy, but fairly inexpensive, it can be used year-round in even the smallest apartment kitchen to smoke anything from corn on the cob to duck breasts to clams. After introducing the technique, Styler presents recipes for sauces and salsas, appetizers, and soups and salads. Each main course chapter opens with "master recipes"-e.g., the poultry chapter includes detailed guidelines for smoking both whole and cut-up chickens, turkey, game hens, and the like-followed by other recipes featuring those ingredients. Styler also includes nonsmoked "extras," or go-withs, such as Coleslaw and Cousins. This reference/cookbook is recommended for most collections.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.