Three recipes from Charlotte Pike's 'Smoked': From smoked sweetcorn fritters to scallops with puy lentils
Once you've learned how to smoke your own food, you won't be able to stop. But don't think it's a craft only confined for bacon or cheese. Charlotte Pike's recipes include vegetables and seafood
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Your support makes all the difference.Smoked sweetcorn fritters
Smoked sweetcorn is really delicious when stirred into a lightly spiced batter and made into fritters. This is an ideal recipe to make for a weekend brunch or lunch.
Makes about 16 fritters
150g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg, beaten
400g smoked corn kernels – about 2–3 cobs (recipe below)
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Sift the flour, salt, cumin and paprika into a large mixing bowl. Add the beaten egg and 125ml water and whisk to form a thick batter. Stir through the corn and spring onions. Set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large non-stick frying pan. Heat over a medium– high heat. Swirl the pan to ensure the oil is evenly distributed over the base.
Preheat the oven to 100°C/fan 80°C/gas mark ¼. Spoon 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture per fritter into the pan and cook for 2–3 minutes on each side until the fritters are rich brown. Work in batches and avoid overcrowding the pan. Transfer to a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Serve warm – they are excellent with an avocado salsa made from chopped avocado, tomato, fresh coriander leaves and lime juice.
Smoked corn on the cob
Smoked corn on the cob is delicious served buttered, or added to salads, burritos, tacos, crab cakes, and of course, the Smoked sweetcorn fritters.
Serves 6
6 whole sweetcorn cobs, husks on or off
1 and ½ teaspoons maple or mesquite wood chips
Preheat your smoker with the wood chips inside. When the smoker is at about 95°C, add the corn and smoke for 30 minutes–1 hour until the husks are as smoky as you like.
The smoked corn will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. The kernels will stay fresher on the husk but you can strip them off the husks and store for ease of use, if you wish.
TIP: If you are smoking the sweetcorn with the husks off, rub a little flavourless vegetable oil over the corn and season with a little salt and pepper before smoking.
Smoked scallop salad with bacon and puy lentils
Smoked scallops can be enjoyed both hot and cold. Either serve them cold, cut into slices, or pan-fry in a bit of olive oil or bacon fat to crisp them up. They need just 2 minutes on each side to cook them perfectly.
Serves 4
150g smoked streaky bacon, cut thinly
1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)
250g cooked Puy lentils
150g watercress, rocket or lamb’s lettuce
8 large smoked scallops – corals on or off
For the dressing
6–8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 and ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Gently fry the bacon in a pan over a medium-high heat until very crisp. You may need to add a teaspoon of oil if the bacon is lean and doesn’t render much fat. This should take about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Season, add the lentils to the dressing and stir through so they absorb the flavours nicely. Just before you are ready to serve, add the leaves to the bowl and stir through. Add the bacon, too. If you are serving the scallops warm, pan-fry in the bacon fat for 2 minutes on each side.
Divide the salad onto plates and top with slices of cold scallop or freshly pan-fried warm scallops. Enjoy immediately.
Lamb shawarma
Shawarma is a Middle Eastern wrap in which sliced or shredded meat is rolled in flatbread. Spicy smoked lamb is perfect for these. You can buy khobez flatbreads or pitta breads but it’s easy to make your own.
Serves 6
500g spiced, smoked and cooked lamb shoulder meat (recipe below), shredded – either warm or at room temperature
For the flatbreads
400g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
½ teaspoon sea salt
200ml warm water, mixed with 4 tablespoons olive oil
For the slaw
½ white cabbage, sliced very finely on a mandolin
zest and juice of 1 lemon
pinch of sea salt
20g fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
seeds of 1 pomegranate
For the mint yougurt
200g full-fat natural yogurt
20g fresh mint leaves, chopped|
generous pinch of sea salt
Start with the flatbread, if you are making your own. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl to form a soft ball of dough. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 20 minutes.
To cook, divide the dough evenly into 6 balls. Roll out each ball on a floured surface to form a circle about 5mm thick. Preheat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat until it’s almost smoking, and then cook each flatbread one at a time in the dry pan for 2–3 minutes on each side.
To make the slaw, combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Stir well and keep at room temperature. To make the mint yogurt, stir the chopped mint into the yogurt and season with salt.
To serve, place the warm lamb, and freshly cooked flatbreads on the table. Serve the slaw and mint yogurt in separate bowls and allow everyone to construct their own shawarma wrap. The individual components will keep for 24 hours if there are any leftovers.
Spiced smoked shoulder of lamb
This is a wonderful way to prepare a shoulder of lamb, richly flavoured with a dry spice rub. It is fantastic served with salads, couscous and vegetable tagines.
Serves 6–8
1 shoulder of lamb, weighing about 2.5kg
40g sea salt
20g ground coriander seeds
20g ground cumin
20g chilli powder – mild or hot
8 garlic gloves, crushed
Place the lamb in a large, shallow Pyrex, glass or ceramic dish or bowl. Mix all the flavourings in a bowl and rub over the lamb. Cover the lamb with clingfilm and transfer to the fridge for 6 hours.
When you are ready to smoke the lamb, preheat the hot smoker. Place the lamb directly onto the rack and smoke for 1–2 hours, depending on how smoky you would like the lamb to taste.
To finish off the joint, you can either barbecue it for 1 hour, turning regularly, or roast it in a preheated oven at 160°C/fan 140°C/gas mark 3 for 2–4 hours. Rest for 1 hour well wrapped in foil before shredding with two forks and serving either hot or warm.
'Smoked' by Charlotte Pike is published by Kyle Books, £17.99. Photography by Tara Fisher
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