The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3 smoky products that don’t require you to crank up the grill
There are people in our household (maybe yours, too?) who love anything smoked. When you want that flavor, but don’t want to start a fire, try these three products that deliver plenty of smoke.
Smoked honey from Classic City Bee Co.
The jar of Classic City Bee Co. smoked honey says, “Where there’s smoke, there’s honey.” Doyle Johnson is referring to the smoke that beekeepers use when they’re working with their beehives.
The smoke calms the bees, who allow the beekeepers to go about their work without too much risk of stings. Johnson and his dad, Scott, founded Athens-based Classic City Bee Co. as a result of their lifelong interest in bees, and the lessons to be learned from the community that lives in a beehive.
Their smoked honey was this year’s winner in the honey category of the Flavor of Georgia competition.
They suggest using it to bring the flavor of the grill to dishes you cook indoors, and they’ve posted recipes for smoked honey balsamic Brussels sprouts and smoked honey balsamic peach pork chops on their website.
We liked ours brushed on tuna steaks and stirred into a honey-mustard glaze for salmon.
$10 per 11-ounce jar. Available at classiccitybee.com.
Hickory-smoked black pepper from Holy Smoke
Last winter, we wrote about Holy Smoke’s coldpressed olive oil, coldsmoked with hickory. It’s so good, it’s now available on the shelves of every Whole Foods in the nation. We predict their hickorysmoked black peppercorns soon will be there, too. Kyle Payne and Max Blackman of Johns Island, South Carolina, are the geniuses behind Holy Smoke products, including smoked honey, sea salt and bloody mary mix.
Their peppercorns come in a handy grinder, making it easy to add smoky richness to all kinds of proteins or salad dressings. Check out the recipe for green goddess dressing they’ve posted on their website. We’re thinking smoky potato salad and a sprinkle on top of our next batch of deviled eggs. Oh, wait. Meatloaf with smoked black peppercorns, pork tacos with smoked black peppercorns, grilled corn with smoked black peppercorns, a caprese salad with smoked black peppercorns ….
$9 per 1.7-ounce grinder. Available at holysmokeoliveoil.com.
Smoked trout from Dancin’ Salmon
Dan Siegler named his Sandy Springs-based company Dancin’ Salmon, but he hooked us with his smoked trout. A perfectly slow-cooked trout fillet, oak- and hickorysmoked in his Big Green Egg, it had exactly the right amount of salt and smoke to be a perfect accompaniment to a big summer salad. Probably most of Siegler’s customers eat it like they would smoked salmon, broken into chunks and topping a bagel and cream cheese. That would be delicious, too. And, yes, Siegler does offer smoked salmon, brined with brown sugar and salt, and cooked in the same way. You might be lucky and find he’s got a few Asian salmon cakes available as well — chunks of fresh salmon seasoned with Asian seasonings, like toasted sesame seed oil and ginger, and mixed with green onion. Those were absolutely delicious. Meet Siegler at his booth at a local farmers market, and he’ll offer you a generous taste, so you can decide just which smoked fish you need to take home.
$12 per 8-ounce package of smoked trout, $19.99 per 1-pound package of smoked salmon. Available at the Acworth, Avondale Estates, Decatur, Lilburn, Peachtree Center, Ponce City Market and the Battery farmers markets, or at dancinsalmon.com.