Sometime between the birth of the s’more (circa 1927, when a magazine called Tramping and Trailing listed the first printed recipe for “Some Mores”) and 2016, when smoked ice cream appeared on the set of my Project Smoke TV show, dessert hit the grill big time. Pineapple slices crusted with cinnamon sugar and caramelized over a screaming hot fire. “Kebabs” of peach and mint grilled on, what else, cinnamon stick skewers. Mango Macadamia Crisp smoke-roasted with fragrant fruitwood. Mexico’s quesadilla gets a dessert makeover: stuffed with bananas and dulce de leche before being crisped on the grill. Even chocolate gets the grill treatment with a Salt Slab Chocolate Brownie S’mores. And while you’re at it, use your grill to take beverages and cocktails to the next level: Check out the Grilled Sangria. The secret to a spectacular dessert? Fire up your grill.
With Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 8 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need a chopstick or a metal skewer.
Shop: This dessert lives or dies by the ripeness of the peaches. You want the sort of fruit you can smell across the kitchen. If your peaches are hard, let them ripen at room temperature. Freestone peaches are easier to cut and skewer than clingstone.
Insider tip: Cinnamon sticks come from the bark of a tropical tree. You have two options: true cinnamon, which comes in shaggy, multi-layer sticks, or cassia, a smooth rolled bark with a cinnamon-like scent. Cassia is easier to find and use, but both work great. For a pleasing salty touch, drape paper-thin slices of lardo (Italian cured fatback) over the hot peaches before serving.
Born at Barbecue University, these kebabs have only three ingredients, but they never fail to impress. When you do it right, the ends of the cinnamon sticks burn during grilling, releasing aromatic cinnamon smoke. Meanwhile, the edges of the mint leaves singe, imparting their own refreshing aroma. Then there’s the glaze, whose primary ingredients—bourbon, brown sugar, and butter—could make even charcoal taste great.
Ingredients
For the Peaches
4 large ripe peaches, preferably freestone
8 cinnamon sticks, each at least 3 inches long
8 large fresh mint leaves
For the Bourbon Brown Sugar Glaze
⅓ cup bourbon
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
⅓ cup packed brown sugar, dark or light
Pinch of salt
teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
Peach or vanilla ice cream, for serving
1. Cut the peaches in half lengthwise, running the knife around the crease to the pit. Twist the halves in opposite directions to separate them. Pop out the pit with a spoon and discard. Cut each peach half in half from top to bottom. Using a pointed chopstick or slender metal skewer, make a starter hole in the center of each peach quarter (from the pit side to the outside). Skewer 2 or 3 peach quarters on each cinnamon stick (they should face the same direction), placing a mint leaf between them.
2. Make the glaze: Combine the bourbon, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan and boil until thick and syrupy, 3 to 5 minutes, whisking steadily. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract.
3. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
4. Grill the peaches until nicely browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side, basting with the glaze. Meanwhile, spoon the ice cream into bowls or martini glasses. Top each with 2 peach kebabs and drizzle the remaining glaze over them. Awesome.
Direct grill the peach kebabs until sizzling and browned on both sides.
Yield: Serves 4 to 8
Method: Planking (direct grilling, followed by indirect grilling)
Prep time: 20 minutes
Grilling time: 15 to 20 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need a food processor; 2 large cedar or other wood grilling planks; a metal skewer; and a melon baller (optional).
Shop: You need ripe pears for this dessert. Let hard pears ripen at room temperature until fragrant and soft. Amaretti are almond-flavored, macaroon-like cookies from Italy. One good and widely available brand is Lazzaroni (recognizable by its bright red tin). In a pinch, you could use graham cracker or cookie crumbs.
Insider tip: As elsewhere in the book, the best way to maximize the smoke flavor from a cedar plank is to char it directly over the fire before you add the pears. This runs counter to the widely accepted practice of soaking the planks in water before grilling, which produces steam, not smoke.
Here’s an Italian twist on the traditional baked apple—pears stuffed with almond-flavored amaretti cookie crumbs, brown sugar, and butter, and smoke-roasted on cedar planks. The latter impart a haunting smoke flavor—even if you’re working on a gas grill. It’s hard to imagine a more satisfying autumn dessert.
Ingredients
16 amaretti cookies (⅔ cup crumbs)
¼ cup packed brown sugar, dark or light, or to taste
½ teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 fragrant ripe pears
½ lemon
1 cup Smoked Whipped Cream or regular whipped cream
1. Make the filling: Place the cookies, brown sugar, lemon zest, and cinnamon in a food processor and grind to coarse crumbs. Add the butter and grind to a coarse paste.
2. Cut each pear in half lengthwise. Using a melon baller or spoon, remove the core and seeds from each half. Rub the cut sides with the lemon half to keep them from browning.
3. Spoon the filling into the hollowed-out pears. The pears can be prepared several hours ahead to this stage and refrigerated.
4. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean; there’s no need to oil it. Place the cedar planks (you can do 2 at a time) directly over the fire (located at opposite sides of the grill). Grill until charred on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Place on a heatproof work surface and let cool.
5. Place 4 pear halves on the charred side of each plank. Return the planks to the grill away from the heat. Close the lid and indirect grill until the pears are soft and the filling is bubbling and browned, 15 to 20 minutes, or as needed. Insert a metal skewer to test for doneness. It should pierce the fruit easily. Serve the pears on their planks, with Smoked Whipped Cream or regular whipped cream on the side.
Apple Steaks on Grilled Gingerbread
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 8 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas.
Shop: Choose a firm crisp apple, like a Honeycrisp or Fuji. Use a cake- or bread-like gingerbread (as opposed to gingerbread cookies).
Insider tip: For even more smoke and fire flavor, sandwich the apples and gingerbread with the Smoked Whipped Cream.
I usually serve apple “steaks” (grilled apple slices) as a side dish for pork and game. The idea of pairing them with grilled gingerbread came from my Les Incontournables de Barbecue (“Musts of Barbecue”) TV show in Quebec. The crisp crunch of the apples counterpoints the soft chewy texture of the gingerbread, and grilling endows both with a caramel (burnt sugar) flavor that satisfies long after you’ve taken the last bite.
Ingredients
4 slices gingerbread (each about 3 by 6 inches and ½ inch thick)
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 firm crisp apples, like Honeycrisps
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
Smoked Whipped Cream, for serving (optional )
¼ cup Calvados or apple brandy for flambéing (optional)
1. Set up your grill for direct grilling. Heat one zone to high and one zone to medium-high.
2. Brush the gingerbread slices on both sides with melted butter and set aside.
3. Cut the apples crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. (Don’t worry about the seeds—they add rustic charm.) Brush the apple slices on both sides with melted butter. (The easiest way to do this is on a wire rack set over a sheet pan.) Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl and place it beside the grill.
4. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well. Arrange the gingerbread slices on the medium-high section of the grill and grill until toasted, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the wire rack.
5. Dip the buttered apple slices in the cinnamon sugar mixture, turning with tongs to coat both sides. Shake off any excess. Arrange the apple slices over the hottest section of the grill and grill until sizzling and browned, about 2 minutes per side. Give each a quarter turn after 1 minute to lay on a crosshatch of grill marks. Transfer to the wire rack.
6. To serve, spread Smoked Whipped Cream, if using, on each slice of grilled gingerbread. Shingle the grilled apples on top. For a really over-the-top dessert, warm the Calvados in a small saucepan (it should be finger-dip warm—do not let it boil). Touch a long match to it to ignite it, taking the precautions for the pineapple in the Note, then pour it over the apples.
M>y first attempt at smoked whipped cream involved a bottle of Laphroaig (a super smoky Scotch whisky). The result was excellent—especially if you like Scotch. I’ve since graduated to smoking cream in a smokehouse or with a Smoking Gun (you can read about both in Project Smoke). But this is a book for grillers as well as smokers, so I want to tell you how to smoke cream in a charcoal grill. (Sorry folks, gas grills just don’t put out enough smoke to give you satisfaction.) There are two optional flavorings here to reinforce the smoke flavor: mezcal (a tequila cousin made with smoke-roasted agave cactus hearts) and the aforementioned single malt Scotch.
Ingredients
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon mezcal or single malt Scotch whisky (optional)
1. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium. Pour the cream into an aluminum foil pan and place it over another foil pan full of ice. Place the pans on the grill grate and add the chips to the coals. Close the lid.
2. Smoke the cream until lightly bronzed with a patina of smoke, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring once or twice to mix the smoke with the cream. Remove the cream from the grill and refrigerate until cold.
3. Beat the cream to soft peaks in a chilled bowl using an electric mixer, handheld beater, or whisk. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and mezcal (if using), and beat until stiff peaks form. You can also use a whipped cream siphon.
Coconut Pineapple with Rum Flambe
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 4 to 6 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need a basting brush and a wire rack set over a sheet pan.
Shop: To make your life easier, buy a fresh pineapple that’s been peeled and cored. Choose a bright yellow fruit, which tends to be sweeter than a pale straw-colored pineapple. There are two options for coconut liquids: sweetened coconut cream, the base for a piña colada cocktail, or Asian-style coconut milk, which contains no added sugar.
Insider tip: There are two ways you can slice the peeled, cored pineapple for grilling: crosswise into rings or lengthwise into logs. With a little imagination (and perhaps a piña colada or two), the latter look a little like pork tenderloins. Just saying.
Pineapple was the first fruit I ever grilled, and it remains a Raichlendia favorite. Over the years, I’ve roasted it whole on a rotisserie and charred it, caveman-style, on the embers. I’ve blasted it with chile powder and salt to make a fiery side dish. And, of course, I’ve grilled it sliced and crusted with cinnamon sugar to make an irresistible dessert. When you do it right, the high dry heat of the grill brings out smoky caramel flavors you’d never expect of fresh pineapple. This version pays homage to the world’s most famous pineapple drink: the piña colada. (And while I’m thinking of that, who among you will try making a piña colada with grilled fresh pineapple?) Coconut cream provides the richness, while shredded coconut supplies the crunch. The key is to grill it over a screaming hot fire so you caramelize the sugars while leaving the fruit raw and juicy in the center.
Ingredients
1 luscious ripe pineapple, leafy crown removed, peeled, and cored
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup (6 ounces) coconut cream, like Coco Lopez, or unsweetened coconut milk
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
1 pint coconut or vanilla ice cream
½ cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut (see box)
½ cup dark or 151 rum, for serving
1. Cut the pineapple crosswise into ¾-inch-thick slices. Alternatively, cut it lengthwise into 8 strips. Place on a wire rack set over a sheet pan.
2. Place the sugar in a shallow bowl. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and stir with a fork. Shake the coconut cream well, then pour it into another bowl. Have the coconut cream and spiced sugar next to the grill.
3. Set up a grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
4. Brush each pineapple slice on both sides with coconut cream, then dredge it on both sides in the sugar, shaking off any excess.
5. Arrange the pineapple slices over the hot fire and grill until darkly browned (the sugar should start to caramelize) on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. If grilling rounds, give each a quarter turn after 1 minute to lay on a crosshatch of grill marks. If grilling strips, arrange them on the grate on the diagonal, and give each a quarter turn after 1 minute.
6. Scoop the ice cream into serving bowls and arrange the pineapple on top. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Serve as is, or finish with a rum flambé (see Note).
Note: To flambé the pineapple, if using dark rum, warm it in a small saucepan (it should be finger-dip warm—do not let it boil). There’s no need to warm 151 rum. Touch a long match to the rum to ignite it, then pour it over the pineapple. For safety’s sake, make sure your sleeves are rolled up and there’s nothing else but the rum that can catch on fire.
How to Toast Coconut
Place the shredded coconut in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Toast until golden brown, 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Transfer the coconut to a bowl and let cool.
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Method: Indirect grilling
Prep time: 20 minutes
Grilling time: 40 to 60 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need a food processor; a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet; and 2 hardwood chunks or 1½ cups unsoaked wood chips.
Shop: Forgive my partisanship, but the world’s best mangoes come from my home state, Florida. Look for Hadens, Keitts, Kents, Tommy Atkinses, or Van Dykes, to name a few of the best-known varieties. Happily, they’re in season during the prime barbecue months, June through August. Choose heavy fruits showing some yellow or red on the skin (but Keitts remain green even when ripe). A ripe mango will smell intensely fragrant and feel gently yielding when pressed. If your mangoes aren’t there yet, ripen them in a paper bag at room temperature.
Insider tip: The obvious advantage of cooking a fruit crisp on the grill instead of in the oven is that you can smoke it. Smoke has the uncanny power to make familiar dishes taste wondrous and exotic. (I like to think of smoke as the umami of barbecue.) But dessert isn’t brisket: You want a light smoke flavor, so use a moderate amount of unsoaked wood, preferably fruitwood.
The grilled fruit crisp is another longstanding family favorite. With good reason—it’s easy to prepare, endlessly versatile, and off-the-charts impressive. It calls for the technique I call smoke-roasting—indirect grilling at high heat with wood smoke. You’ll be amazed how the smoke amplifies and transforms the fruit flavor. Over the years, I’ve made crisps with blueberries, strawberries and rhubarb, peaches, cactus pears (and, of course, regular pears), and apples spiked with bourbon and bacon. Here’s a tropical version with a bright, brassy, musky mango filling and a sweet crunchy macadamia nut-coconut crust. Warning: With some people, mango sap produces an allergic reaction similar to that caused by poison ivy. Wear rubber gloves if you have sensitive skin.
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing the skillet
For the Filling
5 to 6 ripe mangoes (enough to make 6 cups diced)
¼ cup packed brown sugar, dark or light, or to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, or to taste
2 tablespoons minced candied ginger
For the Topping
1 cup macadamia nuts
¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar,dark or light
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of coarse salt (sea or kosher)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) ice-cold butter, cut into ½-inch dice
Ice cream or Smoked Whipped Cream
1. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and set aside.
2. Make the filling: Peel the mangoes and slice the fruit off the pits using long strokes of the knife. (Be careful as mangoes are slippery.) Cut the mangoes into 1-inch dice—you should have 6 cups—and place in a mixing bowl. Stir in the ¼ cup brown sugar, flour, lime zest, lime juice, and candied ginger. Add more sugar or lime juice to taste; the filling should be very flavorful. Spoon the filling into the prepared skillet.
3. Make the topping: Place the macadamia nuts in a food processor. Coarsely chop the nuts, running the processor in short bursts. Add the coconut, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter. Run the processor in short bursts until the mixture is coarse and crumbly, 1 to 2 minutes. The butter should form pea-size pieces. Do not overprocess, or the mixture will become gummy. Spoon the topping evenly over the fruit filling in the skillet.
4. Meanwhile, set up the grill for indirect grilling. If using a charcoal grill, heat it to medium-high, then toss all of the wood chunks or chips on the coals. Or, use the gas grill smoking method.
5. Place the crisp in the center of the grate, away from the heat, and cover the grill. Smoke-roast until the topping is nicely browned and the filling is bubbling, 40 to 60 minutes. Let the crisp cool for a few minutes. Serve with ice cream or with dollops of Smoked Whipped Cream.
Variations
Berry Crisp: Substitute 6 cups of washed berries (one kind or mixed) for the mangoes, and lemon zest and juice for the lime (you’ll need 1 lemon). Replace the macadamia nuts with pecans or almonds. Prepare as described on the facing page.
Bacon Brandy Apple Crisp: Substitute 6 cups diced apples for the mangoes, and lemon zest and juice for the lime. Add 1 strip grilled, diced bacon and 2 tablespoons of Cognac or brandy. Replace the macadamia nuts with walnuts or pecans. Prepare as described below.
With Strawberry “Salsa” and Smoked Whipped Cream
Yield: Serves 4 to 8
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 4 to 8 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas.
Shop: Being something of a purist, I’ve tried grilling homemade pound cake. I have to confess: Nothing beats Sara Lee. For an interesting variation, grill slices of angel food cake.
Insider tip: Here, you’ll find instructions for smoking cream on your grill. There’s another method that’s simple and effective (and essential if you cook on a gas grill): Use a handheld smoker, like a PolyScience Smoking Gun. Place the cream in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pump in the smoke and let the cream infuse for 4 minutes. Repeat 2 or 3 times.
The grill was the original toaster, and in this dish, you’ll use it to make “toast” you can serve for dessert. Grilling gives the pound cake a crusty exterior and the pleasing burnt sugar taste of caramel. To offset the sweetness, serve it with a strawberry “salsa” complete with cilantro and jalapeños. (If that sounds too weird, use fresh mint.)
Ingredients
For the Strawberry Salsa
1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, stemmed, and quartered
¼ cup slivered fresh cilantro or mint
1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, or more to taste
For the Pound Cake
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
8 slices (¾ inch thick) pound cake (see Shop), thawed if frozen
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted
Smoked Whipped Cream or regular whipped cream, for serving
1. Make the strawberry salsa: Place the strawberries, cilantro or mint, jalapeño(s), lime juice, and sugar in a mixing bowl but do not mix. The salsa can be prepared to this stage up to
2 hours ahead and refrigerated.
2. Set up the grill for direct grilling and heat to medium-high. When ready to cook, brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
3. Lightly brush the cake slices on both sides with the melted butter. Arrange the slices of cake on the grill at a diagonal to the bars of the grate and grill until lightly browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side, turning with a spatula. Transfer the grilled cake slices to a platter or plates.
4. Toss the strawberry salsa to mix. Taste for sweetness, adding more sugar and/or lime juice as necessary. Spoon the salsa over the grilled cake. Top each portion with a dollop of Smoked Whipped Cream and serve at once. Serve any extra whipped cream on the side.
Banana, Queso Fresco, And Dulce De Leche
Yield: Serves 2 and can be multiplied as desired
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 4 to 6 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. Not that you need one, but there are quesadilla grilling baskets that facilitate turning the quesadillas. Check the Store on barbecuebible.com.
Shop: Dulce de leche (a milk caramel originating in South and Central America) is available at Hispanic food markets and most supermarkets or online. Three widely available brands are La Lechera, San Ignacio, and Stonewall Kitchen.
Insider tip: The only remotely challenging part of this recipe is flipping the quesadilla. If you’re nervous about your spatula skills, pull the quesadilla off the grate onto a rimless sheet pan. Place a second rimless sheet pan on top to sandwich it, turn that over, then slide the quesadilla back onto the grill. To make cinnamon sugar, stir 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon into ¼ cup granulated sugar.
Readers of my books know my enthusiasm for grilled quesadillas. The high dry heat of the grill crisps the tortilla without the greasiness of pan-frying. Well, here’s a grilled quesadilla designed to serve for dessert. Dulce de leche and fresh bananas provide the sweetness, with the queso fresco (see Shop) adding a salty cheese note. The cinnamon sugar makes the quesadillas a little more crisp.
Ingredients
4 flour tortillas (8 inches each)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup cinnamon sugar (optional)
½ cup dulce de leche
1 ripe but firm banana, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise on the diagonal
½ cup coarsely grated or crumbled queso fresco (optional)
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill grate
1. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to medium-high.
2. Brush one of the tortillas with melted butter and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if using. Place it, butter and sugar side down, on a rimless baking sheet, inverted sheet pan, or pizza peel. Spread the tortilla with a quarter of the dulce de leche. Arrange half the banana slices on top and sprinkle with half the cheese. Spread a second tortilla with a quarter of the dulce de leche and place it, spread side down, on top of the cheese. Brush the top of the tortilla with melted butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar. Assemble the second quesadilla the same way.
3. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
4. Pulling from one end, gently slide the quesadilla onto the grill grate. Grill until the bottom is browned and the cheese at the edge starts to melt, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep the grill lid closed to hold in the heat.
5. Slide a large spatula under the quesadilla and flip it over (or use the flipping technique outlined in the Insider Tip). Continue grilling until the bottom is browned and the cheese is melted, another 2 minutes. If the tortilla starts to burn, slide it to the unlit part of the grill with a spatula. You’ll need 4 to 6 minutes of grilling in all.
6. Transfer the quesadilla to a platter or plate and repeat with the second quesadilla. Cut the quesadillas into wedges for serving.
Spread the bottom tortilla with dulce de leche.
Arrange the banana slices over the dulce de leche.
Arrange the second tortilla, dulce de leche side down, over the bananas and cheese. It’s now ready to be brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
Salt Slab Chocolate Brownie S’mores
Yield: Serves 6 and can be multiplied as desired
Method: Salt slab grilling/indirect grilling
Prep time: 10 minutes
Grilling time: 6 to 10 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal or gas. You also need a salt slab for grilling and 1 cup unsoaked wood chips.
Shop: A dessert this simple lives or dies by the quality of its ingredients. Sure, you could buy supermarket marshmallows (a brand you remember from your youth), but why ingest tetrasodium pyrophosphate if you don’t have to? Instead, splurge on gourmet marshmallows made with natural ingredients, like Plush Puffs (an artisanal company founded by chefs) or bourbon-infused Wondermade marshmallows. Both are available from Amazon.
Insider tip: Warning: Do not make this recipe in cold weather. Hot salt slabs have been known to crack or explode when exposed to cold air.
You didn’t think I was going to finish this chapter without the original grilled dessert—the s’more? I won’t disappoint you. I give you the richest, awesomest, most decadently chocolaty s’more of all. You start not with graham crackers, but with your favorite chocolate brownie. (Extra points if it’s homemade.) You sandwich it with a bar of 70 or 80 percent pure cocoa chocolate—Lindt Excellence, Scharffen Berger, or Valrhona, for example. In the best of all possible worlds, you use fine artisanal marshmallows, preferably that come in rectangles large enough to cover the brownies and in flavors like bourbon or orange (see Shop). If you’re feeling really ambitious, make your own marshmallows. For extra flavor, you’ll add thinly slivered mint leaves or crème de menthe (chocolate has a great affinity for mint). Finally, you smoke-roast the s’mores on a fire-heated salt slab, salt being the secret ingredient used by so many pastry chefs these days to bring out a dessert’s sweetness, while paradoxically, not making it taste sugary. Tip o’ the hat to the Full of Life pizzeria in Los Alamos, California, where a similar s’more comes sizzling and smoky from a humongous wood-burning oven.
Ingredients
6 excellent chocolate brownies (each about 3 by 4 inches)
6 fresh mint leaves, rolled and thinly slivered, or 2 tablespoons crème de menthe liqueur (optional)
6 squares (each about 2 by 3 inches) super premium chocolate bar
6 rectangular marshmallows (each about 2 by 3 inches) or conventional marshmallows, cut in half lengthwise
Flaky salt, preferably Maldon, for serving (optional)
1. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean; there’s no need to oil it. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat slowly to medium-high. Gradually heat the salt slab at the same time.
2. Lay the slivered mint leaves atop the brownies or sprinkle the brownies with crème de menthe, if using. Lay a square of chocolate on top, and top with a marshmallow.
3. Arrange the marshmallow-topped brownies on the hot salt slab. Add the wood chips to the coals or to your grill’s smoker box and lower the lid. Smoke-roast the s’more brownies until the marshmallows are sizzling and browned, 6 to 10 minutes. Transfer to plates or bowls or serve them right off the salt slab, sprinkled with flaky salt, if using.
Yield: Serves 10 to 12
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 3 to 4 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need a large punch bowl.
Shop: In Spain, sangria is rarely carbonated, but here in the United States, many of us grew up on a sort of sweet wine punch made fizzy with citrus soda. I prefer to use sparkling wine: Prosecco to make a white sangria, for example, or Lambrusco (a red sparkling wine from Italy’s Lombardy region) to make a red sangria.
Insider tip: True cinnamon has shaggy bark; the smooth-stick spice that often passes for cinnamon is really cassia. Both work great for this sangria: Grilling the cinnamon adds a spicy smoke flavor.
Sangria comes from one of the world’s great grill cultures, Spain. While I’ve never seen anyone grill this refreshing wine cooler in the land of paella and chuletón, I think you’ll find the Project Fire version as spectacular to make and serve as it is to drink. In a nutshell, you crust the citrus fruits with sugar, then caramelize them over a hot fire before adding the wine. The resulting smoky burnt sugar flavor takes this sangria into the stratosphere.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil for oiling the grill
1 cup granulated sugar
2 navel or other oranges, cut in half and seeded, if needed
2 lemons, cut in half and seeded
2 limes, cut in half and seeded, if needed
4 cinnamon sticks, each about 3 inches long
½ cup packed brown sugar, dark or light, or to taste
1 cup dark rum
3 cold bottles Prosecco or other sparkling wine, such as Lambrusco (see Shop)
Ice, for serving
Sprigs of fresh mint, for serving
1. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well.
2. Place the granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl or punch bowl. Dip the cut sides of the citrus fruits in the sugar, then grill cut sides down until the sugar caramelizes and the fruit is darkly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. (Do not empty the remaining sugar from the bowl.) Grill the cinnamon sticks until lightly toasted. Transfer the fruit and cinnamon to a cutting board and let cool.
3. Dice the fruit into 1-inch pieces. Return to the punch bowl with the remaining granulated sugar. Stir in the cinnamon sticks and brown sugar and muddle with a pestle or wooden spoon. Stir in the rum and let macerate for 10 minutes.
4. Just before serving, stir the cold Prosecco into the fruit mixture. Correct the sweetness, adding sugar to taste. Ladle the sangria into ice-filled glasses and garnish with sprigs of fresh mint.
Yield: Serves 4
Method: Direct grilling
Prep time: 10 minutes
Grilling time: 6 minutes
Grill/Gear: Can be grilled over charcoal, wood, or gas. You also need 2 fruitwood chunks or 1½ cups unsoaked wood chips (optional); a food processor; a bamboo skewer; and 4 champagne flutes (optional).
Shop: Tradition calls for white freestone peaches, but choose ripeness and freshness over color. Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine.
Insider tip: This cocktail lives or dies by the quality of the peaches. Use soft ripe fragrant fruit you can smell across the room and you’ll experience the Bellini in all its summer glory. Use the sort of cold stone-hard peaches sold at all-too-many supermarkets and your cocktail will be a pale simulacrum of what a Bellini should be. If that’s all you can find, at least let the peach ripen for a few days at room temperature.
Born at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, in 1948, and named for a Renaissance painter (as was Harry’s other masterpiece, carpaccio), the Bellini is the ultimate summer cocktail. Effervescent. Fruity, but not sugary. Served with majesty in a flute, like Champagne. It contains only three ingredients—sparkling wine, sugar, and white peach puree. And it’s about to get a lot more interesting, because in the Project Fire version—you guessed it—I introduce a smoky caramel flavor by grilling the peaches.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil for the grill grate
2 fragrant ripe peaches, preferably white, peeled, cut in half, and pitted
½ cup granulated sugar, in a shallow bowl
1 bottle cold Prosecco
1. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush or scrape the grill grate clean and oil it well. Add wood chunks or chips, if using, to the fire, following the instructions.
2. Dip the peach halves on all sides in the sugar, shaking off the excess. Grill the peaches, starting cut side down, until caramelized (dark brown), 2 to 3 minutes per side, 4 to 6 minutes in all, turning once with tongs.
3. Transfer the peach halves to a plate to cool. Puree 3 halves in a food processor or blender. Cut the remaining half into thin wedges for garnishing the Bellini.
4. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of peach puree to each of 4 champagne flutes, if using, or wineglasses. Fill each flute with chilled Prosecco and gently stir with a bamboo skewer. Garnish each glass with a peach wedge and serve.