Maple Bourbon Wrapped Smoked Turkey Breasts Stuffed with Cheddar and Poblano Peppers,

I had my eye on the weather towards the end of February.  After one of our short cold snaps, the weekend forecast was shaping up nicely.  70, sunny, no rain.  Ah yes, the benefits of an El Nino winter.  Or perhaps, the rat from Punxsutawney was right for once.  Either way, I was determined to take full advantage of the bonus February heat wave.  I had a taste for something with some smoke and maybe a little sauce.  Turkey breasts were on sale.  I had some cheddar cheese at home.  The plan was taking shape.  After a quick detour back to the produce department for a poblano pepper, it was time to rush home and get down to some smoking!

First, I whipped up a half batch of poultry brine and placed it in the refrigerator to cool overnight.  The next day, I placed the turkey in the brine for a two hour spa treatment.  While the turkey was tucked away in its briny bath, I thinly sliced some sweet onion, seeded and sliced my poblano pepper into strips, and for good measure, I thawed some home cured maple bourbon bacon.  Next, I lit my smoker and set the temperature for 250 F and fished some apple wood out of storage for my smoke flavor.

Once I removed the turkey from the brine, I rinsed thoroughly with water, patted them dry, then vented some stress by pounding the breasts to about 1/4-3/8" thick with a meat mallet.

Next, I placed a slice of sharp cheddar, a slice of onion, and one poblano strip off to one side of the breast.  Then I rolled up the breast and then wrapped the breast in bacon.  The final touch was a light dusting of Dizzy Pig Raging River Rub.  The maple flavors in the rub would complement the bourbon bacon nicely.

Once the assembly process was complete, I placed the breasts on a wire rack and placed them on the top rack of the smoker.  After 60 minutes, I checked the temperature of the breasts and they were right around 145 F.

Time for a BBQ sauce glaze.  You can use any sauce of your choosing.  I grabbed a pint of homemade sauce kindly given to us by our good friends at Red Valley BBQ and lightly glazed these packages of bacon wrapped goodness.

After 15 minutes, I lightly applied a bit of the sauce and then placed the rack back in the smoker for 15 more minutes to set the final application of sauce.

When finished, I grabbed an adult beverage, a knife and a fork, and sat on the deck, enjoying the warm February weather.  This little experiment turned out just right.  Moist and tender, cheesy with a little bite from the pepper and the sauce.  Oh yeah, the bourbon bacon was a nice touch as well.  I should have turned this turkey breast in for the World Bacon Championship last year.  Oh well, not much I can do about that now, right?

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Pulled Bacon Potato Chowder

I was rummaging though the Ice Cave a few weeks ago.  You know, the never ending battle with trying to keep your freezer neat and orderly.  As I was rotating older inventory I stumbled upon a package of the pulled bacon I made with a pork butt earlier in the year.  It was time to make something with the pouch of frozen bacony goodness I was holding in my hand.

As I went upstairs, I started scouring through the pantry and a plan came together.  Bacon, potatoes, chicken broth.  Potato chowder it is.

I have this Chicken Corn Chowder recipe that I have made for years.  The original recipe is from Cooking Light.  But, I have modified it so much, I use it as my own.  I also borrow a bit from my mothers old Potato Soup recipe.  Here is what I did for this particular batch.

Pulled Bacon Potato Chowder

1 lb of Pulled Bacon.  Recipe and method in the link above.  You could substitute store bought with the fat drained from the cooked bacon.
6 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 ribs of Celery, diced
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium Sweet Onion, roughly diced
4 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 tsp of dried Tarragon
1 tsp of dried Parsley
A drizzle of oil for sautéing
8 cups of Chicken Broth.  I make my own and skim the fat off.
1/2 cup light Half and Half.  You could grab the brass ring and use Heavy Cream.
Salt and Pepper to taste.

First, I roughly minced the pulled bacon to eliminate any large chunks.  Then, I took my 8 quart dutch oven and put a very small amount of olive oil in the bottom and heated to a medium high heat.  I added the oil only because the pulled bacon has a very low fat content.  I didn't want it to burn before I loosened up what fat remained.  Once the bacon was sauteing nicely, I added parsley and tarragon along with the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic mixture.  I sautéed for about 10 minutes on medium high heat until the veggies where just past tender crisp.

Then, I added the chicken broth and potatoes, and brought the mixture to a boil.  Once boiling, I lowered the heat and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.

At the end of the simmer, I added the 1/2 cup of half and half, then I took my stick blender and pureed the mixture until about 1/3 of the mixture was smooth.  I tasted the soup and added salt and pepper to taste.  Then, I let the soup simmer for about 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Done.  I ladled into soup bowls.  I topped mine with some shredded CoJack cheese.  Hope did the same and added a dollop of sour cream as well.

This chowder had smoky bacon in every bite, but it was not overpowering.  Pureeing the soup added a creamy component that made up for the light half and half.  This chowder was good food.  The best part was flooding the lunch room at work the next day with the smell of smoked bacon while reheating.  I always get in trouble when I do that because I never bring samples...

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

How do you say Moink in Italian?

Monik Balls have been a competition BBQ staple for as long as I can remember.  There really is not a right or a wrong way to make them.  Generally, they are a meatball made with pork and beef (hence the "monk"), seasoned with BBQ rub, then wrapped in bacon and cooked in a smoker until the meatball is cooked and the bacon is cooked.  I have seen them served with a BBQ sauce glaze or with dipping sauce on the side.  Creativity is encouraged and the sky is the limit.

A few weeks ago, I was in the mood for some Moink Balls, but not in the mood for something with a BBQ taste.  So, after digging through the ice cave, I found some ground meat and sweet Italian sausage.  Italian Moink Balls?  Why not.

After thawing the ground meat and sausage, I mixed one pound of each in a bowl with two cloves of minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  If your Italian sausage lacks pizzaz, you could also add oregano, thyme, and basil to your liking.  But, the Italian sausage we have is made by authentic Italian Grandfathers from an Italian Club around Windber, PA.  No added seasoning needed.  Once the meat was mixed thoroughly, I pulled out about 1/4 cup pieces and rolled into flat rounds.  Then, I added some shredded mozzarella cheese, closed the ball, and rolled until sealed to keep the cheese from oozing during cooking.

Next, I wrapped each meatball in one slice of thin sliced bacon.  Then, I let the bacon wrapped meatballs sit on the counter to come to room temperature while I brought my smoker up to 350 F.  Once the smoker reached temperature, I placed one piece of hickory in the ash pan for flavor and placed the Moink Balls with the rack onto the top shelf of the smoker.  After 30 minutes of cook time I rotated the rack 180 degrees to promote even cooking.

I was thinking of painting the meatballs with a spicy tomato sauce to form a glaze.  But, I remembered this great sauce is inspired by a friend of ours from the BBQ competition world.  I whipped up a Garlic Parmesan Aioli for dipping.  I took one cup of mayonnaise, 2 minced garlic cloves, the juice from one lemon, 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and enough olive oil to get the mixture somewhat mobile.  This sauce was good, but wasn't anywhere near what she makes.  But, this was good for a first pass.  I will have to experiment with this sauce further.

After one hour of cook time in the smoker, the meatballs were cooked and the bacon was crispy.  Ready to serve.

Not bad for an Italian style Moink Ball.  I was thinking of wrapping in prosciutto instead of bacon.  Next time I will.  I just didn't have any in the refrigerator.  Maybe that is something you can try.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Burnt Onion and Bacon Jam

One day a few months ago, I was scrolling through the Book of Faces when someone called Burger Mary popped up via a friends feed.  Naturally, with anything meat, I had to check the site out.  I was not disappointed.  I was treated to a meaty wonderland of resources.  Recipes, reviews, and informational articles.  Jess has immigrated to the US from Australia, settling in Austin, Texas.  I want her job.  But, since I can't have her job, I settle for reading her blog and trying some of the recipes and techniques.  The first recipe I tried was a sure fire winner.  Burnt Onion Bacon Jam.

Who wouldn't like this recipe?  Burnt and roasted sweet onions and over one pound of bacon, cooked into little bits of crispy goodness.  Lets go through the process.

You can find the recipe here: Burnt Onion Bacon Jam

The process was simple.

Start a nice hot fire in your charcoal grill.  Spread out the coals, then when they are nice and hot, place your sweet onions, skin and all, on top of the coals and cook for about five minutes.  I turned every 30 seconds or so to make sure I evenly cooked the onions.  One burnt nicely, the other not so much.  But you get the idea.

Once the onions had cooled down, I removed the outer skin, diced, and set aside.

Next, I took a pound and a half of bacon, diced, then slowly cooked in my cast iron pan until the fat had rendered and the bacon was crisp.  I removed the bacon from the pan and placed in a bowl with paper towel to soak up the grease.  Then, I removed the rendered bacon fat from my skillet, reserving just enough to cook my onions.

I turned on my burner to medium with the reserved bacon fat.  Then, when the fat was up to temperature, I added the onion and spices and cooked for five minutes, stirring every minute or so.

Next, I added my wet ingredients (I kept the optional bourbon out), increased the heat to high, and cooked for five more minutes.  Your mix will be boiling at this point.  Finally, I added the cooked bacon to the mix and let simmer 10-15 minutes, or until you reach the consistency you are looking for.  I cooked for 15 minutes and probably removed too much liquid.  Next time, I will only reduce for about 10 minutes.

Next, I placed the finished mixture into pint Mason Jars for storage in the refrigerator.

For testing, I took a small sample into work for my colleagues to try.  One is a certified connoisseur of bacon.  The other eats to live, not the other way around.  His idea of fine dining is salad without dressing and bananas that should have been used for baking and not direct eating.  Not surprisingly, the bacon lover was in heaven.  He thought this may have been the best use of bacon that he had seen in quite some time.  What about the Eat to Live guy?  No comment.  He was too busy spooning this mixture into his mouth, moaning and groaning with pleasure throughout.

The three of us discussed uses for this jam.  Omelette filling, burger topping, and a toast spread were the obvious choices.  But, the three of us all agreed, you could use this in a dessert.  I know, onions and dessert?  Well, this jam is a very nice mix of sweet and savory with just a hit of acid from the vinegar.  Bacon Lover wanted to try it on vanilla ice cream.  Eat to Live guy wanted to put it on cheesecake.  Both would work in my opinion.  I am going to experiment with apples or strawberries in the future.  I still can't wrap my arms around onions in a dessert.  The bottom line is, you need to try this recipe, especially if you love bacon.  You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Pulled Bacon

It is that time of the year that everyone who loves tomatoes looks forward to with anticipation.  That time of the year when your local farmers market is bursting with plump and juicy tomatoes of various varieties.  Romas, Early Girls, Beefsteak, take your pick.  For four to five months out of the year, we get to leave behind tomatoes of the hot house variety and feast on sweet a juicy goodness.  There are three things that I look forward to during tomato season:  marinaded and grilled tomatoes with mozzarella cheese, fresh salsa, and BLT's, hold the L.  Lets explore the summer variety BLT.

Some time last year, Gusface Grillah over at gusfacegrillah.com experimented with some pulled bacon.  Basically, he took a pork butt, cured it, smoked it, and turned it into a piece of art.  With fresh tomatoes on the horizon, I decided to make a little pulled bacon for my first BLT of the summer.

First, I whipped up a batch of my Apple Cider Bacon Brine.  I purchased a boneless pork butt, about 4.5 pounds, and allowed the meat to cure in the refrigerator for about two weeks. Normally for a pork belly the cure time would only be 7-10 days, but I added the extra time to ensure that the inside of the butt was cured as well.  After curing, I soaked the butt in an ice water bath overnight, then rinsed well to remove all of the cure.

The next step was easy: just smoke the butt like you are making pulled pork.  I smoked at 250 F with cherry, pecan, and hickory wood until the internal temperature was 195 F.  I wrapped the pork but with foil and a towel and let rest in a cooler for two hours.  Then, Hope removed the foil, vacuum packed, and placed in the refrigerator for a week.

Vacuum packing and letting the meat rest for a week allows the smoke flavor to mellow a bit, making for a better end product.  David, our friend over at Heavy D BBQ gave us that piece of advise and he is spot on.

After the week of rest, I removed the butt from the plastic and started pulling it just like I do for my BBQ pulled pork.

This pulled bacon had a little bit of everything.  There was a little bark from the sugar in the cure and lots of smoky bacon flavor.  I will say, there was just a bit a hammy taste, but bacon was the prevalent flavor.

As luck would have it, the first batch of Early Girls were available at our local farmers market.  So, I took about 1/3 of a cup of the pulled bacon and added to a hot skillet with a bit of cooking spray.  I heated until slightly crisp on one side then flipped to crisp the other side.  Then, I placed my pulled bacon on some crispy white bread with mayo, and sliced fresh tomatoes.

I packed up the rest in smaller portions and froze for future use.  A great use during the winter would be some for chowder or other some other hearty soup.  Maybe even as filling for a hearty omelet.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Bacon Pesto Stuffed Turkey Breast

Earlier this year at the World Bacon Championships in Rochester, NY, one of the turn in categories was turkey.  It could be any kind of turkey, it just had to contain bacon in some form.  So, after some thinking and experimentation over the spring, we settled on a turkey breast stuffed with basil pesto and bacon.  Bacon and pesto match well.  At least I think so.  But the judges didn't think so as our entry finished in the middle of the pack.

First, we took a turkey breast and butterflied the meat so that it could be stuffed with the bacon and pesto filling.

Once butterflied, we brined in a batch of our homemade brine solution.

I always use this brine when I am smoking chicken, turkey, or any thing with wings.  It really does tenderize the meat and take out all of those bad juices.  I always reference this recipe in my poultry posts.  So, I decided to make my life (and yours) easier and make a separate link.

BOS's Chicken Brine:

Ingredients:
1 gallon Water
1 cup dry wine
¾ cup Kosher Salt
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
¼ cup Orange Juice
⅛ cup Worcestershire Sauce

I placed the turkey breast in the brine and allowed it to soak for about four hours.

As preparation time drew closer, we prepared the bacon pesto filling.  For the bacon, I took about a half pound of bacon and cut it into small cube.  Then, I browned the bacon until slightly crisp, then I drained the fat.  Once this was done, I stirred the bacon into 1/2 cup of basil pesto.  Then I removed the turkey breast from the brine, rinsed well with cold water, and patted dry.  Then, the breast was stuffed with the pesto mixture, rolled up tight, then tied shut with butchers twine.  Then, I lightly coasted the skin with olive oil and seasoned lightly with salt, thyme, and rosemary.

I smoke roasted the breast on a smoker at 350 F with a piece of pecan wood in my ash pan for smoke flavor.  I roasted the bird until the internal temperature reached 160 F, about one hour.  Then, I removed the breast from the smoker and allowed to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

The meat was tender and juicy.  The flavors mixed well.  The leftovers made a great grilled turkey club of sorts the next day with crusty white bread, provolone cheese, and sliced tomato.  Obviously, this recipe did not work well for us in competition.  But, for at home, I'll be making this again.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Your Goose is Cooked, Part Two: Brined and Roasted Two Ways

Back when The Oldest brought over his goose jerky to be smoked, he also dropped off the rest of his jerky trimmings for me to play with in the kitchen.  I decided that I would try and make them edible in a form as close as possible to the real meat without curing or turning into jerky.  To do that, I needed a way to get over the shoe leather qualities of the meat when cooked traditionally.  The solution to that was a brine.

One of the problems The Oldest was having with cooking his goose breast was the blood that the meat was retaining.  For example, after soaking the breasts in water overnight, we observed a lot of blood in the water the next morning.  There was even blood on the paper towels used to dry the breasts.  So, as an experiment, we placed the breasts back in the water and after about 30 minutes of soaking, blood could be observed diffusion into the water.  This is where the brining helps. Brining does two things to poultry.  One, it adds flavor to the meat.  Two, it removes any blood or funky fluids that you do not want in your meat.  Basically this is being done by diffusion.  The brine has a high salt concentration as well as a higher concentration of flavorings.   The salt and other flavorings migrate into the meat until an equilibrium is formed.  At the same time the brine removes the blood and other unwanted juices from the meat retaining the water, keeping your meat moist and flavorful during the cooking process.  Here is a picture of the goose trimmings after four hours in a brine, rinsed with clean water to remove the excess salt, then being dried on paper towel.  Notice the absence of blood.

For our brine, I used Oakridge Game Changer brine.  Instead of all water, I substituted half of the water for apple juice to add flavor.  The recommended brining time for poultry parts is two to four hours, so I opted for four hours of brining time knowing this would be one tough bird.  Once brined, rinsed and dried, I wrapped half of the goose tenders in bacon and left the other half unwrapped.  Next I applied rub.  Half of each type were rubbed with Oakridge Game Bird and Chicken rub, the other half were seasoned with Oakridge Habanero Death Dust.  I allowed the goose tenders to rest on the counter at room temperature while I brought my smoker to a temperature of 350 F.  When the smoker was ready, I added pecan to the ash pan for smoke flavor, then placed my racks of goose on the top rack of the smoker.

I was shooting for a temperature of 145 F.  So, due to the thin cut on these tenders, I started checking for temperature after 20 minutes.  The unwrapped tenders were done at exactly 20 minutes.  The bacon wrapped tenders were done after about 45 minutes as they were the thicker tenders and were wrapped with an outer layer of bacon.  Here is the final product.

No shoe leather here.  The tenders were tender and juicy.  No knife needed here.  The game bird rub from Oakridge is one my favorite non competition rubs and did not disappoint.  It was a nice balance of flavor with the richness of the goose.  The Habanero Death Dust was a pleasant surprise, a nice balance of flavors and sweet with heat at the end of your bite.  I will have to start using this rub more in my cooking.  Very good.

So, there you have it, a way to cook your goose with out eating shoe leather as your final product.  I can't wait for the oldest to bring more goose over for experimentation.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Makin Bacon

One our projects this year is to come up with a bacon recipe that is competition worthy.  It seems that our butchers bacon right out of the case doesn't cut it with the judges.  So, I stopped by our local spice shop and purchased a bottle of curing salt to start our journey.

This salt above is the same as Prague Powder #1.  You can cure your meats with regular salt alone, but that is risky when you take bacteria formation into account.  The curing salt prevents the formation of bacteria during the curing and smoking process ensuring food safety.  We don't want to get any judges sick, do we?  A quick note here.  The salt is tinted pink so that you can distinguish it from regular table salt.  Do not use this salt as a substitute for regular table salt.

I wanted to try a wet cure this time.  So used the recipe on the back of the label as a basis: 2 oz cure salt, 10 oz salt, 4 oz. sugar, per gallon of cold water.  Instead of all water, we substituted 1/2 gallon of apple cider for half of the water.  For our sugar source, we used turbinado sugar, otherwise known as Sugar in the Raw at your grocery store.

I placed all of the above ingredients into a dutch oven and heated until all of the salt and sugar was dissolved.  Then I chilled over night.

 
The next day, I place my pork bellies into food safe container and poured the brine on top of the meat.      After ensuring that all surfaces of the pork were covered by the curing liquid, I placed the container in the refrigerator for a seven day nap.  

After seven days, I removed the bellies from the liquid, rinsed thoroughly with cold water, then patted dry.  I placed the meat on a wire rack to dry while I started up my smoker.

I brought the smoker up to a temperature of 225 F, then added smoking wood to the ash pan.  Used a mix of hickory, apple, and pecan.  Once the smoke was thin and blue, I placed the pork bellies on the top rack of my smoker.  My goal was to bring the internal temperature of the meat up to 150 F just to be on the safe side when it comes to bacteria formation.  Remember, once you get above 140 F, bacteria formation quits and the bacteria start to be killed in the process.

Here is the bacon about one hour into smoking:

After the bacon reached 150 F, about three hours, I removed the meat from the smoker and placed it in a refrigerator to cool down.  Cooling helps to firm up your bacon, making it easier to slice.  Hope is the team slicer, she cut the bacon slabs in half, across the grain, so that they would fit in our slicer.  After slicing, we vacuum packed for freezing in one pound packages.

The aroma of smoked bacon was driving us and the dogs crazy.  We took a few pieces and fried them up to taste.  As an experiment that was a baseline for our bacon project, we were quite happy with the results.  Not too salty, not too sweet, just a hint of apple from the cider used in the wet cure.  A great start to our bacon R&D project.  Stay tuned for more as we tinker with the flavors.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Smoked Bacon Wrapped Feta Cheese with Pickled Banana Peppers

John Thomson is the pit master for Team Eatapedia, a competition BBQ team based in Ottawa Canada.  He was preparing a wide range of bacon dishes for his appearance in BaconFest that was held in Ottawa a few weeks ago.  In the interest of public health, one of Team Eatapedia's offerings was a bacon wrapped cheese curd.  In this evil concoction a cheese curd, not known as low fat by any stretch of the imagination, was wrapped with bacon and then smoked until the cheese was gooey and the bacon was crispy.  My heart skipped a beat just looking at the picture.  It was a sheer genius pairing of porky goodness and creamy dairy.  I wanted to try this creation at home as a smoky treat.  Unfortunately, I have no idea where to find cheese curds in the Pittsburgh area, other than at an A&W where they are battered and deep fried.  So, I did a little research on what cheeses have a high melt point.  After scanning my options, I settled on feta cheese.  Creamy, tangy, and a very high melt point.  Perfect for my little experiment.

First, I purchased a block of feta and measured out my cube width before cutting with a strip of bacon.

I cut off my row, then cut into cubes that would accommodate one strip of bacon.

I placed my feta cube on one end of the bacon, topped with a pickled slice of banana pepper, rolled up, and held it all in place with a toothpick.

I placed these future nuggets of joy on a wire rack, then placed on the middle rack of my smoker.  The smoker temperature was 225 F and I had some hickory wood in my ash pan for some flavor.  Then, I cooked until the bacon was crispy.

One hour:

Two hours:

Done, about two and a half hours.

The cheese was hot and creamy on the inside.  The feta also formed a nice smoky crust on the exposed edges.  The banana pepper added some acid that helped to cut through the creaminess of the cheese and a nice spicy bite as well.  The bacon brought it all together like a nice crispy bow.  This appetizer will be making frequent appearances in the future when our smoker is chugging along on those long cooks.  Thanks for the idea John!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Pig Candy

You have seen it before.  You have the smoker fired up and friends over.  But, good BBQ takes time and your guests, no matter how hard they try, cannot live on beer alone.  What is a host to do to keep the hungry masses at bay?  I give you Pig Candy.

Pig Candy is the pitmasters term for candied bacon.  It is easy to make and loved by all.

So, what do you need?

Bacon
Brown Sugar
BBQ Rub

As for choosing your bacon, a thick cut is better.  It increases the meat to sweet ratio, is easier to handle, and doesn't fall apart during the kneading stage (more on that later).  We buy our bacon from our butcher, Dave's Country Meats.  the bacon is leaner than most, not too salty, not too sweet, and kissed lightly with hickory smoke.  This bacon has a nice thicker slice, between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch.

I took about a 1/2-3/4 of a pound of this beautiful pork product and placed into a plastic bag with 1/2 cup of brown sugar mixed with three tablespoons of Oakridge Beef and Pork rub.  I like this rub because it has a bit of a kick, but you can use whatever you have on hand.  Pig candy is actually a good way to get rid of that last little bit of rub in the jar.

At this point, I seal the bag with a lot of air inside.  Then, I shake it up to distribute the sugar and rub mix evenly across the bacon.  Then, I just put it on the counter and walk away for about 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, the sugar and rub mix has started to pull the moisture from the meat, creating a gooey mess.  This is when you let the air out of the bag, seal tight, and start to knead.  You have to knead the bacon for about 10 minutes to ensure that the sugar rub mix is evenly coating the bacon.

Then, head out to the smoker and spread your bacon out on a rack to cook.  Cook times vary with the temperature that you are smoking at and the thickness of the bacon.  I was smoking at 225 F.  So this batch took about 1 hour.  At 250 F, it takes about 45 minutes and about 30 minutes at 300 F.

Pull the bacon from the smoker, put on a plate, and get out of the way before you get trampled in the stampede.

I have seen certified health nuts polish off half of a plate once they get a bite.  Slightly crisp bacon, sweet and savory, what is not to like.  Don't have a smoker?  Don't worry.  You can make this in your oven on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  You don't even need the parchment paper.  But, you will have the scrape the melted sugar off of the sheet at the end.  Maybe that is not so bad.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill