Smoked at Burmieston!

Having recently purchased my first house, my weekends currently consist of visiting DIY and garden centres making decisions on everything from door handles to hydrangeas. This new sophisticated (non-hungover) self means that I’m keen to try out the more refined -grown-up- things in life.  When I saw that Burmieston Farm and steading in Perthshire were hosting an Introduction to Home Smoking Food course with chef and published Author Charlotte Pike, I signed up straight away.  My foodie credentials couldn’t be higher when I found out that Gill Murray, our foodie photographer and #SmallCityRecipe guru was heading out to the Saturday Fermentation course!

Channelling Gill with my camera slung over my shoulder and branded Small City apron in bag, I headed off with our resident music reviewer Colin on an early Sunday morning to get our smoke on. As Colin’s car struggled up the bumpy road to the farm we both wondered A) why don’t we have a Land Rover Defender as transport? and B) what on earth was to be expected with one fairly amateur cook and a music buff getting to grips with an ancient form of cooking?! As we trundled up the road we were greeted with a gaggle of guard geese who seemed determined to protect the cosy outhouse that had been turned into the most beautiful Scandi-chic kitchen (note to self to add to ‘kitchen ideas’ Pinterest board!)

As Charlotte got busy warming up some delicious pastries for our breakfast, Keesje showed us around. From a gorgeous event space with flooring that had been used in an Olympic Stadium, to the stunning bedrooms decorated with quirky furniture from Sarah’s Attic in Perth, and artwork from local artist Claudia Massie, it was like an upcycling dream! 

Keesje is passionate about maintaining an eco-friendly ethos and this shines through in every element of their business. From a cling film free zone in the kitchen, to the upcycled interiors, their green credentials were impeccable - and all done with a chilled, trendy vibe.

We sat back down in the kitchen and got tucked into some warm scones and pastries as the rest of the cook schoolers arrived.  With a selection of homemade jams, including a courgette flavoured variety that was a foodie first for Colin and I (and totally delicious) we got chatting to the rest of the group. Familiar face from Frames gallery in Perth, Hugh Goring took the praise for the delicious pastries, which had been supplied by his daughter! It was lovely to see so many connections and contributions - from food to furniture - all provided by local Perth folks.It was lovely to see so many connections and contributions, from food to furniture, all provided by local Perth folks. 

We learned more about Charlotte’s life as a food writer, working as a trained chef in Michelin starred kitchens and cooking for actual royalty! I knew this was going to be a really interesting day with the most qualified teacher you could ask for.

Smoking is an ancient art of preserving, flavouring and cooking food and has been around for thousands of years. Despite invoking images of wooden sheds with fish hanging on sticks and billowing plumes of thick grey smoke, smoking is actually something you can do inside your own kitchen without lots of fancy equipment.  The stove top smoker that we used looks like a deep roasting tray with a grill rack and a sliding lid, and costs around £40 (you can use it on both gas and induction hobs).

There are a variety of different woods to choose from and we go for hickory wood chips to use alongside plump duck breasts. With the wood shavings lining the bottom of the tray and duck placed on the grill rack inside, the heat of the hob is turned on and the lid closed, leaving just a small gap for the smoke to escape. I couldn’t believe it when, within seconds, a mini tornado escaped from the smoker, prompting Charlotte to close the lid fully leaving it to do its job.

GALLERY

We pulled on our aprons and prepared to get busy - lunch was a smoked cheese, leek and mushroom tart, smoked duck salad with pomegranate and orange, all served with hot smoked salmon fillets.  Colin and I got to grips with chopping some mushrooms and bashing the seeds out of a pomegranate, whilst the others prepared the veg and Charlotte ran another demo, smoking the salmon.

With the quiche bubbling away nicely, the duck was transfered from the smoker to the oven to crispen it up. Whilst everything cooked we got started on the sweet stuff by making some smoked sea salt chocolate truffles.

Tasked with mixing the cream and sugar and sifting the cocoa powder whilst Colin broke up the dark chocolate, I thought I was doing a stellar job until I noticed it was beginning to take a turn for the worse; mine looked slightly curdled whilst the other cook schoolers had a glossy ganache! Charlotte exclaimed that she had never seen this happen before but thankfully succeeded in turning it around. Phew!

Foodie credentials still in-tact, I happily passed the spoon to Colin to finish off mixing, and turned my attention to tossing the truffles into my *cough* perfectly-prepared, sifted cocoa powder.

As the smell of smoked meats and sautéed leeks got our bellies rumbling, we set the table for the big feast, rows of beautiful bowls laden with our smoked delights.  First up, I got stuck into the duck salad; the meat was cooked to perfection and richly flavoured from the smoking. This was balanced perfectly with the tartness of the pomegranate and orange and received rave reviews for the rest of the group.

A large slice of the creamy, deep-filled quiche was next on my radar; it had an earthy mushroom and leek flavoured filling, enveloped in smoked cheddar.  It had a much milder flavour than the duck and it was utterly delicious - you can pick it up at Gloagburn Farm Shop rather than attempting the complicated cold-smoking of cheese!

The stand out food for me, had to be the hot smoked salmon. It would appear that the centuries old relationship with fish and smoking was meant to be;  not only was this easy to cook and prepare, it created the most wonderful smoky flavour with aromas of the oak wood shavings shining through.  With everything that we smoked being super easy to make, and tasting so much better than anything you can buy,  I was hooked.  Charlotte kindly handed round wood chippings so we were prepared to go solo once we got home and I have to admit that I had Charlotte’s recipe book bought and 'smokers' searched on Amazon before I'd even left the kitchen! Colin and I were ready to have a smoke off.  

There was something deeply satisfying about cooking in such a primitive way and to be rewarded with such an explosion and depth of flavours, was worth the time invested.  Colin and I both headed home with Burmieston Farm and Steading firmly on our radar (check out Colins Review of their Midsummer's Night Dream event here >>) and an abundance of ideas for the never-ending adventure that smoking your food opens up. 

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 Burmieston Farm and Steading and Steading will be running festive workshops.  Read more about them here>>>