Julie Van Rosendaal offers some 'nice smoky' BBQ hacks

This story was originally posted on July 18.

As we enter the second half of the summer barbecuing season,CBC food columnist JulieVan Rosendaal has a few hacks to keep things interesting.

"When we're talking about real, authentic barbecue, it's low and slow, but when we're talking about grilling, it's high, intense, direct heat," she toldthe Calgary EyeopenerTuesday morning.

"The grills are often limited to burgers andhot dogsand steaks."

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She suggests grillingpizzas and naan breads instead. The intense and direct high heat will slightly char the bread's edges.

"I have peopletextingme, 'like really, I just put the dough right on the grill?' If it's really hot, that will keep it from sticking," she said.

To give dishes a "nice smoky flavour," Van Rosendaalsays totry wood chips. Make a homemade foil packet, or use a foil pan, and poke some holes in the top. Fill it with wood chips soaked inwater and throw that at the back of the grill.

"Sometimes I use the remnants of a cedar plank," she said.

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Always keep a water spray bottle on hand to keep those chips moistened and so the smoking doesn't turn into anything more dangerous.

A cast iron pan can be helpful to get the barbecue taste for harder-to-keep-together kinds of foods. For example, Van Rosendaal suggests baking a brie cheese briefly or even layering peachesor pineapple for a summery dessert.

Recently, Van Rosendaalbaked cherries in the barbecue cast iron, softened with sugar and honey, and then layered with chocolate chips and marshmallows. Serve that with cookies or graham crackers as scoops.

She also suggests dessert kebabs of thick slices of pound cake and strawberries.

Try using two skewers perkebab for easy serving.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.

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