This is a new topic area that I am going to start trying to make frequent posts about. I am nutrition nut so hopefully I can pass on some of what I have learned throughout the past couple years, whether it be recipes, cooking tips, nutritional strategies, etc.
Over the past years I have experimented with about every different type of dieting methodolgy that is out there. I have learned from each of them and have learned what works for me, and what does not work for me. The two biggest influences on my current nutritional philosphy have been John Meadows and John Kiefer.
I am a huge John Meadows fan and I recommend anyone who is unfamiliar with him and his work to check out his website Mountain Dog Diet and consider signing up for the Express portion of his site. I'm a member there and it's definitely worth the money. You will see a very strong influence from his dieting strategies on what I currently do. Meadows is one of the few guys out there who put a strong emphasis on health, in addition to achieving phenominal performance and aesthetic based results. His work has lead to me putting a much greater emphasis on the quality of my food, particularly my protein sources, than I did so in the past. My protein sources now are limited to cage free chicken, grass fed beef, wild caught fish, cage free eggs, and raw and grass fed dairy. I also try and buy organic foods when I feel the extra money is justified.
Kiefer is the mastermind behind the Carb Backloading (CBL) movement and I have implemented CBL with great effectiveness, in terms of dropping fat while holding onto muscle. With that said, I do believe there are some significant flaws in the logic surrounding CBL and as such I have shifted away from following a CBL diet, at least as it is laid out by Kiefer. While I no longer follow a strict CBL diet, I took one invaluable lesson from it, and that is the importance of peri and post workout nutrition. Meadows actually hits on this pretty hard too, and his writings have certainly played a role as well, but it was CBL that really drove the nail home for me in terms of nutrition surrounding your workouts.
So now that I have given you a very short background on my nutritional journey and how I arrived where I am today, I am going to kick things off by showing you my favorite way to prepare fish, particularly salmon.
Wild caught fish, especially salmon, is a major player in my diet. My wife is a vegetarian and as a result fish is one of the few things we can fully agree on. So simply put, we eat a lot of fish. One of the problems people have preparing fish is that it's often difficult to grill and when baked it is often bland. Well I have found the perfect solution.
I purchased a smoker box for my gas grill from the world's most expensive cooking store, Williams-Sonoma for about $40-$50. From a quick Google search it looks like I might have even overpaid for mine. Mine is made of steel and has held up great for over a year now. This appears to be the same one I have and it's only $32 online at Williams-Sonoma. You may be able to find cheaper options, but what you don't want is one of the small boxes that are just meant to hold the wood chips and sit in the grill. What you want is a box that has two seperate compartments, one for the wood chips on the bottom and another on top for the meat or fish. This way the meat/fish and all of the smoke is contained inside the box. You end up with a much stronger smoked flavor and it also eliminates the frustration that is often associated with trying to grill fish. This is an example of what you do not want, an open faced smoker box that is not meant to be cooked on.
The box essentially allows you to turn any gas grill into a smoker and it produces the most flavorful and juiciest fish I have ever had. The salmon I make on my grill in my smoker box is better than any salmon I have ever had at any restaurant, and it's so simple to do. I have also done chicken and it is also great, but it is fish that I really love to cook with the smoker box. I have yet to try pork or steak, but I'm sure they would also be amazing.
Step 1:
Get a smoker box, a bag of wood chips, and some fish of your choice (as long as it's wild caught). Wood chips can be found at any grocery store and they are dirt cheap. I get the Publix store brand and it's either $1.99 or $2.99 a bag. You can mix up the type of wood from time to time to add some more variety to your fish as well. On this night I was grilling a salmon fillet that I had marianted in some EVOO, with blackening seasoning, fresh basil, and garlic.
Step 2:
Soak about 2 cups of wood chips in a bowl of water. This is important because you want the wood chips to smoke, not to actually catch flames and burn. I say soak the chips for at 20-30 minutes, but honestly the longer the better. Also note that it does not take a lot of wood chips. I could probably get away using even less chips, but they are so cheap I figure I'll use a little extra and make sure I get the full smoke effect.
Step 3:
Spread chips evenly across the bottom of the smoker box and then place the box on the grill and preheat the box. I generally have my grill turned all the way up to high, but your grill may be different.
Step 4:
After about 10-15 minutes you should see smoke pillowing out from under the lid of the smoker box and you'll know it's ready. So just take off the lid with an oven mitt, spray some non-stick (I just use a little EVOO spray), throw on the fish, and replace the lid. Now all you have to do it wait until it's done, probably about 15-20 minutes. The awesome thing is that you really do not have to worry about the fish drying out. If you could it a little longer then you'll just get a stronger smoked flavor, but still get a very juicy and tender piece of fish.
Here's the final result from that night.
A final tip, buy some steel wool to make cleaning the box a breeze and thank me later. Otherwise you'll be hating yourself when it comes time to clean the box.
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