If you're looking for fun and creative ways to use your pellet smoker, this is a really cool one. We saw this over on Tasting Table's website and had to give it a try ourselves. The Italian delicacy bottarga, is made of salted, cured fish roe, most often of the grey mullet which is found along coastlines. Of course, here in the middle of America, there is no egg more accessible than the chicken egg, so the choice to cure the yolk for the same effect makes total sense to us. The process is lengthy, though uncomplicated. It's a really fun little experiment that yields a new smoky, salty condiment to top your pasta, salads or breakfast dishes.
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Italian
Servings
4
Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours
Calories
266
Experience the delicious, savory flavor of smoked egg yolk bottarga with our easy-to-follow recipe! We'll show you the secrets to preparing this traditional, Mediterranean delicacy and reveal how to enhance its unique umami flavor
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
-
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
-
1/2 cup Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Directions
- Mix the kosher salt and Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning together. Pour half of the mixture into a flat container, such as a baking pan or plastic food storage container. Make four divots in the salt mixture. Place a yolk in each divot. Cover tight with plastic wrap and/or a lid. Place in the refrigerator for two days.
- Pour the vinegar in a bowl. Remove the yolks from the salt mixture. Brush off excess salt/seasoning. Rinse the yolks in the vinegar. Transfer to a wire cooling rack over a pan. Return to the refrigerator for another three days to dry.
- Place an A-MAZE-N Tube Smoker, filled with your favorite type of wood pellets, in your Yoder Smokers YS640 pellet grill, and flip the switch to the “on” position, but do not hit start. This will allow you to cold smoke, as the fan circulates the air, without the cooker producing heat. Now light the end of the A-MAZE-N tube smoker with a torch, allow the flame to burn briefly before blowing it out.
- Transfer the rack the yolk are on to the second shelf of the smoker. Smoke for 2 hours. Remove from the smoker. Place the rack back over the pan, and cover the yolks with cheese cloth. Let sit at room temperature for three more days, to mature.
The yolks can now be grated over foods as a smokey, salty condiment. Store the leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place for up to one month.
Yolks are separated then encased in a mixture of kosher salt and Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning.
After two days of curing, the yolks will have a gelatinous texture. Time for a little vinegar bath…
Then, it’s off to the drying rack and three days in the refrigerator to drain excess moisture.
Here’s one of those really cool things the Yoder Smokers YS640 pellet grill does for you. Cold smoking. Just flip the on switch (don’t push the start button) and you have a fan that will circulate the air and smoke created by an A-MAZE-N Tube Smoker. Clean smoke without the heat!
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Serving Size
- 2.25 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 266
- Carbs
- 5 grams
- Protein
- 11 grams
- Fat
- 18 grams
- Sodium
- 1805 milligrams
