Cooking with wood is hot

Cooking with fire is one of the most primal experiences on the planet.

“We are like moths to the flame,” said Mary Karlin of Sonoma, author of the cookbook, “Wood-Fired Cooking” (Ten Speed Press). “This form of cooking exists in practically every culture, whether it’s a pit in the ground or a stack of bricks and a cast-iron pot.”

Thanks to a growing array of wood-fired cooking appliances and consumers’ appetite for smoky flavors, this ancient form of cooking is searingly hot again. So pay attention, as Memorial Day weekend, the official start of grilling season, is right around the corner.

Two factors are fanning the flames of this trend, Karlin said. The first stems from the fact that folks living in temperate climates are building outdoor kitchens.

“Moving your cooking outside, so more people can participate, has been a movement for quite some time,” she said. “It’s not California-centric.”

At the same time, more restaurants are installing wood-fired ovens and grills, whetting the appetites and curiosity of consumers.

“They taste the food and have the experience, and they want to know more,” she said. “Even if they haven’t made the leap, and they don’t have these toys to play with, they are identifying with pizza ovens.”

In the town of Sonoma, for example, restaurants that have installed wood-fired ovens include The Red Grape, Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar, El Dorado Kitchen and Estate.

At a recent two-day workshop at Ramekins, Karlin guided students through the basics of wood-fired cooking, including how to build a fire in a pizza oven (make a teepee with three logs, then add wood every 20 minutes, until ceiling of oven turns white), the best starter to use (paraffin and wood) and the best, cleaner-burning fuels (seasoned fruitwood and hardwood, lump charcoal and oak charwood).

Using about a dozen recipes from her cookbook, Karlin demonstrated a wide array of wood-fired appliances, from a simple fire pit called the SoJoe and a Cuban box roaster known as La Caja China to the Big Green Egg ceramic cooker and a Forno Bravo refractory oven.

For those who want to ease into wood-fired cooking, there are some fairly affordable options. At the lowest price point, you can adapt a Weber grill by lining it with brick pavers to make it more efficient.

“The fire will burn longer,” Karlin said. “And it gives you insulation in the walls and the bottom.”

La Caja China — a plywood box lined with aluminum with a tray on top for the coals — costs under $400, but it’s best for long, slow cooking.

“You’re roasting inside a box,” she said. “There is a rotisserie attachment and a grill on top, but it’s not very sophisticated.”

A more versatile appliance is the Big Green Egg, which costs under $1,000 and offers a wide range of controllable temperatures, from low-smoking to high-pizza baking.

The Big Green Egg, based on the traditional Kamado barbecue from Japan, is a cross between an insulated wood-fired grill and a wood-burning oven. Because it offers superior insulation and radiant heat, it uses less fuel.

During the recent wood-fired workshop, Karlin fired up a couple of Big Green Eggs to smoke salmon at a low temperature, then roasted beef tenderloin steaks on wooden planks. Afterward, the students baked chocolate-chipotle cakes on the oven’s pizza stone attachment.

Meanwhile, Karlin used the school’s Forno Bravo Italian refractory oven to roast vegetables for a rustic antipasti salad with smoky romesco sauce.

She also grilled elegant pizzas topped with spring onions and asparagus, smoked salmon and creme fraiche. After the pizzas were charred and crisp, she slid clay casseroles of three-cheese penne pasta with pancetta into the wood-fired oven.

All of the recipes in her cookbook can be adapted to other cooking appliances. “The most important thing is the temperature stated in the recipes,” she said. “Go by that.”

Karlin reminded her students that wood-fired cooking is less about recipes than about technique.

“This way of cooking is so intuitive,” she said. “You’ve got to cook with your senses. You can hear the sizzle of the carrots and the onions as they roast.”

Cooking over an open fire dates back to the Stone Age, when hunter-gatherers first suspended animal carcasses over fires or buried them in live coals.

Wood-fired chamber ovens — either vertical, like the tandoor oven of India, or horizontal, like the dome-shaped ovens of Italy — were later developed to make simple flatbreads.

According to Karlin’s book, the first wood-fired chamber ovens were built thousands of years ago in Egypt. The dome-shaped oven is often called a Roman oven, since it dates back to the days of Pompeii.

The egg-shaped ovens, like the Big Green Egg and its predecessor the Kamado, descended from the vertical clay oven. After World War II, American soldiers brought Kamado cookers back to the United States.

Most of today’s pizza ovens are a modern version of the Roman dome ovens, which were used to bake large quantities of bread in Mediterranean villages. After the bread was baked, these still-hot ovens were used as communal ovens by the villagers.

The modern pizza oven still offers an opportunity for the tribe to gather around the flame.

“What I love so much about it is that it creates community,” Karlin said. “The sharing and community aspect of it is enormous.”

Karlin’s journey through wood-fire cooking began 12 years ago, when she first invited the legendary brick-oven pioneer Alan Scott of Ovencrafters to give bread tours for Ramekins.

“I have a brick masonry oven, inspired by plans by Alan Scott, in my back yard,” she said.

For her cookbook, Karlin invited cooking experts like Paula Wolfert of Sonoma, Bruce Aidells of Healdsburg and Fran Gage of Philo to contribute their expertise.

“I asked them to participate with a recipe or two,” she said. “And then we had the experience of cooking together.”

Karlin also traveled to New Mexico to cook with vegetable maven Deborah Madison and grilling gurus Bill and Cheryl Jamison.

In Phoenix, Ariz., where she lives part-time and works as the manager of Toast Bistro, Karlin has established a Live-Fire Cooking Camp Culinary Center that she plans to take on the road.

There’s also been talk of filming a wood-fire travelogue, for television. Karlin’s journey with fire may have only just begun.

The following three recipes are from Mary Karlin’s “Wood-Fired Cooking.” Serve this antipasti on a large platter, with crusty bread, fresh olive oil and your favorite wine.

Wood-Roasted

Antipasti Platter

Makes 6 servings

1pound meaty mushrooms (porcini, chanterelles, portobellos)

— Olive oil

— Sea Salt

1pound each of 3 or 4 assorted vegetables, such as beets, baby carrots, parsnips, red bell peppers, eggplant, spring onions, radicchio, asparagus, Brussels sprouts

1head garlic

6shallots

3 to 4sprigs rosemary, thyme or marjoram

1handful quality olives

— Wedges of 1 hard aged cheese, such as manchego or pecorino

—Slices of a stellar cured meat, such as salmi or prosciutto

Prepare a medium-heat fire (350 to 375 degrees) in a wood-fired oven or cooker, or cool down a previously fired oven to 250 degrees, for slow roasting overnight.

Slice the mushrooms lengthwise, toss in olive oil and salt, and place in a small roasting pan. Cut other vegetables into bite-sized pieces or, if baby vegetables, leave them whole. Toss each type of vegetable in olive oil and salt and place each vegetable in its own small, roasting pan. Roast the vegetables in the oven until caramelized and tender.

Roast red peppers whole directly on the floor or in the embers of the oven until well blistered, about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes, then peel, seed and cut into strips.

Roast the head of garlic until soft. Cut the shallots in half, lengthwise, toss with olive oil, salt and the sprigs of herbs. Roast in the oven until golden, caramelized and tender. Warm the olives and the cheese in the wood-fired oven just before serving.

Smoky Romesco Sauce

Makes 4 cups

3medium ripe tomatoes, cut in half through equator

1medium yellow onion, cut in half lengthwise

1head of garlic, top removed

—Olive oil for drizzle

¾cup piquillo peppers, chopped

½cup sliced almonds, toasted

½cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

1slice day-old bread, torn

1cup or so olive oil

1 to 2tablespoons smoked paprika

1ancho chile, toasted and chopped (seeds and veins removed)

¼teaspoon chile pepper flakes (optional)

¼cup or more sherry vinegar

—Kosher salt

Preheat oven, cooker or grill to 400 degrees.

Place tomatoes and onions cut side down on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Place garlic head cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a 400-degree oven or cooker. Or cook directly over a charcoal grill until the skins of the tomatoes are easily removed and the onions are slightly soft. Remove skins and coarsely chop. Place in food processor along with any juice from the roasting. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves into the mixture. Add the piquillo peppers and pulse to chop. Add the nuts and the torn bread and turn on low speed. Drizzle in one-third of the olive oil. Add the ancho, chile pepper flakes and half the sherry vinegar. Increase speed to incorporate the ingredients and chop the nuts. Add salt to taste. Add more olive oil and continue to process until the desired texture is reached. Add water if too thick. Adjust to taste by adding more sherry vinegar and olive oil if needed.

You can serve the steaks either on the planks or on plates. Garnish with smoked salt and a dollop of crumbled blue cheese.

Mushroom-Rubbed Plank-Roasted Steak

Makes 6 servings

½teaspoon kosher salt

¼teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

6tablespoons roasted mushroom powder

4(8-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, 1½ inches thick

—Smoked or flavored sea salt, for garnish

—Crumbled blue cheese, for garnish

Soak four 1-inch-thick roasting planks (7 inches by 12 inches) in water for 1 hour. Prepare a medium heat fire (375 degrees) in a wood-fired cooker for both direct and indirect cooking. The grate where the plank will be placed should be about 8 inches above the heat source.

Combine the salt, pepper and mushroom powder in a small bowl. Pat the steaks dry and rub all over with the dry mixture.

Drain the planks and mark on one side by placing over direct heat either on a grate or over coals until lightly charred. Turn the planks over and rub them very lightly with olive oil, and move to indirect heat.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Sear the steaks on both sides, then transfer to the charred side of the planks. Cover the cooker so that smoke surrounds the food and imparts flavor. Roast for 12 to 15 minutes for medium-rare. Remove steaks, planks and all, from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. The steaks can be served on the planks or on plates. Garnish with smoked salt and a dollop of crumbled blue cheese.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com.