The weather couldn’t be better this weekend – it’s so warm and sunny today that, quite frankly, LeeLee and I keep asking ourselves whether we should be worried about the long-term effects of such things. (I fear the answer is Yes, but we’ll see what the rest of the winter holds.)
At any rate, I had absolutely NO excuse not to fire up the smoker tonight, in light of such warm, dry weather. And so I did just that! As the smoker heated up, I prepared the meal. First, I wrapped the Brussels sprouts I purchased yesterday in a foil packet along with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, vegan bacon bits, and dollop of olive oil, and set the packet aside. Then I turned my attention to the fish filets – Gardein’s version, placed on a cedar plank, then topped with a liberal amount of Old Bay seasoning for good measure.
I put both the sprouts and the fish on the smoker, then placed the lid on and went back inside to watch football for a couple of hours. (Because why not?) When we were about 20 minutes out from dinner, I tumbled a half-bag of tater tots out onto a baking sheet and cooked them at 450.
Then it was time to eat! We served tonight’s meal alongside a wonderful Pilsner from our friends at New District Brewing, which opened yesterday in nearby Arlington, and watched the Washington-Green Bay game, as any good DC-area resident would. The Old Bay filets were gloriously flavorful – the cedar plank and smoker worked in tandem to bring a depth to the filets that the oven simply can’t touch – and the sprouts were so tender. And, of course, who doesn’t love a good tater tot from time to time?
We’ve got a couple filets left over for tomorrow, which is always a pleasure. Not a bad way to kick off the week!
:)