Tea-Smoked Chicken and Fish

Smoked meat with tea?   Come on!   I saw this recipe with smoked shrimp and thought more about it.  We have plenty of tea in my house so the girls and I set to work with a little help from Kitten.

We decided on Organic Golden Sunrise by Heavenly Tea.  The loose tea leaves are beautiful colors and smell slightly sweet and definite hints of floral tones.  (I know...I sound like once of those wine people!)

The smoking pouch.  1/4 Cup of each:   raw rice, brown sugar (I used a brown sugar blend because that's all I had in the house) and the loose tea of course.  Double the tin foil and dump it all in the middle and mix it up with your hands.  My kids LOVED this part.   :)   Then just lightly fold it.  Remember you want the smoke to come out.

Here is our packet (prior to mixing):

The packet goes directly on the fire, underneath the grate whether you are using a gas grill or a charcoal grill.  Put the items to be smoked off to the other side as you want them infused with the delicate smoke flavor and not right above the burning packet.

We did chicken thighs and fish.   There was a definite smoke flavor but it was delicate and had a flavor that you couldn't quite place.  Both kids and the Hubby loved it.  The plated version:

This whole meal with the broccoli was 260 calories.  I think this is a great way to infuse some extra flavor into chicken or fish without the added calories of a marinade or sauce.

We'll be Tea-Smoking much more in the future.