Bringing back fireplace cookery

I'm bringing it back.

That's right.

Cookin in the fireplace.

Growing up at my house during the wintertime always presented more adventure in foodland. Not only did we use our piles and piles of cut timber to burn cozy and smokey fires providing cozy heat in the family room, but we also "maximized" it by yes...cooking in the fireplace.

Most people might tell you that burning wood smoke can add unnatural levels of toxicity to cooked food. They'd tell you that you'd have to burn the wood until it becomes solely embers and then to cook atop the red glowing coals.

Well, we didn't follow that rule at my house.

You see, the unburnt portions of logs would actually act as excellent "ledges" on which we could rest the end of a bbq basket. Yeah those flat baskets with a handle that you can buy at the sporting goods store, a lot of people use them for vegetables and fish etc....we just used it for everything.

I still don't really understand how odd it is for someone to whip out a frozen steak and toss it onto a grate on the fireplace. We did everything, from chicken wings to pork chops, I even did a bit of flatbread that turned out awesome.

Tonight I'm whipping up a batch of bagels in the regular oven and then finish them in the fireplace hoping to get some serious wood smoke and char.

I'd call it a lost art....then again I don't think it was an art to begin with.