What a Difference a Little Smoke Makes

The caprese salad is a tried and true favorite.  It's just as easy to make for one as it is to make for 100 and so simple that if you can find someone who messes up the recipe I will give you some sort of reward.

The most common way of spicing up this simple salad is by using heirloom tomatoes (which I also used), but I would like to suggest something else: smoked mozzarella.  The second I took off the wrapper, my kitchen smelled like fresh wood chips.  You can't throw mozzarella on the grill, but this comes close.  This cheese has a deeper flavor than the regular mozz and is less of a blank canvas than it's non-smoked brother so it can't be paired with just anything.  I say brother because I find mozzarella to be a manly cheese.  This is as opposed to, say, chevre, who is a total chick.

Anyway, this tiny change isn't anything crazy, but it did wake up my Monday a bit by saying "hey taste buds, I know you were expecting the other guy but surprise!  It's-a me, Mario!"

See those pieces that look like portobellos?  That brown coloring is alllll smoke, baby.