Smoked Bacon Wrapped New Potato Skewers with Rosemary

Directions

1. Step One: Prepare woodchips.
2. Soak the woodchips in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours.
3. Step Two: Prepare rosemary.
4. For each twig, remove the bottom half of the rosemary sprigs. You can do this easily by pinching the twig with your thumb and index finger halfway down the stem and sliding it down. You should have a little "tree" with rosemary on the top half and a bare stem on the bottom half. Set the 12 sprigs aside. Take the rosemary that comes off the twig and place it in a small bowl. Add the olive oil. (this will be for brushing on the potatoes when they are on the grill)
5. Step Three: Prepare bacon.
6. Slice the bacon in half horizontally to make two long narrow strips. Cut each narrow strip into about 6 inch strips. Depending on the size of your potatoes this could be a bit longer or shorter. The bacon has to just wrap around the potato once.
7. Step Four: Prepare potatoes.
8. Rinse 'em. Slice a thin sliver off the bottom so they sit flat. Not totally necessary but we found they sat better on the grill and the plate this way.
9. Step Five: Prepare grill
10. Now is a good time to go get the smoker going. Drain the woodchips and put them in a smoker meant for your grill, or simply wrap them up in a tin foil pouch. Smoker chips go on direct heat, potatoes on indirect. We did our at around 250 - 300 degrees and that worked great. Now back inside...
11. Step Five: Start assembling.
12. While grill is heating, take a potato and pierce a hole threw the top with a skewer. Wrap a piece of bacon around the potato. Secure it with a rosemary twig through the hole you just punched in the top. Repeat 12 times. Skewer three potatoes on each skewer. Head over to the grill, put them on indirect heat. Give them all a brush with the rosemary oil. Close the lid and resist peeking if you can for the first 45 min or so. You lose heat and smoke everytime you peek. They should take 1.5 to 2 hours.
14. Step Six: Prepare Dip
15. Put the sour cream and heavy cream in a bowl and whip for 3-5 minutes with beaters or a whisk, just to get it nice and fluffy. Stir in finely chopped chives.
16. Step Seven: Dig in.
17. The cooking time on the potatoes will vary based on size, type of grill, tempeture etc. They should squish in a bit when you squeeze them. You can give everyone a skewer or even slide them off the skewers and plate them all individually. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips