(from Sally Schneider's The Art of Low-Calorie Cooking). This dish was first eaten by us at least 15 years ago in Steve and Becky's walk-up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was obviously a memorable meal. Thanks again guys.

Serves 4

2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Kosher salt (coarse)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. salmon fillet
Scant 1/2 Tbls. wood chips, or a 1-by-1/4-inch chuck of wood, or 1 dried ancho chile
1/2 tsp. olive oil

In small bowl, combine sugar, salt, and pepper. Place salmon fillet on a plate and sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of mixture evenly on one side of each fillet. Turn fillet over and sprinkle another 1/2 tsp. of mixture on the other side of each fillet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 and up to 4 hours until ready to smoke.

If you are using an ancho chile and it is very dry and brittle , rather than rubber and pliable, place it in a bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Let soak until pliable, 1 minute or less. Drain and pat dry. Cut chile into 2 pieces; discard seeds and stem.

Line a 10- or 11" cast-iron skillet with aluminum foil. Using scissors, cut a 1 1/2 inch hole out of the center (so that the wood or chile will lie directly on the bottom of the pan.) Heat the skillet over high heat until very hot, about 5 minutes. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and brush each side lightly with olive oil. Place a round wire cake rack with 1-inch-high feet in the hot skillet. Here is the challenge, if you do not have a wire cake rack this size, you will need to find something else that is metal to prop up the salmon (once we used individual metal muffin tins). Add the pieces of wood or ancho chile to the exposed center of the pan. When they begin to smoke, place the salmon fillets on the rack (or other prop), cover tightly with a lid, and then cover the lid with aluminum foil. Reduce the heat to moderately low.

Smoke the salmon until a two-pronged fork inserted into a fillet meets with no resistance, about 10 minutes. Serve at once or refrigerate and serve cold.

Note: Using the same pan, you can easily double the recipe to serve 8, but you will obviously need to cook the fish longer.