Smoking is a leisurely and sophisticated way of using a standard kettle grill. Sorry - no propane grills need apply! (I never understood propane grills ... one ends up with petroleum flavor and aroma, not wood/smoky aesthetic.) Ingredients to be smoked should be properly prepared, as should the wood chips themselves.
Some simple guidelines:
1. Most non-root vegetables do well with some combination of herbs, garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar and/or soy sauce. Root vegetables are better roasted, and do well with sweeter marinades (olive oil, salt and pepper, a dash of sugar).
2. For fish and meats, consider ... what would you drink with it? Most recently, I marinaded some halibut filets in white wine, soy sauce, and some sweet-and-spicy chipotle sauce that I bought at the Grand Lake Farmer's Market in Oakland.
3. For the wood chips ... soak them in a liquid that balances the requirements of the wood with the marinade for the meat. For instance, I recently used Alder chips, and soaked them in cheap white wine with a few dried chili peppers added for good measure. Other chips have different requirements ... Apple wood chips do well soaked in apple juice and/or a sweet wine like Riesling.
4. When smoking just about anything, have a "drip pan" filled with liquid in the bottom of the kettle, next to the coals. This is meant for fattier meats, it's to prevent flare-ups - you place the meat, etc. over the drip pan, NOT over the coals directly. This is good practice even for low-fat items, it lets the product cook gently, slowly, and evenly, and allow plenty of time to infuse the true smoky flavor.
5. Fill the drip pan with the liquid you used to soak the wood chips. If there's not enough, add some water or some other interesting liquid (beer, wine).
Not too tough. Play around with the marinades and keep note of which flavors work best for your taste and applications.
