Man can’t live on the news that the data Global Warming Alarmists have been touting as proof our planets gonna fry us all is pure crap alone, so here at Okie Manor we’re gonna take a short break to discuss some sublime sustenance. BTW, here is the new data set for your perusal, after which you shouldn’t lose any sleep that’s for sure. But, on to more tasty musings, and to expanding the Okie’s carbon footprint exponentially with this recipe for Cedar Plank Salmon.

First, although this should be a given, pick out the freshest, best quality skin-on fish that you can find, preferably at your local fish monger. We are super fortunate to have Santa Monica Fish Company not all that far away, and a most recent surprise is that our local independent Bob’s Market has a small, but of supreme quality, selection of fish in their meats department — and at great prices, too. Wild is preferable to farm raised — for best texture and flavor — but use what you can get. Supermarket fish will work, especially if they are running seasonal specials like Copper River Salmon, but just be mindful of freshness. If it smells quite fishy, punt, and grill up some burgers instead. Fish should smell like the ocean, or not smell at all.

Second, you’ll need to find some cedar planks. A lot of markets (Vons & Safeway for two) have them now, at least out here in SoCal. Bar-B-Ques Galore has both cedar and alder, OSH has cedar and maple. You can even find them online if not anywhere else. Be prepared to use a plank per cooking session as they will char heavily on the bottom over a charcoal fire. Soak the plank in warm water for at least 1/2 hour, 1-hour is more like it — you want to cook the fish, not incinerate it.

Start your charcoal, or preheat your gas grill. Prepping the fish won’t take much time, so have an iced tea or somethin’ before you start with that. Enjoy yourself ’cause this is fun, and if you’re gonna serve this to some guests, that’s gonna be a lot of fun too ’cause this salmon is heaven on a plate.

Rinse you salmon thoroughly and make sure no pin bones have been missed. Nothin’ like gettin’ a bone to put folks off likin’ fish! Season it well on both the skin and cut sides — we use Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic but any good Cajun seasoning would work well. Simple so far, huh?

Remove your plank from the water and rinse — leave wet. Take some gourmet-quality olive oil spray, we use the one from Trader Joes, and mist the top of the plank. Place the fish in the center, skin side down. Cut some thin lemon slices and arrange on top of the fish, then spray well with the olive oil. The TJ aerosol foams up the oil keeping it in place. I then give it a generous coating of fresh ground pepper. That’s it, you’re done and ready to grill.

Spread out the coals evenly and give the grate a minute or two to heat up. Then place the plank in the middle of the grill and drop the lid. Plan to start checking the temp in about 10 minutes or so. You’ll hear the cedar start to pop and crackle — don’t mind that. You’ll start to smell it, too. You’ll like that! At the 10-minute mark I take a peek. As soon as the top of the fish and the lemons are caramelizing around the edges I use an instant read thermometer and start checking the temp in the thickest part of the fish. As soon as I see 120 degrees F., using two metal spatulas I lift the plank off the grill and onto a sheet pan with a wetted paper towel in it. The plank will steam and sizzle as it hits the water. This will put out any live coals on the bottom of it and keep your smoke detector from going off inside the house.

To serve, cut the size piece you want and using a spatula, lift the fish off the skin. We usually have some rice pilaf and asparagus or sauteed spinach to go along with it. A good tartar sauce works for me, but not for all.

Variations? Well, the first time we encountered this dish was at the rooftop restaurant of the Hollywood Bowl. Individual servings came on top of their own little planks. Some stores sell these smaller pieces if you want to make a stunning presentation. What I like about doing it in smaller sections is that you get a lot more tasty-caramelized crusties per piece that way. So I just cut the fish into servings before cooking and leave a bit o’ space between ‘em on the plank, like this.

Another variation that we like a LOT is using Tasmanian Trout (A member of the char family, red meat like salmon but much milder and much more buttery texture) on the alder wood. This is a fantastic combination — right now our favorite fish by far! You can also ditch the Cajun seasoning, lemon and olive oil and replace that with salt, pepper and maple syrup glaze — my personal favorite on the Salmon.

Bon appetite!

[For anyone interested in seeing the entire (although small right now) collection of Okie's food posts, a new food blog has been created called -- Okie Cafe. Enjoy!]

Technorati Tags: Cedar Plank Salmon, Copper River Salmon, Cajun seasoning, Tasmanian Trout

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 11th, 2007 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Cafe Okie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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