So I bought a new grill today. That should have been reason to rejoice.... new, clean, grill ready for cooking up wondrous comestibles for the family. No such luck! The assembly instructions were so poor that, if in WWII, we were trying to keep grill assembly a secret, the enemy would never have figured it out even with pape
r in hand.Somehow I got the grill together and I knew I had to because Amy planned to make something new today: Plank Grilled Salmon! The grill was assembled in time to prepare the Monday evening masterpiece.
It went something like this... gotta cook the salmon on top of a wooden plank inside the closed grill. So, to keep the plank from bursting into flames, we soaked it in water for hours before cooking. good plan, solid plan, sounds like it should work,,,,
The salmon was seasoned in a rub of brown sugar, coarse salt and pepper, tarragon, basil and hungarian paprika.... stuck the fish on the water-logged piece of wood and we were good to go. The idea is to sort of smoke the fish while you are grilling it... the cedar wood lends its aromatic to the fish. I put the fish on the grill, closed it and was admonished by the wife not to open it for twenty minutes.
Ten minutes later I was peeking at the fish. Come on!! You would too! I wanted to see what was going on under there... me and the dog TRIED to be patient but we both knew I would peek... the dog is such a smart ass.
We found the plank on fire... so I called Amy and she handed me a squirt bottle. I put out what I could and let the salmon cook for the rest of the twenty minutes.
We pulled out the cooked fish, plank burned to a crisp. It smelled heavenly... the cedar wood did, in fact lend its aroma..lend hell,, it gave it up in a burnt offering, and the fish was made better for it.
Inside the house, Amy and I managed to get the salmon from plank to plate without damaging it and plated it. We served it with a blend of long grain and wild rice and a salad. To top the fish, Amy made a blueberry wine reduction with onions. A bottle of La crema Pinoit Noir completed the meal.
The first thing the fa
mily commented on was the color of the salmon meat... It was that wonderful orange one sees in food shows... but this was on our plates!! Topped with a blueberry wine reduction, it was sweet and savory at the same time..and that smokey taste was something that left us wanting more!
