Cedar Planked Steelhead, Maple Planked Humboldt Fog, and Cherry Planked Peaches!

Cedar Grilling Plank Rosemary and Lemon Salmon

Guest Blog by Cheryl D Lee Check out more of her beautiful recipes at blackgirlchefswhites.com

Gas grills are for wusses. Oh all right, that’s not really true, but I have been a charcoal grill user since day one. Way back in the stone ages when I was a child, my father was the king of the Weber kettle in the backyard, cooking up burgers and hot dogs and chicken and hot links for all! Inside the house, mom would handle the baked beans and potato salad.

And where would little Cheryl be? Outside helping dad with the grilling, which meant being a go-fer girl when he needed something. I told you he was the king, and I was a mere servant girl. Although a servant girl would imply that I was being paid, and lord knows that was not the case! But I learned how to start the charcoal, how to spread the coals and how to grill.

Grilling over hardwood coals imparts the best flavor in my opinion, which you just don’t get with a gas grill. Of course, this is not to say I would never own a gas grill. I can imagine they come in handy, since you do not have to wait for the coals to be ready. In fact, I have been lusting over this Combination Gas-Charcoal Grill from Char-Broil. But I am happy still grilling on my father’s trusty Weber kettle grill. And I plan on teaching my daughter the proper way to BBQ, when she is old enough.

When you grill your foods on a wood plank, it stays moist and the wood imparts a subtle flavor.

The planks were soaked in water, although I bet you could soak them in other liquids to impart even more flavor. Of course anything highly flammable would probably not be a good idea. You know, something like 151 proof rum.

I like to buy my salmon in a whole fillet, which is one complete side of the fish. I then cut it into smaller pieces, and freeze them for future use. I had some wild salmon with the skin on to use, so I made a simple marinade of olive oil, Meyer lemon zest, salt and fresh ground pepper.

Salmon has such a strong flavor it can really stand up to other strong flavors. Many types of fish would just get overpowered if you paired it with fresh rosemary, but not salmon.

I laid some large, fresh rosemary sprigs onto the soaked cedar planks, then put my marinated salmon on top. That is three different sources of flavor: the simple marinade, the rosemary and the cedar. And then you add the hardwood smoke from the BBQ, and you have a really special salmon fillet.

When preparing your grill, set the coals up for indirect heat.  That means put the pile on one side of the BBQ only, as you can see in the picture.  The cedar grilling planks are then set on the side without the coals, so the wood does not get completely incinerated by the heat.

Once the salmon is on the grill, cover it up and let it go for about 15 minutes, until it is done to your liking.

My cedar grilling plank did not catch on fire, and the rosemary began to dry out a little, releasing its oils into the salmon.

The salmon was moist, tender and flaky with hints of lemon, rosemary and smoke throughout. If you are worried the salmon would taste like a cedar closet, have no fear. The cedar notes were very subtle and lent a distinct and lovely flavor to the salmon.

Cedar Grilling Plank Rosemary and Lemon Salmon by Cheryl D Lee

Grilling salmon on a cedar grilling plank imparts a subtle flavor while helping the fish retain its moistness.

Ingredients

• 2 large wild salmon fillets
• 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• to taste sea salt
• to taste fresh ground black pepper
• 6-8 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 cedar grilling planks, soaked per manufacturers instructions

Instructions

Prepare your grill for indirect heat cooking.Place you salmon fillets onto a plate or platter. In a small bowl mix the zest, oil, salt and pepper together. Rub the marinade onto the fillets and let it sit at room temperature while your grill is getting ready. Divide the rosemary sprigs between the two soaked cedar grilling planks. Place one salmon fillet onto each grilling plank.Place the grilling planks onto the grill rack on the side without direct heat, then cover. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the salmon is done to your liking.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 2 salmon fillets

Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop on a Cedar Grilling Plank

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but even when there are more things to do than time in the day, a girl has gotta eat. When things start to heat up in life, it's time to heat up the grill because using cedar grilling planks is quick, easy, and best of all, creates NO dishes. And I made this week's recipe even easier on myself-  to the local Yokes Fresh Market I went to grab something out of their cold case.

Yokes called this item their Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop and were charging $9.99/lb.  So basically, I just spent  $2.62 per person... who says seafood has to be expensive?

And just to be fancy, I garnished with some green onions, basil, and about a teaspoon of butter.

Ingredients

Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop (Salmon, Scallops, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes)

Green Onions

Basil

Butter

Salt / Pepper

Directions

First: Soak Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Planks for and hour or more.

Next: Preheat grill to Medium-High (400°), and place Salmon Wrapped Scallop on plank,  top with butter and garish with onion and basil.

Then: Close lid of grill and allow to smoke and smolder for about 12 minutes.

Finally: Carefully remove plank and entree from grill and enjoy on a paper plate. Doing dishes is sooo overrated.

Welcome to your weekend. -KB

I think I have writers block, which I hear is a prescibable ailment (at least in some states) these days, but I digress. After the month-long eat-athon that was my holiday season, I can’t seem to look my grill in the eye and I have been relying on my trustee guest bloggers to carry the load… but I really need to get back on it.  Plankers and soon-to-be plankers everywhere need me. But what to plank? Well, when that question arises, the only thing to do is to visit and revisit the mainstay-planked entrée:

Wild Chinook Salmon prepared on an Outdoor Gourmet Western Red Cedar Plank

So, why does Cedar Grilling Planked Salmon have such staying power?

Let's talk salmon...

Salmon, when prepared correctly, is high in protein and Omega-3 Fatty Acid. Both the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association list salmon on their Top Ten Heart-Healthy foods list.  It also appears on too many publications’ "Super Food" lists to mention.  That, and it’s delicious.

Now, let's talk planking...

Planks, cooking planks, grilling slabs, or whatever else you want to call them- preparing food on a water saturated piece of wood allows for indirect heat, slow cooking.

Research shows that slow cooking rather than  high-heat cooking retains more nutrients in your food- frying, searing, and charring leeches, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other essentials.

Planking is the healthy option because nutrients are retained, while your food is infused with moisture and essential cedar flavor and smoke, which are two separate flavor profiles. No additional oil or butter is needed when planking- just you filet and a squeeze of lemon.

For these reasons, salmon and cedar grilling planks are a consummate pair.

How to Plank Salmon...

First- soak your Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank in water. An hour or two prior to grilling will work just fine, but a longer soak time permits the plank to absorb more moisture. This allows for more cedar-infused water vapor to be released during the grilling process.

Then- get your grill up to medium heat (350-400 degrees). Place the wet plank on the pre-heated grill and heat plank for another 2-3 minutes before adding the filet. This allows the grilling plank to begin to smolder and smoke.

Next- place you salmon on plank and close grill lid. No flipping, turning, or tweeking is needed.  Remove when cooked to your liking. It's that easy and your grill isn't a greast, charred mess.

Leftovers, no problem!

Welcome to your weekend. -KB

Fast forward a bit and the backyard grill was invented. Shortly thereafter, Outdoor Gourmet started producing more manageably-sized pieces of Western Red Cedar to cook with and blam! The modern-day grilling plank was born and we've been planking ever since.

What we're planking this weekend- Fall Steelhead.

Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) are rainbow trout that migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to spawn-fish that do this are called anadromous fish. In Idaho, the Fall Steelhead run (the A-Run) is on right now. The Spring (B-Run) starts sometime in June and traditionally boasts much larger fish than the A-run. The Spring runners have spent two years in the ocean, opposed to the Fall fish, which only spent one year out at sea.

So, how are Steelhead different than Salmon? Well, for our purposes, they aren't that different. Salmon and Steelhead both migrate up river to spawn and rely mostly on krill as their food source, which gives them that nice pink-orange coloring. Once filleted, the two are almost identical in color, taste, and texture. If put to a blind taste test, I would struggle to tell the two apart.

The major difference is once you get to the cold case. Steelhead is much less expensive than Coho, Chinook, or Sockeye Salmon, and in my opinion, just as good.

Cedar Planked Steelhead

Here’s how it works:

First - soak your cedar grilling plank in water. An hour or two prior to grilling will work just fine, but a longer soak time permits the plank to absorb more moisture. This allows for more cedar-infused water vapor to be released during the grilling process.

Next - season your Steelhead fillet, if you please. I used this brown sugar, paprika, chili rub for the first time and it was great! I find that using a maple syrup, agave, honey, or brown sugar lightly caramelizes the outside of the fish, which aids in moisture retention. That, and it's delicious!

Then- get your grill up to medium heat (350-400 degrees). Place the wet plank on the pre-heated grill and heat plank for another 5 minutes before adding your fillet. This allows the plank to begin to smolder and smoke. Place your fillet skin side down on the plank and close grill lid. No flipping, turning, or tweeking is needed.

Finally- Cook to your liking, carefully remove, and enjoy. It's just that simple.

Happy Steelhead Season! Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Cedar Planked Salmon with Blueberry Reduction Sauce

I've got more blueberries and peaches than I know what to do with- I've canned, cobblered, and just plain gorged myself into oblivion on these hot-weather delicacies and there is still fruit to spare. But hey, if that's all I have to gripe about, things must be going pretty well.

I've only consumed 5 servings of cedar planked salmon this week, down from my usual 8-9 weekly servings. Fortunately, just about everything goes with planked salmon and where there's a grill, there's a way!

This week's recipe is Super-Summery Salad with Planked Sockeye topped with a Blueberry Balsamic Reduction, but first, a quick a brush-up on planking technique.

Here's how it works:

First- soak your cedar grilling plank in water. An hour or two prior to grilling will work just fine, but a longer soak time permits the plank to absorb more moisture. This allows for more cedar-infused water vapor to be released during the grilling process.

Then- get your grill up to medium heat, 350-400 degrees. Place the wet plank on the pre-heated grill and heat plank for another 5 minutes before adding the food. This allows the plank to begin to smolder and smoke.

Next- place your seasoned salmon on plank and close grill lid and let cook for recommended time. The average fillet takes between 14-18 minutes, depending on thickness. No flipping, turning, or tweaking is needed. Once cooked, remove from the grill and enjoy!

So, for my salad, I used mixed baby greens, but just use whatever you have fresh in the fridge or from the garden, toss with a little olive oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper and top with hot salmon, blueberry balsamic reduction and freshly slice peaches!

Blueberry Balsamic Reduction

1 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 cup Fresh Blueberries, plus extra for fresh garnish

- Macerate berries until juicy and then add vinegar. Let the berry juice and pulp meld with vinegar for up to an hour.

- Pour blueberry and vinegar mixture through cheesecloth or very fine strainer to remove pulp and seeds. Bring strained blueberry vinegar to a simmer, whisking constantly.

- Reduce vinegar down until desired viscosity- I like it pretty syrupy. Mix in fresh blueberries and top salmon with your hot Blueberry Balsamic Reduction!

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

When at the fish market or cold counter, there seems to be an array of salmon choices- Chinook, Coho, King, Copper River, and Sock Eye. So... What what's the difference between all these varieties?

Here's a crash course in Oncorhynchus genus of the Salmonidae family, in which pacific salmon, trout, white fish, and graylings fall. The order is Salmoniformes, for all my aquaculture dorks out there.

Sock Eye: (Red) Oncorhynchus Nerka: Sockeye salmon have dark blue-black backs, silvery sides and white bellies. The average size is 6-9 pounds and are 4-5 years of age. The Sockeye's flesh is ruby red in color and is the most sought after salmon in Alaska due to it's wonderful flavor and color. The Sockeye run is second largest after the Pink Salmon Run. When Oncorhynchus Nerka is landlocked it's call Kokanee. Spawns in fall.

Chinook: (King) Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha: Chinook Salmon have a blueish-green back with silvery sides and a white belly and black spots on the back and tail and silver splashes in the tail. Chinook salmon range from 25-126 pounds and are 5-7 years of age. The flesh of the Chinook salmon is highly prized for it's rich salmon flavor and firm flesh. The natural numbers of wild King salmon is quite low compared to the other species of salmon, but is being managed to maintain the historical escapement goals and is in no way endangered in Alaska. Is both commercially harvested and is also a prize sport fish. Spawns in the fall, runs springm summer and fall.

Pink: (Humpies) Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha: Pink Salmon are bright steely-blue on their backs with silvery sides and large black spots on their backs and tail fin. The male Pink salmon develops a large hump on its back and hooked jaws before it spawns. Pink Salmon are the smallest of the Pacific salmon. The average weight is 3-5 pounds and mature at 2 years old. The flesh of the Pink salmon is a very light pink color and must be processed very quickly to retain the freshness. The Pink salmon is generally used for canning. Pinks also produces the largest havested numbers of salmon in Alaska. Spawns in fall.

Coho: (Silver) Oncorhynchus Kisutch: Coho Salmon are bright silver with small black spots on their backs and on the upper part of their caudal fin. The average weight is 6-12 pounds. The flesh of the Coho salmon is light pink and has a very delicate flavor. A very difficult salmon to keep fresh because of it's feeding habits. The flesh tends to soften very quickly unless dressed immediately after being caught. Spawns in fall.

Chum: (Dog) Oncorhynchus Keta: Chum Salmon have greenish-blue backs with silver splashes in the tail. It looks very similar to a Sockeye when ocean fresh. Chum or Keta range from 6-17 pounds and are mature at 3-6 years old. The Chum has very light colored flesh and is very mild in flavor. Spawns in fall.

Steelhead: (Rainbow Trout) Oncorhynchus mykiss: Run in both the Summer and Winter here in the Northwest. Rainbows are freshwater only, while Steelhead are anadromous (go to sea). They average between 8-11 pounds and make the anglers of this area disappear twice a year to the Clearwater, Salmon, Skagit, St. Joe Rivers and many others only to return when they got the big one. Spawns in Spring.

Salmon connoisseurs will quibble about the pros and cons of Chinook vs. Sockeye, wild vs. farmed, northern vs. southern hemisphere, and yes, there are differences, but I find that freshness and fillet quality is FAR more important.

How to get the good stuff...

Whole Fish: Take a good look at the eyes- they should be clear and bright, not sunken or cloudy. The gills should be a deep red and the skin shiny and slippery to the touch. When you pick up the fish it should feel firm, not floppy.

Salmon Fillet: Give it a poke! Press the fillet with your finger- the flesh should spring back, not leave your fingerprint in it. The flesh should have a bright orange-red hue with nice marbling and there shouldn't be any low tide-type smells.

Here in Sandpoint, check out Yokes Fresh Market or Super 1. (You can pick up our Cedar Grilling Planks at both of these locations too!) Any of the guys at the fish counter will be more than happy to help you out. They will even fillet your whole salmon if you ask nicely.

The best way to prepare this fresh salmon you pick up is unequivocally on a Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank. Duh!

Here's how that's done...

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

Every couple years, a basic nutrient is glorified and/or villified with updated dietarty studies. Carbs were uncool and high-protein diets were the thing. All of a sudden, anti-oxidants cure everything from wrinkles to ringworm. While most of this is metabolic mumbo-gumbo, the American Heart Association has found that Omega-3 Fatty Acids have a wide range of benfits and increasing your intake of fresh fish, salmon in particular, is one of the best ways to increase your intake of said OMG-3's.

Since the release of the studies in the early 2000's, the American intake of salmon has spiked to four times what is used to be in the '90s.

OmegA-3'S Roll

Every cell in our body is surrounded by a cell membrane composed mainly of fatty acids. The cell membrane allows the proper amounts of necessary nutrients to enter the cell, and ensures that waste products are quickly removed from the cell.

So, here is just another great Cedar Planked Salmon Recipe to aid you cell membrane health and well-being.

Ingredients

1 Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons Cointreau (orange-flavored liqueur)

1 teaspoon grated orange or lemon rind

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

6 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)

1 cup orange or lemon sections (about 2 oranges)

3/4 cup diced peeled avocado (about 1)

1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Combine syrup, Cointreau, and rind in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 3 minutes). Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper over fish; brush fish with syrup mixture.

Place fillet on the grilling plank, skin down.

Place plank and fillet on a preheated grill and close lid. Cook fillet for 12-15 minutes per pound. The plank will smolder, creating smoke. That's what gives the salmon its wonderful taste. If flame occurs, douse with spray water bottle.

When the salmon is cooked to your liking, serve it at the table on the plank. Place on a cutting board or platter and serve by sliding a spatula between fish and skin.

Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, orange sections, avocado, orange juice, onion, bell pepper, chives, and lime juice in a medium bowl; serve with fish.

Welcome to your weekend! -KB

In the cedar grilling plank business, the two largest events of the year just happen to coincide- Memorial Day and the Copper River Salmon Run. Both of these events have the masses congregating on patios, decks, beaches and in their backyards, briquettes in hand, with BBQ on the brain, eager to take part in the little bit¿ of Americana called the three-day weekend.

I celebrated the kickoff of grilling season 2010 in the only way someone in my line of work would... by planking a whole bunch of food! Hot wings, beer brats, sirloin and assorted vegetables on hickory skewers, all hit the grill and were quite scrumptious, but nothing could compare to the 5 lb. Copper River Salmon! That is 5 lbs. minus head and gutted, mind you!

I soaked my 16 x 7 Western Red Cedar Grilling Planks all afternoon and filleted out my big, beautiful fish into two whopping slabs... the recipe I use is listed below.

Sprinkle salmon fillet with brown sugar,real maple syrup or bed with lemon and herbs, as shown in photo. Season to t aste with salt, coarsely ground pepper and garlic.

Place fillet on the grilling plank, skin down.

Place plank and fillet on a preheated grill and close lid. Cook fillet for 12-15 minutes per pound. The plank will smolder, creating smoke. That's what gives the salmon its wonderful taste. If flame occurs, douse with spray water bottle.

When the salmon is cooked to your liking, serve it at the table on the plank. Place on a cutting board or platter and serve by sliding a spatula between fish and skin. ENJOY!

We ate ourselves into a stupper then headed out to the fire pit to burn the remaining planks. Yes, the palnks are reusable, but these had a good amout of salmon skin stuck to 'em and I didn't want the dogs getting to them, so they were part of our Memorial Day Weekend camp fire.

Welcome to your Three-Day Weekend. -KB