Email to Cat      

Maple Rosemary Planked Salmon

Source of Recipe

From "The Tailgater's Cookbook" by David Joachim


Recipe Introduction

"The flavors here are redolent of the mountainous northern American coasts, both east and west. Pine-scented rosemary... thickly sweet maple syrup... buttery-soft salmon. These grilled fillets would be perfectly at home before a New England Patriots or Seattle Seahawks game. To simplify grilling the fillet and enhance the woodsy flavors, I cook the salmon on a plank of cedar. Gourmet kitchen shops and supermarkets often carry these. Or you can buy untreated cedar shingles at a home store or lumberyard. Any untreated ¼-inch-thick plank of cedar or alder wood will do."

List of Ingredients

◦  1 cedar or alder plank, about 6 x 12 x ¼ inches
◦  3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
◦  2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
◦  2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
◦  2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, plus two sprigs for garnish
◦  1 tsp dark sesame oil
◦  3 cloves garlic, minced
◦  Zest of 1 lemon
◦  ¼ tsp salt
◦  ¼ tsp black pepper
◦  1 salmon fillet (about 2 pounds), bones removed
◦  6 lemon wedges, for squeezing


Recipe

◦ Before You Go:
The morning of the tailgate, put wood plank in 2-gallon freezer-weight zipper-lock bag or other big strong plastic bag. Cover with water, seal, and chill in cooler 2 to 10 hours.

Mix everything else but the fish and lemon in a 2-gallon freezer-weight zipper-lock bag. Slip fish, skin-side up, into bag of marinade. Seal and chill in cooler 1 to 4 hours.

◦  When You Get There:
Heat grill to medium-high and let rack get good and hot. Drain wood plank. Remove fish from marinade and put skin-side down on plank. Brush and oil rack; then put planked fish in center and lay rosemary sprigs over fish. Cover and grill until fish is just a bit filmy and moist in the middle (about 140° F on an instant-read thermometer), 10 to 15 minutes. Move plank to a heatproof surface or cutting board. Cut fish crosswise into 6 pieces. Pass lemon wedges for squeezing on top.

◦  Neighborly Tips:
∙ You can use salmon fillets with or without skin. If there's no skin, brush the bottom of the fillet with oil before putting it on the plank. Either way, check to make sure all the bones are removed before marinating the fish. Lay the fillet skin-side down and run your fingers down the flesh in both directions, feeling for tiny bones. Pull out any bones with clean needle-nose pliers or tweezers.

∙ It's easiest to zest a lemon for the marinade, then bring along the same naked lemon and cut it into wedges for squeezing.


Makes 6 servings