Experimental Cooking Night...
...in which I attempt to cook a dish that I never before have attempted. This, in actuality, would be most dishes. However, this evening it was cedar plank salmon cooked out on the grill. I googled several sources to investigate technique and cooking times, then went and got some wild-caught Alaskan salmon and the necessary cedar plank.
I soaked said plank in water three to four hours, washed the salmon, and rubbed it down with olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, and basil, and fired up the grill.
So far, so good.
Then came the fires.
The first one was minor, discovered as I went to place the salmon on the plank. It was easily extinguished, blackening just the underside of the plank. Once out I put the salmon on, turned the heat down low (per instructions), and let the thing cook.
My error, it turns out, was not checking the grill more often. I assumed, glancing out the window to the grill, that all was well. Well, you know was assuming does. As an old, hated, boss once told me: "Assuming makes an ass of you and me." Get it? He said this with a solemnity that suggests this nugget was actually one of the biblical proverbs. I really didn't like him.
Anyway, I go out with my dinner plate to the patio to the sweet smell of smoking cedar and open the grill. Anyone who's watched Backdraft knows what happens when a little, air starved flame meets an inflow of oxygen. That's right: Fire aplenty.
The bad news was the underbelly of the plank was completely ablaze. The good news was the salmon filet was sitting pretty on top and looking mighty delicious.
Another error, in hindsight, was probably the lack of utensils in dealing with the situation. I basically had two salad forks in which to rescue my dinner from its flaming prison. Salmon, when properly cooked (and it was) is very flaky. It also doesn't want to come cleanly off the cedar plank. Both of these facts were problems.
In the end I am happy to report that most of the filet made it onto my plate while I only suffered a few first degree burns. Some of the salmon was lost in the depths of the grill to the blaze, and some fell to the ground, but I did end up with most of it.
The verdict: Though what ended up on the plate looked like it had been mangled by a cat, it tasted great. Taste: A. Presentation: D-. Bonus: Three days later my garage still smells of burnt cedar, which is actually a pleasant smell.
I soaked said plank in water three to four hours, washed the salmon, and rubbed it down with olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, and basil, and fired up the grill.
So far, so good.
Then came the fires.
The first one was minor, discovered as I went to place the salmon on the plank. It was easily extinguished, blackening just the underside of the plank. Once out I put the salmon on, turned the heat down low (per instructions), and let the thing cook.
My error, it turns out, was not checking the grill more often. I assumed, glancing out the window to the grill, that all was well. Well, you know was assuming does. As an old, hated, boss once told me: "Assuming makes an ass of you and me." Get it? He said this with a solemnity that suggests this nugget was actually one of the biblical proverbs. I really didn't like him.
Anyway, I go out with my dinner plate to the patio to the sweet smell of smoking cedar and open the grill. Anyone who's watched Backdraft knows what happens when a little, air starved flame meets an inflow of oxygen. That's right: Fire aplenty.
The bad news was the underbelly of the plank was completely ablaze. The good news was the salmon filet was sitting pretty on top and looking mighty delicious.
Another error, in hindsight, was probably the lack of utensils in dealing with the situation. I basically had two salad forks in which to rescue my dinner from its flaming prison. Salmon, when properly cooked (and it was) is very flaky. It also doesn't want to come cleanly off the cedar plank. Both of these facts were problems.
In the end I am happy to report that most of the filet made it onto my plate while I only suffered a few first degree burns. Some of the salmon was lost in the depths of the grill to the blaze, and some fell to the ground, but I did end up with most of it.
The verdict: Though what ended up on the plate looked like it had been mangled by a cat, it tasted great. Taste: A. Presentation: D-. Bonus: Three days later my garage still smells of burnt cedar, which is actually a pleasant smell.
posted by CHADDDD at 9:21 PM
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