Blackened Planked Salmon

If someone were to ask, "what is your favorite way to prepare salmon," then I would probably answer grilling it on a cedar plank.  The use of wood planks to grill food goes back a very, very long time, originating with the Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.  Women would then tack the salmon to long slabs of wood, usually alder or cedar, or they would tie the fish to the planks using vines.  Those wooden slabs were then placed over a fire and the salmon was allowed to cook slowly, absorbing the flavors of the wood and smoke.

That traditional practice may still be performed in some Native Americans in the northwest; however, in my case, the use of planks involves a cookie-cutter piece of cedar wood that gets soaked in water for more than an hour, fitted with a piece of salmon  and then placed on top of a fire or in a grill.  After about fifteen minutes or so, the plank is removed from the fire, the fish is removed from the plank and dinner is served.  The whole process seems far less idyllic than the process used by Native Americans.

Indeed, I am no stranger to using cedar planks.  I've made several salmon dishes in this manner.   I've made a traditional plank salmon (well, as traditional as traditional can get).  I've also made something fancier with planks and salmon, namely, the Imperial Salmon, a plank salmon with a crab imperial.   However, this time, I was looking for a different way to make planked salmon.  It got me to thinking and it did not take me long to think of something new.

As much as I am a fan of using smoke to impart flavors into meats, I am also a fan of blackening spices.  This recipe combines both ... blackened planked salmon.  It is a bayou meets the northwest thing, a combination of two sets of regional flavors that works in many different, but delicious ways.  To put it simply, it is the right combination of spice and smoke that can appeal to someone who, like myself, loves barbecue.

BLACKENED PLANKED SALMON

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2

Ingredients (for the salmon):

2 six ounce fillets of salmon

1 cedar plank

Ingredients (for the blackening spice mix):

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the spice mix.  In a bowl, mix all of the spice mix Generously rub the mixture on both sides of the salmon.  Cover the fish and let rest for one half hour.

2.  Prepare the salmon for the grill.  Preheat a grill on medium.  Brush the cedar plank on both sides with three tablespoons of oil.  Place the salmon on the plank and cover evenly with the onion slices.  The onions do not just add flavor, they protect the fish from burning while it cooks. So make sure that the onions cover both the tops and the sides of the fish.  Drizzle some oil over the onions.

3.  Grill the salmon. The grill should be hot enough to ignite the plank when you place the plank in the grill.  Let the plank burn around the fish.  Once the plank has burned, cover the grill.  Continue to grill the salmon until medium rare, or 130 degrees Fahrenheit, which should take about ten minutes. 

ENJOY!

"Imperial" King Salmon

I often joke that, after a stressful day at work, I relieve that stress through cooking.  I also note that people can tell how stressed out I was at work based upon what I make.  The more stressful of a day, the fancier the dish.  Well, after a few stressful days a while back, I unleashed my creative energies to make a dish that I ended up calling "Imperial" King Salmon.

The Chinook Salmon, which is known as King Salmon, is the largest species of salmon.  It has a special place in the tradition of many Native American tribes.  It also has its place in the early history of the United States when the Lewis and Clark expedition described -- and ate -- this fish during their exploration of the Pacific Northwest.  

This magnificent fish is the centerpiece of a truly original and, in some respects, crazy recipe.  The recipe starts with one pound of King Salmon.  Add one pound of lump blue crab imperial.  Put it all on a cedar plank and grill it.  The end result is an amazingly decadent dish. The crazy part is actually executing the recipe.  While there are many recipes for Plank King Salmon, there are no recipes for Planked Crab Imperial.   And, there are many recipes for crab imperial, but most of them involve placing the crab mixture into little ramekins, topped with bread crumbs, and baked for length of a reality show (minus the commercials). I decided to be daring and combine two dishes into one -- Plank King Salmon and Crab Imperial -- to create a Chef Bolek original recipe. 

Hence, the name, "Imperial" King Salmon, which suggests the richness of the dish.  This dish also reigns over many of the dishes that I've made recently.  It is a more lavish dish, because both King Salmon and lump blue crab are a bit pricey.   However, the dish is also rich in flavor.  Grilling the salmon and the crab on the cedar plank infuses all of the ingredients with the cedar flavor.  Both Clare and I really enjoyed this dish.

"IMPERIAL" KING SALMON

A Chef Bolek Recipe

Serves 3-4

Ingredients (for the King Salmon):
1 to 1 1/4 pounds of King Salmon
1 pound of lump blue crab
1 lemon, juiced
Kosher Salt, to taste
Ground Pepper, to taste

Ingredients (for the Blue Crab Imperial):
1 pound of lump blue crab
1/4 large green pepper, diced finely
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 shallot, diced finely
2 tablespoons of mustard
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of thyme

Directions: 
1.  Make the Crab Imperial.  Begin by making the Imperial.  Saute the green pepper in butter until translucent.  Transfer the green peppers to a bowl.  Add the crab in patches and mix.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the mustard and mayonnaise, continuing to mix the ingredients.  Add the crushed red pepper and thyme.  Continue to mix the ingredients.

2.  Prepare to grill the salmon.  Preheat the grill to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Soak the cedar plank for an hour.  Remove the plank from the water and place the salmon on the plank.  Cover the salmon with the crab mixture.

3.  Grill the salmon.  Grill the salmon for about 20 to 25 minutes.  The Imperial will begin to brown around the edges, which is good.   Remove and let sit for five minutes.

When you are ready to plate the dish, simply use a serrated knife to cut through the crab and the salmon carefully.  Then use a spatula to plate the the "Imperial" King Salmon. As you can see from the picture below, the end result is a juicy piece of salmon covered with a crab mixture that has a lot of good ingredients besides the crab, such as cracked black pepper and green pepper. 

In the end, a little craziness on my part has resulted in a dish that may become one of my specialties, or, at the very least, a dish for special occasions. I definitely intend to make this dish again whenever I see King Salmon in the stores. 

ENJOY!

For more about King Salmon or Chinook Salmon, check out Wikipedia. 

Cedar Plank Salmon

Recently, I wanted to make Cedar Plank Salmon.  For me, this dish takes me back to my very first trip to the Pacific Northwest, when I went to Seattle for a job interview.  I arrived late in the afternoon and was scheduled to leave the following afternoon.  With little time to see the city, I went straight for the Pike Place Market.  By the the time I got to the market, it was about to close.  My disappointment over missing an opportunity to walk the aisles of this famous market soon faded after I sat down for dinner at a restaurant in downtown Seattle.  I do not remember the name of the restaurant, but I do remember the dish ... it was my first experience eating Cedar Plank Salmon.  

I wanted to make this dish using a recipe from the Pacific Northwest.  Fortunately, during my honeymoon, I picked up a cookbook called The Paley's Place Cookbook.  The Paley's Place is a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, which focuses its cuisine on local, organic and sustainable foods.  Clare and I never made it to the restaurant for a meal, but the cookbook is really, really good. 

I made two changes to the recipe.  In the original recipe, it calls for using a dry cedar plank and allowing the plank to burn around the fish.  However, I think the smell of the cedar wood contributes to the flavor of the overall dish.  So, I soaked the cedar plank for about an hour before assembling the fish and grilling it.  Once put on the grill, the soaked plank will begin to smoke and that smoke will infuse much more cedar flavor into the fish and the onions.  I left the instructions for the original recipe below, but, I would recommend soaking the wood so that you can amplify that cedar flavor in the final dish.

The second change involved the type of salmon that I used for the dish.  The original recipe calls for king salmon, which is by far one the best kind of salmon to use on a Cedar Plank.  However, I did not have access to king salmon.  I used sockeye salmon, which worked just as well.  I would also recommend using coho salmon as a substitute.  All three types of salmon -- king, sockeye and coho -- are wild salmon, which is the type of salmon that has the best health benefits, such as Omega 3.  

CEDAR PLANK SALMON

The Paley's Place Cookbook at 92-94

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
2 pounds of salmon, preferably king salmon, but you can use coho or sockeye salmon
2 tablespoons of Kosher salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
Grated zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 small bulb of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped basil leaves

Directions:

1.  Prepare the marinade.  In a bowl, mix the salt, brown sugar and orange zest.  Generously rub the mixture on both sides of the salmon.  Cover the fish and refrigerate for two hours.

2.  Prepare the salmon for the grill.  Preheat a grill on medium.  Brush the cedar plank on both sides with three tablespoons of olive oil.  Spread the chopped garlic on the plank the length and width of the salmon fillet.  Place the salmon on top of the garlic and cover evenly with the chopped basil and onion slices.  The onions do not just add flavor, they protect the fish from burning while it cooks. So make sure that the onions cover both the tops and the sides of the fish.  Drizzle three tablespoons of olive oil over the onions.

3.  Grill the salmon. The grill should be hot enough to ignite the plank when you place the plank in the grill.  Let the plank burn around the fish.  Once the plank has burned, cover the grill.  Continue to grill the salmon until medium rare, or 130 degrees Fahrenheit, which should take about fifteen minutes. 

ENJOY!