Cooking Wiser with Terri Geiser

The first time I ate Salmon cooked on an Alder wood plank was in Seattle Washington. It was one of those meals that you left you with the feeling that something wonderful just happened. It is hard to explain, you just have to experience it. To my amazement several months later I saw a recipe in Cooking Light magazine for Alder Planked Salmon. It is without a doubt my favorite recipe for cooking Salmon.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes plus 15 minutes to prepare grill
Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 alder wood grilling plank
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large lime
2 medium scallion, thinly sliced
1 ½ pounds salmon fillet

Instructions:

Immerse and soak the plank in water for 1 hour, drain
To prepare grill for indirect grilling, heat one side of the grill to high heat.
Combine vinegar and the next 7 ingredients in a glass bowl. Remove half of the sauce and place in a large plastic bag for the marinade. Reserve remaining sauce for the dipping sauce. Add fish to plastic bag and seal. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning once.
Place plank on grill rack over high heat and grill 5 minutes or until lightly charred. Carefully turn plank over, move to cool side of grill. Remove fish from marinade and discard marinade. Place fish on charred side of plank. Cover and grill 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Top salmon with scallions and serve with dipping sauce

Terri’s Tips:
See grilling tips