Plank Salmon

“I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth.”
― William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying 

One of my favorite things to grill is salmon on a cedar plank.  It is really easy, and the combination of salmon and cedar smoke make a perfect pair.  For some other fish, delicate ones like haddock, a maple or poplar plank works better, but the heavy taste of salmon needs cedar.  You can buy these planks, but on a trip to an ash log for some chairs, I noticed that Robert had some cedar logs so cut some pieces and then split them up for the planks.  This is exactly the way that cedar shakes are made.  The butt pieces, about 18" or so,  are split using a froe and froe club, then a 3/8" piece is popped off, then the log is flipped lengthwise and then repeated.  In short order I can get enough pieces for the whole summer's grilling.

I cut some fresh chives to create a bed for the salmon pieces.  The onion taste is interesting mixed with the cedar smoke.  As an aside, I planted the chives to deter the mice and moles that were eating my Lilly bulbs.  It worked for that, but now the chives are everywhere!

Soak the planks for a couple hours in water, and grill them until they start to smoke and burn a little.  Remember---no fire, no flavor.  Grill for about 12 minutes at 400º or until the salmon flakes apart with a fork.  

I made a sauce of Soy sauce, maple syrup and a little dry mustard.  And it was de-lish!  They only thing it needed was a little wasabi, so next time I'll try that as well.  But it was fine this way, really moist and smokey, perfect.