After grilling fresh Coho salmon fillets over cedar planks, its hard to enjoy salmon prepared any other way. My building’s facilities manager, Bruce, generously shared his catch from a recent trip to Alaska. This recipe combines the rustic, smoky flavor of the cedar planks with the subtle, sweet butteryness of the beurre blanc. Its a great combo, as I hope you will soon discover.
Total kitchen time: 1 hr
Makes: 4 1lb fillets
Shopping list:
- 4 1lb. salmon fillets (with skin is fine, without is fine also)
- 2 large (or 4 small) cedar planks for grilling
- 2 tsp. fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 2 tbsp. orange-muscat vinegar (honestly, any white wine vinegar will work, this one just adds a little flavor and a lot of adjectives. Available at Trader Joe’s.)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into teaspoons
- fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
- Soak the cedar planks, completely submerged, in cold water for at least 1 hour. Preheat your grill over medium-high heat before grilling.
- For the beurre blanc, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced shallot and about 1 tsp. of olive oil and cook until the shallot smells great, about 3 minutes. If it looks like the shallot is starting to brown, reduce the heat.
- Add the white wine vinegar (in this case, orange muscat vinegar) and stir to deglaze the pan. Continue to cook until the vinegar has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and 2 teaspoons of butter. Continually whisk the butter until it is completely melted. If the butter starts to foam, place the bottom of the pan on a cold surface (like a stone countertop) to cool it. Add the remaining butter, 2 teaspoons at a time, whisking continually. If the butter refuses to melt, hold the pan over very low heat for a few seconds and then remove.
- Once all the butter is incorporated, taste the sauce and adjust with a fine-grain salt and freshly ground white pepper. You can use black pepper if you want, but white pepper will make the sauce look prettier.
- Prepare the salmon fillets by patting them dry and coating with salt, pepper and fennel seeds on the flesh side. Rub the fillets on all sides with olive oil.
- Make sure your grill has been preheated over medium-high heat. Arrange the cedar planks on your grill and place the fillets, skin side down (if they have skin) on the cedar planks. Close the lid and grill for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked. The planks will give off a lot of smoke which adds to the excellent flavor. However, if your planks should catch fire, simply spray them with a small amount of water (I recommend San Pellegrino :-)) until the flames dissipate.
- When the salmon is cooked to your preferred doneness (let’s face it, either it’s undercooked, done, or overcooked), use a long spatula or a chef’s knife to remove them from the planks. Top with a spoonfull of the beurre blanc and serve!
Look for more cedar plank recipes this summer. I’m now a big fan of this cooking method and it deserves some further exploration. Do you have any favorite wood cooking recipes? Leave ‘em in the comments below.
Steak Frites… Redux
April 13, 2008
Inspired by the May ‘08 cover of Bon Appétit, Rachel and I attempted to take a dramatic photo of one of the world’s best recipes: steak frites. I’ve already posted an entry on the topic, but this classic French dish is so important to my culinary philosophy that it deserves another visit. Anyhow, mad props to Rach for taking the winning shot, pictured above.
Onion and Pancetta-Stuffed Fennel Bulbs
April 12, 2008
If you’re looking for a new veggie to throw on the grill, try out these slow-roasted fennel bulbs. The sweet and spicy filling will be a nice complement to your traditional grill fare. And, since the fennel will roast for an hour, you will be free to mingle with your guests.
Makes: 2 60-watt bulbs
Total kitchen time: 1 1/2 hours
Shopping List:
- 2 large fennel bulbs
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 Oz. pancetta, finely diced
- 1/4 tsp. ancho chili powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp. paprika
- 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and spices. Cook until onions are soft and begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the pancetta to the skillet and stir to scrape up the browned bits stuck to the skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes or so. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, cut the tops off of the fennel bulbs and carefully scrape out the inside. Be careful not to to scoop out too much, as the fennel sides are somewhat fragile.
- Divide the onion and pancetta stuffing between the two fennel bulbs. Lightly brush the fennel with the remaining olive oil and grill over indirect medium heat for about an hour. Or, bake uncovered at 300°F for an hour, or until the fennel is slightly tender.
The fennel bulbs will fall apart as you slice through them, so encourage your guests to use their fingers.
Peanut Butter Cup Birthday Cake
March 15, 2008
My sister just passed a landmark birthday and her gift request from me was a hand-made peanut-butter-cup cake. She is crazy for peanut butter, but scaling up a Reese’s to feed 20 people was a bit of a challenge. I’m not much of a baker (and my penmanship sucks) so Rachel helped me out a lot with this cake. Mad props to her, yo. By the time we were done, it looked like a buttercream grenade had gone off in the kitchen and my hand mixer smelled like burning. But, everyone loved this cake, so something must have gone right.
Manly Men Aprons… really
March 1, 2008
You may have noticed the new “Products” section up there on the right. I launched a line of print-on-demand products (aprons only, for now) on Zazzle.com. I only make a dollar or two per purchase, but hopefully this tiny trickle of income will help offset hosting costs. If you guys really like these aprons and want to buy enough to cover my grocery store trips, by all means, order away!
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