Sarah’s Cedar Planked Grilled Salmon

Many of my readers have commented about the frequent food references I wrote about in ‘First Sight’, and have asked me for the recipes.

What a great idea!

So for my fellow foodies, here’s the first recipe, one of my absolute favorites that I make all the time.

First Sight, Chapter 17  “…As Ben rounded the back of the house, he smelled the combination of wood and charcoal and saw Sarah standing in front of a grill, carefully placing salmon filets on cedar planks over the burning embers…”

Sarah’s Cedar Planked Grilled Salmon

Ingredients:

• Fresh salmon filet with skin
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Cedar plank, immersed in water for 1 hour

Directions:

1) Fire up the grill.  I prefer a charcoal grill, while my husband prefers the gas grill.  Either option works well for this recipe.  For the charcoal grill, place the grate to medium height above the coals.  For the gas grill, heat the grill to 400 degrees.

2) Remove the cedar plank from the water and place it on a transfer tray (i.e. whatever you’ll be using to carry your planked salmon filet to the grill).

3) Lay the salmon filet skin side down on top of the cedar plank, drizzle with the olive oil and season the salmon with the kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

4) Place the planked salmon on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the plank are glowing and the salmon ‘sizzles’ on the board.  Take care not to let the board catch on fire so have a squirt bottle or bottle of water nearby to tame the flames.

5) To serve, cut the salmon into serving sizes directly on the board.  Enjoy!