Recipe: Cedar Planked Salmon with Red Wine Salmon Sauce

Hello Fernando,

Here's a recipe that may come close. If you have a chance, please let us know how it turns out and if you have any tips after making it.

Happy Cooking,

Betsy


Author: Jack and Kay Hartman
Date: 1998/11/09
Forums: rec.food.cooking

The salmon recipe comes from a May 20, 1998 Los Angeles Times article by Janet McCracken. The sauce recipe comes from _French Food American Accent_ by Debra Ponzek. While I will undoubtedly make cedar plank salmon again, the sauce is not on my make again list.

Excerpts from the post referring to the salmon...

..."Jack went to Home Depot during the week and bought an (untreated) cedar fence board. He cut the board into individual serving planks. On Friday, we set one plank to soak in plain water, one plank to soak in a mixture of Pinot Noir and water, and one plank to soak in Pinot Noir. Since none of us had made cedar plank salmon before we thought we'd play with it a little.
...We placed one fillet on each of the 3 cedar planks. We wanted to see how much difference the soaking liquids for the planks would make to the final product.
...Jack placed the cedar planks on the barbecue grill and cooked until the Salmon was done.
...To serve, we placed a Salmon fillet on the plate and topped with the red wine Salmon Sauce.
... The Salmon was fabulous. I will be making cedar plank Salmon again. Although there were differences between the salmon fillets on the different planks, the difference was not significant. The most important flavors were Salmon and cedar. Next time I will probably soak the salmon in water. I was not fond of the sauce and will not make it again."

Kay

Cedar-Planked Salmon

Be sure to use untreated cedar - chemicals are not only potentially harmful, they don't taste very good. You can find untreated or rough cedar at any lumber yard.

1 piece untreated cedar, about 2 inches longer and wider than
salmon
1 (3-pound) salmon fillet
Salt, pepper

Soak cedar in water to cover at least 24 hours, weighing down plank so wood is completely immersed in water.

Wash and dry salmon fillet. Remove skin. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove cedar plank from water. Put salmon on plank and place on grill over high heat. Cover grill and smoke until salmon flakes with fork and is opaque in center, 15 to 20 minutes.

8 servings.

Red Wine Salmon Sauce

Makes about 3/4 cup

1 tablespoon butter
5 large shallots, thinly sliced or diced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup leek greens, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup celery, cut into medium dice
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound salmon or other fish bones, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
(the fishmonger can do this)
3 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 cups full-bodied red wine (such as Rhone, Pinot Noir, or
Burgundy) [I used Pinot Noir since that was the wine we would be
drinking]
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan or high-sided pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, leeks, celery, and thyme and saute for 2 minutes. Arrange the fish bones on top of the vegetables in an even layer, cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the bones become opaque, 5 to 6 minutes. [I had some salmon broth in my freezer. This was salmon bones cooked in water. I took the salmon broth and boiled it with the shallots, garlic, leeks, celery, and thyme.]

Raise the head to high, add the stock and wine, and bring to a boil. [I did not add stock since I started with broth rather than bones.] Reduce the heat slightly and simmer until 1 1/2 cups of liquid remain, about 30 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer, pushing down on the solids.

Pour the strained liquid into a clean saucepan and reduce over medium-high heat until slightly syrupy, 10 to 12 minutes. Strain through a chinois or fine strainer. Taste and season. It will taste strong and salty and probably will need pepper only.

Make-ahead Note

Red Wine Salmon Sauce can be refrigerated up to 5 days and frozen up to 1 month.