Russ' Salmon on the Plank

Sumner and John have had Russ and me over for dinner several times and we finally reciprocated and had them over tonight. Kilkee, their sweet puppy, came with them and she and Cash had a wonderful time playing outside. By the end of the night they were happy, tired pups!

Since the weather has been so nice we decided to grill part of the meal. We decided to have Russ do salmon on a cedar plank on the Egg. He has done plank salmon before and it has turned out very yummy. The planks soak in water all day and then a rub is applied to the salmon a couple hours before grilling. The salmon turned our really well tonight except that it was a little bit saltier than we would have wanted. Next time Russ plans to make a few minor adjustments to the seasonings to make it even better.

We served with it fresh corn on the cob, homemade blueberry muffins, and asparagus. I made the blueberry muffin batter earlier this morning and then baked them this afternoon. I have been on a quest to find the "perfect" blueberry muffin recipe for a few months now and this has been our favorite one so far. It is a whole wheat blueberry muffin from my new cookbook, King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking. They are a dense muffin from being whole wheat, but have great flavor and texture. Next time I will make a couple changes by adding more blueberries and taking them out of the oven a couple minutes sooner.

The asparagus is a repeater for us. It is a Cooking Light recipe from September 2001 that is quick, easy, and very tasty. It is called Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter . We typically grill our asparagus after marinating it in Italian dressing, however, when we don't grill it this is our preferred recipe.

All in all it was a wonderful Spring dinner with good company! Russ rates the meal a 7 (only because he is being hard on himself with the salmon).

Chef Howie's Plank Salmon, "Planking Secrets"

For the dry rub:

2 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp light brown sugar

For the salmon:

1 cedar plank, soaked overnight or at least 1 hour
four 6 oz pieces of fresh salmon fillet about 2 inches thick, skin removed (we use one large piece of salmon instead of individual portions)
2 lemons, cut into 8 wedges

Combine the ingredients for the dry rub in a small bowl.

Place the fillets on wax paper. Sprinkle both sides of the fish evenly with 2 Tbsp of the dry rub, pressing the seasoning into the fish. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

Preheat the grill on medium-high for 5 to 10 minutes or until the chamber temperature rises above 500F. Rinse the plank and place it on the cooking grate. Cover the grill and heat the plank for 4 to 5 minutes, or until it starts to throw off a bit of smoke and crackles lightly. Reduce the heat to medium.

Place the salmon on the plank and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish has an internal temperature of 135F. (This temperature is my standard doneness measure for fish. Chef Howie prefers his salmon rarer and removes it from the heat at 120F.) Transfer the salmon pieces to plates and serve garnished with lemon wedges.

Sour Cream Muffins (King Arthur Whole Grain Baking)

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream (we used reduced fat)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries or diced stone fruits (such as peaches or plums) of your choice
Coarse sugar for sprinkling (we used regular)

Lightly grease muffin tin, or line with papers and coat the papers with non-stick spray. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy and almost white in color. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then turn the mixer back on and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream, and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients, mixing on a low speed just until the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once more, to be sure everything is evenly combined. Gently fold in the fruit and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Scoop the batter by the 1/4-cupful into the prepared pan and sprinkle with sugar or other topping. Bake the muffins until a cake tester is inserted in the center and comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack to finish cooling. (My notes: I baked them for 22 minutes and think they could have come out a minute or so sooner. Next time I'll check them at 20 minutes to see how they are doing.)