Dinner tonight... Cedar-Plank Salmon

Our dear friend Mr. Corbin is visiting from Austin, Texas, and we had the pleasure of hosting him for dinner this evening. Since it's a rare treat to see him, I wanted to be sure to make a special meal. So I decided to try something new (to me, anyway): roasted salmon atop a cedar plank that had been soaked in water. I was inspired by the January issue of Real Simple, where the editors published some of the magazine's all-time favorite recipes, including this one for Cedar-Plank Salmon.


It's super easy: You soak a special cedar board (I picked mine up at the grocery store) in water for at least an hour. (This is essential, so that the wood doesn't catch on fire in your oven) Then set the salmon on the plank (I used 6 oz salmon filets and as usual asked the fishmonger to remove the skin for me), then topped each piece with a mixture of brown sugar, dried thyme, cayenne pepper and vegetable oil. Then I set the plank on top of a rimmed baking sheet and put the whole thing into a 350 degree oven. Twenty minutes later, the salmon was perfectly roasted and wonderfully fragrant, as the scent of cedar had essentially smoked the fish. The brown sugar mixture had kind of hardened on top of the fish, sort of like the top layer of creme brulee.

I served the salmon alongside couscous studded with dried cherries and a salad of greens, feta, cucumber, cilantro and a lemon-white wine vinaigrette. Mr. Corbin seemed to like the meal, noting that the sweetness to the salmon rub was especially pleasing. For my part, I will definitely be experimenting with roasting on a cedar plank again in the future. Oh, and Mr. Fritz, who made it home safely from the tropical place, enjoyed the meal, too!