Hot fun in the summer time...

The boys are done with school and the weather has been oppressive! Fortunately, for them, their mother, in her infinite wisdom, got them a new game for their Xbox to celebrate the successful completion of another year of school.

I, on the other hand, am not content to sit in front of the television screen all day, even if it is air conditioned inside. Besides, who wants to heat up the kitchen when the outdoors is already hot?

Nothing new or special, just the same old. A couple of pork tenderloins that had been marinating in a Teriyaki sauce for a few hours, then some Salmon for snacking.

This salmon was meant for eating cold so it was treated to a salt, sugar and pepper cure for four hours then smoked. We'll have that later on crackers or toast.

Nothing else new or exciting to report. Just gearing up for a big pork-shoulder roast this Friday night for my nephew Kevin's graduation party on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing the whole clan again.

Cedar and Birch "Planked" Salmon

I finally got around to trying some grilling planks from Lexington Outdoors of Maine. I've had them for awhile but the stars and planets never aligned themselves quite right until this evening.

It's been raining here almost non-stop since about when... December? Well at least for the past couple days straight and the past month most of the time, and definitely on the weekends!

I picked up three six-ounce fillets of Atlantic Salmon from Chile? (I thought Chile was on the Pacific coast? I guess when it's farm raised it can be from anywhere.)

I didn't have any Dizzy Pig Raging River so I used a lemon and pepper rub by Red Monkey that someone gave me.



I rubbed it in fairly heavy and let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature while I fired up the Dome. Then I put three oval planks in a pan of water to soak. I have a sampler pack of two each so I used two cedar and one birch.



When the Dome was stabilized at close to 400 degrees I put the planks on a raised grid for a few minutes until they started to smoke a bit. Then I put the salmon on and shut the lid.



Ten minutes later I opened the lid and slathered some maple butter on the fillets. (That's the butter and maple melting in that little dish on the grill.) After 15 minutes I gave them a bit more maple butter glaze.



After a total of twenty minutes I took them off and let them rest.



In retrospect, I probably should have skipped the rub as this was my first time trying the planks and they give a subtle smoky flavor to the fish whereas the lemon-pepper rub can be overpowering in large amounts. Very strong. Either way the salmon turned out great and I can't wait to try more grilling planks.

Give yourself a treat and visit Lexington Outdoors of Maine. Father's day is coming up so why not drop a hint?