Cedar-Planked Salmon with Herbed Yogurt Sauce Recipe
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A side of salmon is the perfect go-to dish for brunch or a dinner party. Here, we coat it in a tangy herbed yogurt sauce and broil it on a cedar plank; your guests will be impressed by the flavorful preparation and you’ll be relieved by how simple it is.
What to buy: Greek yogurt can be found in most grocery stores. We like the Fage brand.
Food-safe (non–chemically treated and splinter-free) cedar planks are available online, at gourmet grocery stores, and at many fish markets.
This recipe was featured as part of our Easter Made Easy story.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (14- to 16-inch-wide, 7-inch-long) cedar plank
- 3 medium lemons, cut in half horizontally
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup whole-milk plain Greek yogurt (7 ounces)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh chives
- 1/3 cup fresh tarragon leaves, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 salmon side (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin-on and pin bones removed
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the plank in a large, shallow baking dish or roasting pan, cover with water, and weigh down with a heavy can or plate to completely submerge. Squeeze the lemon halves into the water, then drop in the squeezed halves. Soak the plank for at least 1 1/2 hours or up to 12 hours.
- Heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack in the middle. Remove the plank from the water, pat dry with paper towels, and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil on the top side of the plank and set aside.
- Combine all the remaining ingredients except the salmon in a medium bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
- Rinse the salmon, pat dry with paper towels, and lay it skin-side down on the plank. Season well with salt. Evenly coat the salmon with 1/2 cup of the yogurt mixture.
- Place in the oven and broil, rotating once, until the flesh springs back when touched but is not hard and the yogurt is starting to brown, about 16 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately, with the remaining yogurt mixture passed on the side.
I found this website with great deals on cedar planks:
http://www.barbecuewood.com/-strse-Cl...
I made this last night on the grill, subbing some dill & cilantro I had around for tarragon. It came out great!! The yogurt really adds a nice dimension. Used TJ's wild caught silver coho, defrosted, so I'm sure a fresh fillet will even taste better.
Now I need to try to refurb the plank , as they are way too expensive around here. Thanks for the recipe & the tips!
You can absolutely reuse the planks - even if they are charred. I have used relatively thin ones up to 3 times. I do a fall meal soaking the planks in apple cider, grilling salmon with just salt and pepper and a bit of butter, and serving it over a soft pumpkin corn pudding (think polenta with corn and pumpkin puree added, flavored with cumin and a little allspice) with a pumpkin seed vinaigrette on top. I got this recipe from Larry Forgione's stint at the Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck like 18 years ago. It is always a HUGE hit, and can be made either in a broiler or on a grill. The cedar flavoring is essential to the dish. By the way - his instructions call for preheating the plank over the fire for 3-6 minutes, which will start the char even before the food is added. But it's all good.
Be very careful about the planks you use. Look for untreated, kiln dried, FSC Certified planks. My favorite provider of planks is Fire and Flavor (www.fireandflavor.com). They have planks in multiple sizes so choose the smaller planks for an individual serving or put multiple servings on the larger plank. The thicker planks can be used many times as long as you have controlled your grill's heat and haven't charred all the way through. And try different types of wood as each imparts a wonderfully different flavor. If you are new to planking - the CEO of Fire and Flavor - Gena Knox, has written a fantastic cookbook that provides hints and tips and recipes for perfect planking (and more). There are also recipes and tips for plank grilling on the site. Have fun - this is an amazing way to add flavor to food without adding any calories!
This sounds great. I like to use fresh Dill Weed with my Salmon so I may sub that. Also since we are all talking about getting creative with the wood I am going to have my carpenter husband use his power planer to make me some Olive Wood planks to use since I have some Olive logs around that I use for woodworking.
I re-use my planks....flipping them over isn't an option, since the bottom can get pretty charred (less charring if you've soaked the planks for 12 hours or so). Just treat the blank as you would a wooden cutting board...rinse off in soapy water, apply some salt and rub with a half a lemon, rinse again and you're good to go.
Go to a LUMBER yard and ask to look at the cedar -- there are various kinds, red on the west coat being the standard. ASK IF IT HAS BEEN TREATED -- I live in a lumber town, but most ANY salesman would know if the cedar had been treated, they need to know because of the different oils and stains which are used, and many prefer sanded cedar with just plain Tung Oil on it - so ASK!!! I don't know about the 'city'. We can even get 'green' Cedar, Cedar that's still wet from the cutting -- I'll bet THAT would give flavor --
GOOD QUESTION about reuse. My guess is with 80 grit paper and a random orbital sander you'd do fine -- it's wet, it hasn't been in a long time, and so any chareing would be AROUND THE FISH (unless you like your salmon char-char then the wood underneath would be burned as well.
IDEA: CEDAR OIL -- in many microbiology under takings starting about 500X or so and ABSOLUTELY at 1000X+ you have to use cedar oil to form a column of oil between you objective and the slide -- (because cedar oil has the exact same refraction index as air, even if it looks a different color, you are shining light up from under neath it THROUGH the center of the oil bead) - SO, I would imagine that 'seasoning' your cedar plank with some cedar oil mixed in alcohol (like vodka) and wiped on the plank would soak in and REALLY bring out the flavor. When camping I've grilled over cedar limbs for smoke -- brine the salmon just a bit to keep it from falling apart, add a few branches of cedar -- FEW being the operative word or you'll be eating cedar wood with the consistency of fish) -- so a limb about the size of your forearm, split a couple of times will produce enough smoke.
You can buy CEDAR OIL from ANY biology supply shop, and many hobby shops, it's cheap, it's pure, and it would work if diluted.
Thanks! Looking forward to this!
Here in the CHOW test kitchen, we tried this at room temp several times and thought it was equally delicious as it was hot out of the oven. Just remember to monitor how long the salmon sits out for. Food reaches the "danger zone" (between 40° and 140°) where bacteria thrives after about 1 to 2 hours depending on how warm the environment is.
Has anyone tried this (or another Salmon recipe) room temperature? We'd like to prepare everything in advance for an Easter brunch.
Hankstramm - I am curious about re-using cedar planks. Can they be washed and reused, or simply flipped over to be used twice?
The planks, if you look for them outside of over priced stores, cost about $1-2 a piece. Secondly, in most cases, you can use them at least twice and sometimes even a third time. Yes, it is really delicious. I was skeptical myself, but was one over once I tried it. I paid under $10 at Costco for a half dozen planks...
Does it taste cedar-riffic, or what? What's the upshot to plank vs. pan?
Does it taste cedar-riffic, or what? What's the upshot to plank vs. pan?
Does it taste cedar-riffic, or what? What's the upshot to plank vs. pan?
Anyone else think that the whole cedar plank thing is absurd? Paying upwards of $10 for a couple of tiny pieces of wood that you use once kills me.