I made a quick meal recently: Cedar planked Salmon with rice & red bell peppers.
This is my own recipe and it was a great time to try out some new sauces & spices I’ve found. Being allergic to wheat severely limits what I can eat. Any food with a “Modified Starch – Corn or food” is usually modified with wheat. This means that canned soups, soy sauce, yogurt, some cheeses, almost all salad dressings, & many other items that we wouldn’t expect to have wheat in them – actually do. The same goes for medications packed in starches. My conclusion: If the United States has a wheat shortage -similar to ancient Rome- we’re going to seriously hurt.
Since starches are so prevalent, I was surprised when Senior Management & I met Ron Maurer. This guy makes his own spices & sauces that are not only amazingly good but also wheat free. Maurer Foods is the supplier for these two products. I plan to work through their entire inventory(it is that good).
Living in the northwest, cedar or alder planked salmon is quite common and usually associated with this area of the United States. I thought I would follow the stereo type and get in touch with my NW roots. Baking Cedar Planks are expensive so I decided to make my own. I purchased an untreated Cedar board (6 foot) at Lowes and machined my own planks with my table saw & planer. As it turns out, this board cost me $3 and I can make about 25 baking planks from it. Commercial planks are about $19 for 5 (business idea?). I seasoned them just like one would season a Dutch Oven. This way the food wouldn’t stick to them and I can reuse them (although after making this dish, I broke one…oh well I guess I can only make 22 more).
My Cedar Planked Salmon recipe:
2 salmon fillets (about the size of 1.5 decks of cards)
Maurer’s “Essence of the Northwest” Seasoning
Maurer’s “Spicy Ginger” Marinade
After rubbing the fillets with the Northwest Seasoning, I put the salmon into the marinade for about 1/2 hour (during which I got the DO warm). Then I planked them & baked for about 20 min (or until the fish flakes).
The Rice was pretty plain & I don’t plan to repeat it so no use putting up a recipe for it. It would disappoint anyone who plans to make it.
Overall, this is a fast meal (about 1 hour) and very good fish (although I’d rework the rice dish).
