Cedar Planked Salmon – The Cider Decider.

I get conflicted. Various people tell me that I should be earning a decent few quid from the blog. The reality is that is not possible. I write what I like, post to my own schedule and if something gets up my nose, I am happy to share my spleen contents with the world. If one is writing for commercial gain, the spleen venting, nose contents descriptions and haphazard scheduling are all no-nos.

So what do I do when a small producer of lovely Irish cider pops a couple of bottles in the front porch? If I write about it, am I entering a ‘commercial arrangement’? If I am, we will go hungry because once the couple of bottle of cider are gone, they’re gone. If I’m not, I should blank out the labels and not give any cred to the gifter? These are the conundrums that occupy a small corner of my mind. Once I have thought things through, my decision is pretty straightforward. Irish small producers need all the support they can get. So, I thought I would try combining the lovely Dan Kelly’s Cider with some organic Irish salmon. I had never cooked Cedar Planked Salmon and I thought I would give it a go combining the smokey cedar with some nice cider flavour. Hence my recipe for Cider Cedar Planked Salmon. The ingredients are very straightforward.

• 1 food grade cedar plank
• 1 half side of salmon (organic, I can’t get wild at present)
• 2 bottles of Dan Kelly’s Cider (or another quality Irish cider)
• A handful of fresh sage leaves
• Salt and pepper to season
  

  The ingredients apart from the board. Though, one doesn’t eat the board anyway.

The first thing to do is to soak the board in cider overnight. I did this by putting it in a bag and sealing it. The cider to plank ratio is kept to a minimum this way.

“What a waste of lovely cider.” I hear you shout. Trust me, it’s worth it.

All that remains to be done is to season the salmon, place it on the cedar plank and then dress with the sage and lemon. Place the plank on a low barbecue. This is easier with gas than I imagine it would be with coals or charcoal.

The salmon starts to take on the lovely cedar and cider flavours straight away.

Close the barbecue lid and let the salmon smoke away for 15 minutes. The salmon should end up looking something like this.Serve the salmon with your choice of vegetables or salad.

Cooked to perfection! The cider / cedar aromas drove us to distraction.

We went for some nice new baby potatoes and spinach. All washed down with the last remaining bottle of Dan Kelly’s. It’s a good thing that they have my address…..

The cider was lovely with this. Then again, why would it be otherwise?

If you find yourself in a shop that sells food grade cedar planks, buy a couple (they are for half nothing) and give this recipe a go. The cider soaked cedar brings some amazing flavours to the party. These work really well with the sage. It all combines to make an extraordinarily tasty meal. The blog may never pay its way around here but, gifts like this lovely cider make it all worthwhile.