Summer in March
The weather lately here in Nova Scotia has been more May than March. The more robust, or nuts, village residents have been seen sunbaking on their decks, getting a jump on their summer tan. It has caused an early sweeping off of the cobwebs and a generally cheerier note to the buzz about town. We are being teased with the tops of daffodils and hyacinths and daylilies. And, we pretend that we aren’t due to get a huge snowstorm to remind us that what we call spring here in Nova Scotia lasts a long time and can, by times, be mistaken for a late, long winter.
All the doom aside, spring fever has got its grip on us as well. So much so that yesterday, while looking over the fish counter at the supermarket, a side of salmon caught my eye. Unbeknownst to me, it hadn’t escaped Stephen’s attention either. And, almost simultaneously, we looked at each other and said, ‘We should have planked salmon tonight.’
Home we came with our salmon and Stephen got to work digging the barbecue out of its winter corner in the basement. He, with my dad’s help, carried it up to the verandah and brushed and scrubbed and swept it out and then he knocked on the door.
The door to the verandah is not the most energy efficient feature of our 130 year old house. Back in October, in preparation for a long, cold and windy winter, Stephen sealed it shut. Not so that it would trap us inside but just so that the winter gales were reduced to a gentle winter breeze.
So, I looked through the window at Stephen knocking on the door and he looked back at me. And, I walked away from the door and over to the window. I opened the window and we lifted the screen out of the window because we both knew but didn’t want to spoil such summery thoughts by speaking about winter or storms or snow.
Stephen is, with stereotypical flourish, the barbecuer of our house. He does it all the time, not just when we have to climb through the window, in the summer, in the rain, in the garage in the middle of a wind and ice storm. And, stereotypically, it is the cooking that has made things so perfect when they are good and when things are not so great it is, of course, my shoddy preparation. But, I don’t mind, because every now and then, it is nice not to be the cook
There isn’t really a recipe for planked salmon and I change ours all the time. All you need is a side of salmon, a bit of wood plank and some seasoning. If you aren’t cooking for that many, you can either use a smaller piece of salmon or individual portions.
The wood can be cedar, you can buy cedar planks in most supermarkets, and we have used maple and oak. The plank doesn’t need to be much thicker than about ¼ - ½”. You need to soak the wood in water for a couple of hours at least. If your sink isn’t big enough, you can soak it on a baking sheet filled with water and weigh the wood down, just keep topping up the water so the plank is covered.
Last night, I had just received a care package with some of Kozlik’s Lime and Honey Mustard in it – Kirsty, you know the way to my heart. I mixed three tablespoons of the mustard with two tablespoons of olive oil and two cloves of minced garlic and painted this all over the side of salmon and left it to marinate for about an hour. It could marinate for another hour or two in the fridge if you had time.
Then, it gets popped on the soaked plank and on the grill set halfway between low and medium. Our barbecue is not very powerful and pretty elderly so, if you have an all bells and whistles bazillion BTU model, you might want to keep it at a lower temperature for this. We put a piece of aluminum foil between the plank and the grill because we couldn’t find a squirty bottle, or water pistol, in our late winter haste, to prevent flare ups. And, about twenty minutes later, it should be done. It is tempting to keep opening the lid and checking, but unless you need to douse flames, try to keep it shut so the salmon gets really nice and smoky.
I had an eggplant, also known as ‘overjean’ at our house, and a couple of red peppers. I washed, sliced and tossed these with some olive oil and a minced clove of garlic for the eggplant. Stephen grilled them to perfection and I drizzled the eggplant with a little bit of white wine vinegar while it was till warm. Then, a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt, cracked pepper and chopped parsley and done. It was almost 7 pm by this point. The sun was setting and we decided we would draw the line at dragging out the deck furniture. So, dinner was passed back in through the window and we ate and tried not to think about the weather forecast because it was summer in our dining room.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Reader Comments (4)
This makes me so happy! For so many reasons. Especially the sight of that burglar/BBQ chief climbing in through the window. xo
Yes, it's nice to see Stephen looking so limber despite being 40!! I'm cooking my "overjean" from Organic Sue today. I wonder what Poppy'd think about my roasted ratatouille? x
Yes, our BBQ chief surprised even himself with his agility and keeness I think. Poppy would love the ratatouille, especially if it has red peppers. xxoo
This looks amazing am so glad my little nephew is so agile that he was able to ni[p back and forth!
I feel very hungry now and just fancy some salmon cooked on your plank.
Excellent - keep them coming!
Much love
Angela
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