Thursday, September 16, 2010

BBQing to the Bitter End

Yes, I am a BBQ-er.  I am the offspring of one "BBQ Dude" aka my Dad, who traditionally barbecued fillet on Christmas Eve in Saskatchewan.  Even if it was -30 degrees Celsius and he had to shovel his way out to the BBQ on our deck!  So even though it's a little chilly to eat outside, or light enough, I am still bbq-ing!  And tonight I made one of my favourites-BBQ Salmon!

What You'll Need
1 Boneless, Skinless salmon fillet
     I get mine at Costco
    Cut it into 2-3 portions-use 1 piece at a time
1 grilling plank
     also available at Costco
     They come in a variety of wood types
     tonight I re-used my cedar plank
4 TBL. Brown sugar
1 TSP Chili powder
1.5 TSP Garlic salt
.5 TSP Fresh Ground pepper


Thaw the salmon (if frozen).  In order to prevent flare ups, soak the grilling plank for as long as possible before grilling.  Tonight I only soaked mine for about 2 hours and that was sufficient.  If it is a new plank and I hope to re use it (yes, you can re-use grilling planks) I would try to soak it all day.

Place the salmon on the plank.  In a small bowl mix brown sugar, chili powder, garlic salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Just in case taste your rub before you put it on the fish.  Lick you finger, stick it in the rub and then lick that yummy seasoning off.  This will tell you if you need more, less, what flavour stands out the most etc etc.  Once you've adjusted the rub to the correct balance, rub over both sides of the salmon.  Since salmon is a flavourful fish it can handle more seasoning than other fishes!  Don't be stingy. 


Rub A Dub Dub!


Mostly brown sugar! mmmmm-this is great for BBQ chicken too!


That's about it for prep work!  Wasn't that easy?  Now pop the grilling plank on your pre-heated grill.  Keep heat at about medium or 400 degree Fahrenheit.  20 minutes for completely thawed salmon is a good amount of time.  I like my salmon two ways-either 100% raw sashimi style, or 100% cooked. 
There is NO in between. 
 
grill baby grill
 This salmon is great with almost anything.  Corn on the cob, pasta salad, rice pilaf, grilled asparagus....anything.  Tonight I made Knock Off Olive Garden green salad!  If you have never purchased the Olive Garden Italian salad dressing you must!  It's faboosh!  Tonight I used a pre-packaged lettuce mix (from Costco-addicted, clearly).  Then I tossed in extra veggies I had on hand including sliced mushrooms, sliced carrots, black olives, peperoncini, and croutons.  I would have preferred tomatoes and red onions with the black olives, peperoncini and croutons (to make a truly authentic Olive Garden knock off) but whatever.  Then I tossed with Olive Garden's Italian dressing *swoon*  If you hate salad buy this dressing, it will make you eat salad!


That's dinner!  Super fast and super delish! 
You really can't go wrong with this one-no matter what time of year you make it!




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4 comments:

Jill said...

Yum! I'll have to try this!!! I know you probably don't buy food anywhere else :P but we always buy our salmon at costco becasue if you don't you have to deal with scales. Gross!

Miz Helen said...

Just stopping by from Prairie Story.
Your Salmon looks wonderful. We are so far inland we rarely get really fresh Salmon. I will try your recipe.
Thank You...

Jill said...

Hey doooooood! As I started to read patterns, I'm figuring out that there really isn't anything beside single and double crochet! I'm not kidding. That dress was mostly dc, but you do 4 in one stitch so it makes a shell! See! It's easy!

Prairie Story said...

I LOVE BBQd Salmon. I find that if you soak board for about 1hr, its wet enough that it doesn't burn, but still get a nice cedar flavor. PS my husband is from Saskatchewan. :) Thank you for sharing. ~Alison