Should Have Stuck With the Meatloaf

Have any of you ever grilled wild salmon on a cedar plank?
In organizing my recipe book, I found this really great recipe for grilling salmon. You coat the fish with brown sugar, dot with butter and grill on the cedar plank that has been soaked in water. I bought a huge salmon filet yesterday at the store. My plan was to grill the salmon tonight and have meatloaf last night with a big pot of pinto beans that I cooked yesterday.

I got home from the store with the salmon and Jeff unloaded the groceries. He commented on how awful the salmon smelled. And it did. It smelled horrible. We put it in the fridge thinking we'd actually be cooking it tonight. I opened the fridge to get out the meat for my meatloaf. I was nearly knocked down by the odor from the salmon. It was then that we decided that the salmon must be cooked immediately so as to get that smell OUT of the house.

We soaked two cedar planks in water for an hour or more, just as the directions said to do. I held my nose and coated the salmon with the brown sugar and dotted it with real butter. It sounded so good. The salmon itself didn't smell that bad. It seemed to be the wrapper that it was in that was awful. In any event, after the fish was out on the grill, I completely Cloroxed my kitchen counter. The smell just would not go away. I felt like I was wearing stinky salmon perfume.

If you've ever cooked salmon or any other fish, you know it really doesn't take long at all for it to cook. The grill was super hot and we grilled that salmon for over an hour. It just never would get done. Finally, we took it off the plank and got it finished.
When we took the cedar planks off of the grill, it was obvious that the grill was indeed hot enough to cook salmon.
We brought the cooked fish inside. The only other thing we had with it was a baked potato. That was the single nastiest thing I've ever eaten in my life. Each time I took a bite, I wanted to hold my nose. I only ate a few bites. It tasted and smelled like a combination of the worst things imaginable and it was a whole heck of a lot of trouble. We threw it out. And as you well know, I have a garbage can fetish. I didn't even want that stinky wrapper or the stinky fish in my garbage can. Thank heaven the trash picked up today.

Yes, indeed I should have stuck with the meatloaf. No more wild salmon grilled on a cedar plank for us! Next time, we'll go to Outback for our salmon.

I bought these at the grocery store, too. They're Rainier cherries and so sweet and good. They're only out in the produce section for a short while, so get some while you can. They're a bit pricey, but worth it. Be careful of the huge pit or you will be in the dentist chair. Are your annuals looking a bit tired? My impatiens hanging baskets were looking leggy and weepy. I cut them way back a couple of weeks ago and gave them a good dose of Miracle Grow. They now look as good as the day I brought them home from the nursery. I've read that now is the time to cut back your annuals so they'll stay pretty all summer. If yours are looking bad, just cut them till you think you've cut them too much, Miracle Grow them and you'll be amazed how much better they'll look. Till tomorrow! Hope you have a good Thursday.