Peggy Lampman's Friday dinnerFeed: Planked Fish with Caper-Tarragon Sauce
Peggy Lampman | Contributor
In Wednesday's post, I mentioned the fish are jumping, and that's also reflected in seafood sales around town. I purposely was a bit vague in today's recipe title—there are many fish that would be delicious planked with this Caper-Tarragon Sauce. For more information on grilling fish, in general, check out this post.
I plan to follow this recipe this weekend, except I'll substitute white fish for the salmon; white fish from Big Stone Bay in Lake Huron is on sale at Busch's through Sunday for $5.99.
The white fish fillets are half the thickness of the salmon, so I plan to decrease my grilling time by about 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes when I peek into it with a fork. The salmon are more dense, so I may have more whitefish to grill, depending on their size.
Yield: 3-4 servings Time to soak plank: at least 3 hours
Ingredients
1 cedar plank, large enough to accommodate  fish (optional but recommended) 2 pounds salmon or whitefish fillets 1 teaspoon chopped shallot 1 tablespoon drained capers 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 1-2 teaspoons dried)
Directions
1. If using a plank, soak at least 3 hours. Prepare charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat. Oil grill grate or soaked plank to prevent skin from sticking. 2. Place fish on plank. Season with kosher salt and pepper. 3. In a processor or blender, pulse shallot, capers, olive oil, Dijon, lemon juice, and tarragon. Brush a tablespoon of the mixture on the uncooked salmon. 4. With grill lid closed, grill fillets, basting fish with sauce, until cooked to desired level of doneness. (It takes longer to grill fish when planked. Total cooking time for our fillets was 25-35 minutes, depending on the thickness of fillet, for the salmon; it should be less for whitefish.) 6. Place fish on plates and drizzle with sauce. Serve immediately.
Comments
Peggy Lampman
Fri, Jul 30, 2010 : 4:03 p.m.
Hello Enginnering Mom! Gotta love those cyber smells! This is a delicious topping I think you'd love. If I've several planks to soak and the kitchen sink is busy - I use the bath tub! Thanks for the comment -have a lovely weekend. Peggy
EngineeringMom
Fri, Jul 30, 2010 : 11:50 a.m.
Peggy, the photo at the top of this column looks so good I can smell the salmon. So there you go again... I innocently browse through A2.com, minding my own business, and I end up so hungry I have to break for lunch.; ) Thanks for the 3 hour soak time tip on the plank. I've not been soaking it long enough in the past. I'll try your recipe this weekend.