Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze is quite straight forward, in terms of recipe; there’s just not much to it. Most of the drama and the flavor comes from the cedar planks themselves. That said, there is lots of drama and flavor, both of which make Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze a perfect dish for parties all summer long. Be it the 4th of July, Midsommar’s or just a Saturday night with a few friends over you’re going to have fun preparing it to your guests amazement and only you will know how simple it is. You will have to plan ahead a bit to make sure you have appropriate cedar planks around as you probably can’t just grab them at your local grocery store, but other than that, my Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze preparation is straight forward and really delicious. I first made Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze for a Midsommar’s party as both salmon and cedar are very Scandinavian. The cherry glaze came about because I was in Door County for the solstice and since we were sipping on Door County Cherry Spritzers anyway… well, you see where I’m headed. But the flavor was so great that Cedar Plank Salmon with Cherry Glaze has become a Summertime grilling favorite.
- 4 large salmon fillets
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- 2 cups sweetened cherry juice
- ½ cup red wine or red wine vinegar
- Place the cherry juice and red wine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce down to about ½ cup total liquid volume. It should be quite thick. Sometimes I add some rosemary sprigs.
- Liberally salt and pepper the fish. Drizzle a touch of olive oil on them. Set the fillets on the cedar planks and drizzle glaze on the fish until you've used about ⅔ of the glaze.
- Place the planks on the grill and close the lid.
- Cook for about 10 minutes, checking on the fish now and then.
- Keep an eye on the planks. Too much fire will mean too much smoke. You want a nice cedar smoke flavor, but not too much.
- Remove the fish when it's just cooked through. Drizzle with the remaining glaze. Serve hot with grilled asparagus, Vasterbotten Paj, and the rest of my delicious Midsommar's Menu.
- Cedar planks: When you pick the cedar planks, I recommend heading to the hardware store and having them custom cut about ½ inch thick and about 5"x12". But do think about your grill and have them cut to fit the grill and the salmon. Make sure the wood is untreated- this is important! And soak them up to a day in advance. You cannot get them wet enough. Seriously. We actually experimented with pre-cut untreated cedar shingles that we stacked. I have to say, while it worked out overall, because they weren't ½ inch thick and because the thickness varied, there were some exciting moments with lots of flames. So if you want it to be cool and calm, ½ inch thickness is important. If you would rather, you can order them online from places like Williams Sonoma, but they're much more expensive. I'd also make sure you have a bucket of water close at hand, and a platter for the fish. This way, if one of the boards is truly on fire, you can scrape off the fish and toss the flaming plank in the bucket.
Fortunately, we had a drizzly day and a wet concrete surface.
Ooh that cherry glaze sounds like it would be perfect for cedar plank salmon!
The sweet and smokey is a great complement- thanks!