Walking the Plank

From countless hours of observation he knew his preys habits all too well, and so he laid in wait knowing it was only a matter of time. Sure enough, after only the briefest of waits, his quarry was snared. Quickly, and without remorse, he untangled the net; a few sharp blows from a rock and brief flurry of expert blade work, and the bloody act was done. The body was gutted and splayed out on an alder wood litter, and all that was left was to build a fire to finish the deed.

The story of a grotesque murder? No – a Northwestern American Indian dinner party with planked salmon as the featured entre. An easy meal for them and easier for us us because we don’t have to catch and gut the salmon. And really hard to screw up and so most excellent for a large group gathering where the inevitable distractions of the cook can turn a nice piece of fish into trash in 3 minutes. A well soaked plank protects the fish from drying out even if overcooked by a fair bit, and if it is there’s even some upside in more woodsy flavor. Painting the fish with Dijon adds an extra layer of protection; sprinkle it with brown sugar to get a nice crust which you can deepen up with a closely watched 2 minutes under the broiler if desired. Extra bonus: the fish is on its own serving platter/cutting board that you can throw out when you’re done.

The down side is for a large group you need to serve something else since there are too many fish phobic eaters out there. My solution is to grill thick NY strips and then slap the salmon on the grill while the steaks rest.

Although its a classic pairing I stay away from the Pinot Noir with salmon because I’m a stereotyping bastard who believes PN is too often overpriced and hit or miss. I’ve had more bad bottles of Pinot Noir than probably all other wines put together. It wouldn’t hold up to the steak anyway, so you’d have to serve 2 reds at a time plus a white. The solution: merlot, or a medium bodied, low tannin cabernet. Bonus: medium bodied and low tannin should also mean cheap.

There’s no going wrong with good NZ SB as an aperitif that can segue into dinner; these wines are amazingly versatile and everyone seems to love them. We served both Crossings (my take on that is a few entries down) and the 06 Kim Crawford which is a really nice wine; a bit more fruit and less grass than the Crossings, Nobilo, and a lot of other NZ SBs. Still plenty of acidity, a bit steely, and enough different flavors to complement a huge range of food. A good bargain, and I think this one turns up in supermarkets and if so it’s a great last minute pickup.

I had a gifted bottle of 2004 Estancia Cab on hand which I figured would meet the criteria of medium bodied and low tannin. Bingo. It was all that, and also very fruity; a bit sweeter than I’d have imagined, but not at all cloying. It had a nice discernable oak flavor that was still subtle enough that it matched up with the cedar in the salmon. In fact, this was one of the most serendipitous pairings I can remember. It was pretty much dead on perfect with the salmon and was a credible enough match for the steak although you could do far better there. I’m thinking this is a supermarket wine also; I’d buy it for planked salmon and it would make a good generic red pour that would match up well with lots of food.

To go just with the steaks (coffee rubbed) I opened a 2004 Footbolt and my last bottle of ’03 Marambro Creek. No surprises here at all; both wines were thick, jammy, spicy and meaty. The coffee notes of the Footbolt were a great complement to the subtle coffee of the steak. The Marambro was, as I recall, a $11 bottle that really improved over the last couple of years and was definitely a bargain. I’d happily scarf some up again if it was available, but at $15 at Costco the Footbolt is a happy alternative that probably will also benefit from a touch more time.