Apple Bourbon Glazed, Cedar-Plank Salmon

Type of Recipe: Entree
Category: General

Ingredients:
1 TBS butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ C bourbon, whiskey or brandy
1C apple juice
¼ C brown sugar
One, 2-pound salmon filet, skin left on
Olive oil
1 cedar plank (available at Whole Foods)
Salt and pepper

Soak the cedar plank in water for 2 hours so it won’t burn in the oven or grill.

Build a fire in your Wildwood oven, preheat a gas grill to medium low or if using a charcoal grill, allow the coals to burn until they are covered with white ash.  Alternately, you can preheat a regular oven to 325.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for a minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.  Take the saucepan off the heat, and carefully pour in the bourbon, whiskey or brandy. Put the saucepan back on the heat and boil liquid until it is reduced by half.  Add the apple juice and brown sugar, and boil the liquid until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.  Set aside.

Brush the skin side of the salmon with olive oil, then season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the cedar plank and set it in the middle of your Wildwood oven, directly on a grill or in your regular oven.  If using a wood-fired or grilling method, grill the salmon for five minutes and then baste it with the apple/bourbon glaze, repeating twice every 2 minutes.  When the fish has been grilling for 11 minutes, carefully remove it (on the plank) from the grill and baste it again.  Let it sit for a minute before serving.

If you are using a traditional oven, set the salmon on the plank in your oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, basting after the first 15 minutes several times.  Let it rest a minute and then enjoy!