Guest Blogger Mike Knapp – How many fish lovers do we have out there?

Hello again, fellow Chefs!

How many fish lovers do we have out there? As for myself, I can say I’m not a fan. Actually, I take that back, fish is palpable to me when it is paired with “Filet-O” or “and Chips”.

I’ve made a few lifestyle changes lately, especially when it comes to my diet, but I’m not quite ready to go the fish route yet. But, I did come to the realization that fish is really great when it’s cooked on an Evo grill.

Last week I decided to try something new, and that was to cook salmon for my wife on my Evo using cedar planks. It was a different thing for me because all of my previous experiences with my Evo involved cooking food and giving it plenty of attention.

Thankfully, I had a bit of help. The Evo website has plenty of good recipes on hand, and I decided to choose this one: https://archive.evoamerica.com/evo_recipes/cedar-plank-salmon/

The great thing about this recipe is that there is very little prep work involved. Just a couple of small accoutrements and you are off and running. The key of course is to wait until the cedar plank – or in my case planks because I couldn’t find any large enough to hold the filet – begins smoking. That means it’s ready to go and reduces your cook time a little.

The recipe says to let it sit under the cover for 20 minutes, but I actually went to 23 minutes just to make sure. While I love the process of actively cooking on the Evo grill, it was actually fun for a change to sit back and have some wine and conversation.

I left the vent cover open and it was smoking – a lot. Don’t worry, that’s just the Evo and the cedar plank doing what they are supposed to do. When I took the cover off and began to remove the meat, it was soft and flaky and started to come apart on my spatula as I was moving it to a plate. I don’t know if this is a common experience, but the skin of the salmon was stuck to the cedar planks, making it easier to remove the good stuff.

I also paired it with a great dill sauce that I found here: https://www.food.com/recipe/mustard-dill-sauce-to-serve-with-salmon-504303

One item to add is that the Evo recipe is for 6 to 8 servings, and the dill dip comes out to about three cups, so make sure you invite some friends!

I also paired it with a Sauvignon Blanc and a small salad, and it turned out to be a great-tasting meal that is perfect for a relaxing summer evening! (Of course, you can make it at any time, but yeah, it was a perfect summer dish.

Guest Blogger Mike Knapp