Proud Italian Cook

When you fire up the grill this summer don’t forget to throw on some fish, it makes for a nice light and healthy meal. I recently grilled a beautiful White Fish Filet on a Red Oak Plank.

I’m a big fan of plank grilling, the wood infuses the fish with a delicious smoky flavor and it also keeps the fish nice and moist. The main thing to remember is to soak your planks at least two hours beforehand submerged in water to ensure there won’t be any flair ups on the grill.

I always grill my planked fish on indirect heat and cook it until opaque.

There’s no real recipe, just keep everything simple. I brushed my filet with melted garlic butter, sprinkled it with paprika, then placed whole chives and fresh parsley leaves from my garden right on top, of course any herb combination would work as well, use whatever you like.

Take a few garden tomatoes, dice them up small, place in a bowl and add a few chopped herbs of your choice, add in some olive oil, salt and pepper and spoon it over the top while it’s cooking.

All the juices mingle together along with the infused wood and create an amazing flavor!

Here’s a brilliant idea that I can’t take credit for, Salmon Wrapped Jumbo Scallops, isn’t it pretty? I actually bought it like this, but it’s so easy to create yourself, which I’ll be doing  next time, or you might even want to ask your fishmonger to do it for you.

Three jumbo scallops with a strip of salmon wrapped between them and stuck on a skewer.

If you don’t want to stick them on a skewer, think about individually wrapping a strip of salmon all the way around each scallop, you can even use some thinner smoked salmon, why not?

This would be perfect for a nice intimate dinner party or special dinner, I think it’s really a pretty presentation.

I cooked it on a cedar plank the exact same way I did the white fish, brushed with garlic butter, (no paprika) and then the tomato and herb topping. The slightly smoky cedar taste infused the salmon and scallops and it was a match made in heaven!

Everything was so juicy and moist, I can’t wait to make it again, I hope you try it too!

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