cooking wood Archives - Proud Italian Cook

I normally use grilling planks for salmon or scallops but this time I thought I would try using vegetables, in particular big “meaty” portobellos!

Make sure you buy natural untreated wood that is free of chemicals, strictly sold for cooking, You wouldn’t want to use just any old type of wood from a hardware store, it could be very toxic!

There are various cooking woods on the market, some of my favorites as well as the cedar are maple, cherry, alder, apple and mesquite just to name a few.

Just make sure you soak them submerged and weighted down in water for at least 2 hours before placing them on your grill, otherwise they will just burn up and you don’t want that.

While your wood is soaking you can be grilling up your veggies. I used yellow squash, zucchini, corn, and red, yellow and orange peppers. They were tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper then placed on the grill.

For the mushrooms, the gills and stems were removed, this will give you a nice flat surface for stuffing.

Brush your mushrooms on the bottom with olive oil and only place them on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes just to get grill marks, caps up. Remove and let them cool completely. If moisture appears just pat with a paper towel.
Remember, only grill them for a couple of minutes, they will continue to cook on the plank.

I filled my caps with shredded asiago cheese but you could use just about any cheese you want. Now it’s time to layer your veggies making sure you can see all the different colors. Sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top then stick them on the plank!

Try to keep your grill temperature around 350, as their cooking you’ll hear the wood cracking a bit and the sweet smell of the cedar will fill the air.

The cheese will melt underneath and the veggies will become a little more golden, mine took a good 15 minutes.