Cedar Planked Marshmallows

About the guest blogger: Emily Selchow, age 11

Emily Selchow is going into the 7th grade this fall at Selchow Home School. She loves reading,  horses, and taking care of her chickens. Especially her pet chicken Sally, who follows her around. Emily also enjoys spending time with family and friends.

On the fourth of July my family and I had a cook out. Dad didn't make a campfire this year to roast our marshmallows over, so we decided to cook the marshmallows in the grill. But when we opened the grill, marshmallow goo was all over the inside! We got the marshmallows off the sticks, but half of the marshmallow stuck to the stick! What to do...

Then we thought we could try putting them on a grilling plank. We didn't know if this would work, but we had nothing to loose. So we put the marshmallows onto the grill planks. We waited about a minute, then Mom opened the grill, they were nice and brown and crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. There was no marshmallow goo on the grill, and we didn't loose half our marshmallow on the stick. Plus they were delicious and now have become a family favorite!

Summoning Summer- Skewered Veggies and Chicken

Note about the guest blogger- Emily Craner

Emily Craner has graduated Eastern Washington University since we heard from her last. Gotta love a repeat blogger! Thanks for another great blog, Emily!

Sometimes, it may not feel like summer. These are the times in which one must urge summer to come on full-force, by sending the swirling smoke from the BBQ circling up into the air as a sacrifice.
I tried my best to do my part last weekend, with simple (yet TOTALLY delicious) chicken, veggie and fruit kabobs.

First we marinated the chicken in some tasty marinade plucked straight from the valleys of Leavenworth, Washington. Found in a little shop called A Matter of Taste and packed carefully home, it is a cracked pepper garlic marinade, and is a little spicy and a lot zesty. The fruit and veggies were tossed in it as well—pineapple, onions, peppers. Sigh. My mouth is watering as I write this. 

 

 

After soaking the cedar skewers for about twenty minutes, we loaded them up and tossed them on the barbie, watching carefully with spray bottle in hand (the skewers, as skewers are wont to do, caught on fire. While thrilling, in the future I am planning on soaking them for a bit longer). They only took between 15-20 minutes to cook, but after that, it really just depends on your kabob preference. As a tasty side-note, we threw some blanched asparagus on as well, seasoned with the tried and true seasoning—5th Season garlic and onion salt. As another side-note, it is helpful to have a sidekick while planking or skewing. Such as, for example, your trusted dachshund.

 

Soon, the skewers were done, and we were left with a delicious bevvy of colors, smells, and taste sensations. Total prep time was no more than twenty minutes (not including the time the chicken marinated), and grill time was about the same. Not bad for a delicious, savory kick-off to summer.

Maple Planked Whiting with White Truffle Balsamic Glaze

About the Return Guest Blogger:  Kevin Sandridge

  

Author of The BBQ Smoker Site, a blog that details products, reviews, new, recipes, competitions, and everything BBQ and native Floridian, Kevin knows his way around the 'cue. Got a question pertaining to cookin' it up on the grill, ask Kevin.

Well, the last of our Wildwood Grilling Outlet 100 Percent Natural Wood Planks has given up the ghost. But it was a tasty, tasty, ghost! After a trying Monday at work, I had to get the grillin’ groove on. So, I stopped by the grocery and picked up a few Whiting fillets, some broccolini, and a white truffle balsamic glaze made by an Italian company called Colavita.

Wildwood Grilling Outlet - Maple Planked Whiting with White Truffle Balsamic Glaze

This cook was a bit different, as I only had one plank left. Luckily, it was a maple one, which we have found we like quite a bit. While the maple doesn’t give off the spicy smoke flavor that we get from the cedar planks, it does impart a subtle mellow smoke flavor that serves as a nice backdrop for the fish and whatever sauce or spice mixture we use.

The other serving I made went inside two of the Cedar Grilling Wraps from Wildwood Grilling Outlet I put together and tied using the natural fiber thread that comes in the wrap packs.

Wildwood Grilling Outlet - Maple Planked Whiting with White Truffle Balsamic Glaze Prep

Whiting fillets are a bit ‘skinny,’ so I put two on the maple plank and two in the cedar wraps. The spice mixture on the fish consisted of sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, a little chili pepper, and some herbes de provence. The broccolini I coated with some light olive oil and then tossed with sea salt and more of the cracked pepper.

Wood Grilling Planks
Wildwood Grilling Outlet - Maple Planked Whiting with White Truffle Balsamic Glaze Grill

I grilled the fish on high for a few minutes to get the wood to smoke a little, and then turned the burners down to medium to let it finish up. Mid way through I put on the broccolini, which wilted up nicely with a touch of charring. Good stuff.

If you’ve not used wood planking on the grill, I suggest you give it a try. I know I’ve been doing a lot of fish with it lately, but this is what happens when a meat eater loves a vegetarian! I promise to do some land animal very soon, or at least as soon as we renew our stock of Wildwood Grilling Outlet Wood Grilling Planks!

Welcome to your weekend. 

Cedar Plank Grilled Orange Roughy with Fresh Tarragon

About the Guest Blogger:  Kevin Sandridge

  

Author of The BBQ Smoker Site, a blog that details products, reviews, new, recipes, competitions, and everything BBQ and native Floridian, Kevin knows his way around the 'cue. Got a question pertaining to cookin' it up on the grill, ask Kevin. 

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I’m a huge fan of the Outdoor Gourmet company.  In fact, I’m quickly running through my supply of 100 percent natural and sustainably  produced Cherry, Maple, and Cedar Grilling Planks and will soon have to place another order! 

Tonight’s contribution to my shrinking wood plank supply – Plank Grilled Orange Roughy with Fresh Tarragon  - was perhaps one of the tastiest efforts in plank grilled fish I’ve attempted.  Ever.  Yes, folks.  It was that good.

Seriously.  I thought my last effort with Cherry Plank Grilled Salmon with Amber Agave Nectar Rub was good.  And then there was the Cedar Skewered Gulf Shrimp with Chimichurri Flank Steak, which was off the hook!  But tonight’s meal just worked.  I’ve had my disasters, and as Larry over at the BBQ Grail can tell you, it ain’t no fun when food plans run aground. Of course, the special joy of tonight’s meal was that I got to share it with the woman I love.   It was but a small gesture to try and show her how much I appreciate her putting up with me for the past six years.  Trust me, she deserves a medal!

 

Orange Roughy set out on soaked Cedar Planks from Wildwood Grilling Outlet.

 

Close up of the prepped orange roughy with olive oil, cracked black pepper, cumin, chilli pepper, orange peel, fresh tarragon, and a little amber agave nectar.

 

Getting some heat over a medium flame. The cedar smoke smell during this cook was awesome!

If you haven’t tried grilling with wood planks, you should give it a go.  Beware the “pre-packaged” fish on a plank packs you can find now in your grocer’s freezer section.   It’s just not right.  Especially when you can select top quality fish from nearly every corner of the country these days.  Also, all planks are not created equal.  You want to be sure the wood grilling planks you use are 100 percent natural, produced in the USA.  You wouldn’t spritz your grillables with pesticide would you?  Well of course you wouldn’t.  So don’t grill on something that might have the stuff “built in!”  Plus, companies like Outdoor Gourmet not only source 100 percent untreated Western Red Cedar Grilling Planks, they also do it in a sustainable manner. Know what you eat.  Eat what you love.

Cedar Wrapped Balsamic Shrimp w/ Peppers and Cilantro

Note about the guest blogger- Esther Ramsey 
Coming soon! 

This is one of those things where it felt like my sock drawer had a collision with the ocean and my kitchen. Shrimp and cedar? Weird right?

I've heard of grilling salmon on planks, and even found a really sweet recipe last Christmas for planked figs and pancetta. I didn't know however, you could buy sheets of wood so thin it's almost like paper. But I'm always up for new things, even though cooking meat successfully is difficult for me (I almost always ruin it or overcook it), and I definitely can't grill. What could be difficult about wrapping up some fresh seafood in paper and grilling it?

Nothing actually. It was as easy as it sounded.

The idea with cedar wrappers (or any plank grilling) is to soak the wood in water/juice/wine/whatever. Then when you grill your food on the soaked wood, you infuse your food with all the smokey goodness and flavor of the wood. I'm a newbie at this, so I soaked the cedar wraps in water for 20 min.

Probably one of the reasons I'm so bad with grilling, is I tend to forgo the recipe. In this case however, my lackadaisical cooking paid off, because this shrimp could not have tasted better.

I tossed together some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with shrimp, cilantro, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic. And that was that. I really wish I could say it was harder- that I slaved away, or that it took an incredible amount of skill, but honestly it took about 10 min. The filling was ready to go by the time the wrappers were done soaking.

Ingredients


Cedar Grilling Wraps from Wildwood Grilling Outlet
1/2 lb Shrimp
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
half bunch of cilantro, chopped (if you don't like cilantro, you could use parsley)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (omit these entirely if you don't like spicy food)
half bell pepper, diced
Salt to taste


First: Combine ingredients in a bowl, put half of mixture on each cedar wrap. Roll with the grain, tie with twine. Grill on med high for 3 min/side. I arranged the shrimp mixture on the soaked Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Wraps like I was making a burrito.

Then: wrapped it up and tied it with twine. The hardest part was finding the end to the twine. (don't judge me...ahem)

Next: Grilled it on Medium-High...three min on each side and it was done!

Finally: I served it with wild rice pilaf and salad with a cucumber dill dressing (the coolness of cucumber dill dressing helped tone down the spiciness of the shrimp).

Jim gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up...the kids liked it ok, but weren't a fan of the spiciness. I can't wait to try planked chicken next.

Welcome to your weekend.

Cedar Planked Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but even when there are more things to do than time in the day, a girl has gotta eat. When things start to heat up in life, it's time to heat up the grill because using cedar grilling planks is quick, easy, and best of all, creates NO dishes. And I made this week's recipe even easier on myself-  to the local Yokes I went to grab something out of their cold case.

Yokes called this item their Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop and were charging $9.99 / lb.  So basically, I just spent  $2.62 per person... who says seafood has to be expensive? 

And just to be fancy, I garnished with some green onions, basil, and about a teaspoon of butter.

Ingredients 
Salmon Wrapped Sea Scallop (Salmon, Scallops, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes)
Green Onions
Basil
Butter
Salt / Pepper


Directions

First: Soak Cedar Grilling Planks from Wildwood Grilling Outlet for and 15-20 minutes in hot tap water..
Next: Preheat grill to Medium-High (400°), and place Salmon Wrapped Scallop on plank,  top with butter and garish with onion and basil.
Then: Close lid of grill and allow to smoke and smolder for about 12 minutes.
Finally: Remove from grill and enjoy on a paper plate. Doing dishes is so overrated.

Grill Grrrl Recipe Contest Winner

We ran a giveaway through our friend the Grill Grrrl and here is the winning recipe: Marc's Planked Pike Perch. Thanks for the great recipe and photos Marc!

Ingredients


1 Cedar Grilling Plank from our Outlet Store, soaked for two or more hours


1 fillet of Pike Perch (other white fish will work just fine)


1 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved


3 sprigs of fresh dill


A squeeze of lemon juice


Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Dill Cream Sauce

½ cup white wine

½ cup cream

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 TBS. Dill, minced

Directions

First: Soak Cedar Grilling Planks for 2 or more hours. Then, preheat grill the front of the grill to Medium-High (400°), while leaving the back of the grill “heatless,” to produce indirect heat.

Then: Place Pike Perch fillet on plank and top with fresh dill, tomatoes, then drizzle with lemon juice and top with salt and pepper. Place plank with perch on the indirect heated side of grill, close lid and cook for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile: In a medium saucepan combines cream and wine. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, then add garlic and dill.

Finally: Carefully remove Perch from grill, top with dill sauce and enjoy!

Welcome to Your Weekend. -KB

Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Planked Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Spring has sprung. And what's more springy than asparagus?

Ingredients
1 Lime, juice and zest
4 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bundle of slender Asparagus 
7 oz. thin-cut Prosciutto and/or Bacon
a sprinkle of Parmesan
Coarse Salt and fresh cracked Pepper 

Directions
First: Soak 12 x 7 Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank for an hour or more.  Trim and rinse asparagus, them toss in oil, lime juice and lime zest.

Next: Make bundles of four or five asparagus (asparagi?), then wrap prosciutto / bacon around bundles, securing with toothpicks.

Then: Add planks to grill, then add asparagus bundles to planks, topping with salt and pepper. Close lid and allow to smoke and smolder until tender (6-8 minutes).

Finally: Top with shredded Parmesan, serve and enjoy!

Welcome to your weekend. -KB