If you are like me, this is the time of year that you are trying to eat more seafood. And, it’s easier than you think to cook it at home. Salmon is a popular choice and it is readily available.
Some people complain that salmon is “too fishy,” but I find that if you cook wild salmon, the flavor is better and it is not “fishy” at all. I also prefer to buy frozen salmon and cook it from frozen or thaw it myself to make sure it is as fresh as possible.
Most seafood is frozen immediately after catching it and that means that the seafood cases in grocery stores have—more than likely—thawed the fish before you buy it “fresh.”
If you’re looking for wild salmon, your best bet is seafood from Alaska. Alaska is the nation’s largest source of domestic wild caught seafood, and that means nearly 60% of all wild seafood harvested in the US comes from their icy cold waters. What that means when you are shopping is that about 99% of the wild salmon you see at retail comes from Alaska—the majority of wild cod and wild halibut is also harvested there.
Once you have decided on salmon, you have four popular species of wild salmon to choose from. They are all available frozen year-round, and while it’s in season, you may find it at specialty markets fresh. Trader Joe’s sells it, and the last time I was there, they had trimmed skinless fillets of both the deep red, firm textured Sockeye and the orange-red Coho salmon. Less popular but worth seeking out is Keta salmon. It is sometimes sold as chum and is light pink in color. It is a little more difficult to find and is lean and delicate in flavor. My personal favorite is Alaska King salmon a.k.a. chinook. Due to the high fat content, it is the richest and most succulent tasting of the four. All will work well in my recipe for Indoor Cedar Plank Salmon With Lemon Pesto.
I had Keta salmon in the freezer and that’s what I used. It is also why the color in the photograph is much lighter than you expect from other varieties of salmon.
The inspiration for my recipe came from Alaskan Chef Nathan Bentley. Chef Nathan is the chef-owner of Altura Bistro in Anchorage, Alaska. The restaurant showcases the flavors of ‘the last frontier‘ state and pays homage to the region’s culinary heritage by incorporating locally sourced ingredients including salmon.
When I asked him how he would prepare salmon during the winter, he immediately said, with a lemon pesto. I thought that sounded so bright and fresh— perfect for a January dinner when you are looking for something on the healthier side but still want it to taste as delicious as it possibly can.
I had never made lemon pesto before and immediately, I had visions of a chunky lemon-spiked pesto filled with lemon zest tempered with Pecorino-Romano cheese, toasted slivered almonds and pinenuts accented by fresh garlic, and a handful of curly parsley and fresh dill. For fun, I added a pinch of Aleppo pepper, but if you don’t like any heat with your spice, you could just use white pepper.
Even though I planned to cook it indoors, I wanted it to be as simple and as tasty as grilling it outside. It didn’t take long for me to decide to cook it on a cedar plank because it is an easy way to cook fish and it makes a dynamite presentation.
Once the pesto is made—and you can make it up to four or five days in advance—all you need to do is soak the wood plank, and brush the top of your salmon with olive oil and season it with salt.
The hardest part of the pesto recipe is removing the fragrant zest off the lemon. I prefer either smooth-skinned seedless lemons or Meyer lemons for this recipe because the rind of the lemon is really what carries the flavor. The easiest way to remove the rind is with a really sharp vegetable peeler. You slice the rind off in strips, being careful to get as little of the bitter white pith under the yellow rind as possible. I am partial to the original OXO swivel peeler for this job. You can do it with a Y-peeler but it is more difficult.
Once you have the zest and juice of one lemon, you process it with the nuts, garlic, cheese, parsley and dill and olive oil. Make sure that your lemon gives you about ¼ cup of juice; too much juice will make the pesto too soupy/saucy. And, a food processor is better than a blender for this pesto because you want it chunky and not as smooth as a “smoothie.” I use a mini 4-cup food processor and it works perfectly.
The great thing about this recipe as opposed to pan cooking it is that you can cook it from frozen without losing anything. I really like the convenience of being able to cook the fish from frozen because that means that I don’t have to remember to take it out of the freezer and put it in my refrigerator to thaw before I cook it.
I roasted my salmon from frozen because I bought it frozen. If you buy your salmon fresh or already thawed, you will do the same thing, but it will take less time to cook.
Indoor Cedar Plank Salmon with Lemon Pesto
Making cedar-plank salmon is not just an outdoor thing. It’s easy to do inside and adding a full-flavored topping or sauce such as this Lemon Pesto turns a quick and easy fish preparation into something special.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 10-12 ounce fillet of salmon, frozen or fresh*
Cedar plank, at least 8 x 6 inches, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Lemon Pesto—see below
*If your salmon fillet is frozen, you can put it in the refrigerator to thaw or cook from frozen. You can make the Lemon Pesto to use immediately or make it in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.
Lemon Pesto:
This lemon pesto was inspired by Chef Nathan Bentley of Altura Bistro in Anchorage, Alaska. The pesto is good on any species of salmon and most fish or shellfish as well as pasta.
Makes about 1.5 cups
3 small/medium ripe yellow lemons, zest and 1/4 cup of fresh juice
1 cup slivered almonds, or pinenuts, or a mixture of the two, toasted
1-2 large garlic cloves
1 cup curly parsley
8-10 sprigs of fresh dill
3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper, approximately 10 grinds or
Pinch of red pepper flakes, Calabrian or Aleppo pepper
3-4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from each lemon. Try to only remove the bright yellow zest and get as little white pith as possible. Set aside.
2. Place nuts, garlic, lemon zest, parsley, and dill in a food processor or high-powered blender. I use a small 4-cup food processor, and it works perfectly.
Process until finally ground. Add ¼ cup lemon juice, cheese, salt, and pepper. Process until completely mixed. You may have to stop and scrape the sides several times along the way taste and adjust seasonings if necessary including the salt and pepper.
Begin by adding 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of olive oil and process until smooth. If it is a little dry, add another ounce—I used a total of 3 ounces of olive oil.
Taste and adjust the seasonings one final time.
3. Remove pesto from food processor and place in a clean glass jar until ready to use.
Indoor Cedar Plank Salmon:
Leftover Lemon Pesto Salmon is also very good, mixed in with pasta, a salad, or on its own eaten cold.
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Soak plank in water for 30 minutes. Remove plank from water and place in a sheet pan—I use a quarter sheet pan. This will make it easier to take in and out of the oven.
3. Place salmon fillet skin-side down on the wet cedar plank. Brush the exposed fish with a light coating of olive oil and season lightly with kosher salt.
4. Place the sheet pan with the cedar plank in the center of the oven and let roast for about 15 minutes if the salmon is thawed and/or fresh, and about 25 minutes if the salmon is frozen.
5. Remove from oven and top with the lemon pesto as soon as it comes out of the oven so that it can warm and melt as the fish rests for 3-5 minutes. Garnish with fresh dill if desired.
6. Serve and enjoy.
NOTE: You can use this technique for all seafood. Frozen seafood will take an extra 7-10 minutes to cook.
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