Jul 16, 2012
Critters and stuff!
Very busy last few days and the best part other than the vino and food was that we managed to evade the severe thundershowers we were warned about for 3 days!! We had some clouds but all was good.
That allowed us to sand, fill and put the first coat of stain on the arbour. Maybe I will get the second and hopefully final coat done Monday. We are going for the weathered board look. Definitely not happening with the first coat. Staining is NOT a fun job.
A few nights ago Colin was laying out on a chaise by the lake ( I was already in bed ) and he saw the beaver……wonderful news!! The critter didn't get blown up nor move away. Middle of the night or very very early Saturday morning I was awoken by the sound of pebbles being thrown into the lake….after a few moments I wondered if someone was on our site or Karen's site next door. I looked out the bedroom window which is at pillow level to see a smallish dark critter run under Karen's RV followed by another few splashes and a second critter following the first. It was a mink!! Possibly an American Mink. They are weasel like carnivores that are semi aquatic. They eat mice, rats, fish, frogs and snakes among other things. The pebbles I heard splashing were the two mink trying to climb up the rocks from the lake to the land. Perhaps they were looking for a garter snake to snack on. I had done a blog post over a year ago with photos of some local mink but can't find my post.
This is an internet photo. Cute little guy but fierce with sharp teeth!
Now as to the stuff…..got lots of questions about the cedar plank salmon we had the other night.
The cedar planks we use are thin boards that we pick up from a local mill, a throw away. You could Google where to find some in your area. Be sure to soak the boards in water for at least 12 hours, 24 would be better ~ this time I confess we only soaked them 4 hours.
First off we only eat wild salmon, not farmed but I am sure you could use either type. About 2 hours prior to cooking I put the fish into a dish and marinated it in teriyaki sauce. You could add garlic, brown sugar, other spices, I just used the sauce as the fish was fresh.
Colin simply puts the planks on the grill, turns it on and puts the salmon skin side down on the planks, letting the sauce drip back into the bowl as he lifts the salmon pieces out. All BBQ's are different so temperature is hard to judge but we set ours at around medium. How to tell if the salmon is cooked, not so easy with sockeye salmon, easier with other t
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Hi Contessa:
For the salmon cedar planks, we are a bit lazy, the local supermarket sells them, two planks including instructions on how to soak them so they don’t burn!
Us easterners don’t have access to really fresh salmon,but Safeway has some frozen pre-marinated wild salmon (skin on) that is excellent. We need to stock up as we head east towards home, unfortunately Safeway can’t be found east of Thunder Bay.
Al & Suzette
Al….nice to hear from you again. I have yet to find cedar planks in a store here. I will check out our local Safeway for the salmon.
Sandy…..the cedar does add quite a bit of flavor plus seems to have the added melt in your mouth aspect.
Marty…I forgot that Jim was a gourmet….maybe he can share a recipe with us on your blog!!
George….Do you have Costco in Ontario? You can get fresh salmon here in BC at Costco.
Sounds good – when we smoke salmon I only use Kikkoman Soy sauce and a tiny bit of lemon juice if it is on hand – just thought a different take on doing salmon would be good. Always wanted to cook salmon on a cedar plank as it sounds so special. Wonder if you could do the salmon steaks on a plank – I so love thoses. Thanks for sharing
Stan and a friend have been fishing up a storm the last couple of weeks. I talked to Jim tonight and he said he had a nice cedar plank waiting for some of those fish! Jim is a big cedar plank person! They love fish in that house, especially Gracie.
The salmon sounds great, mind you salmon done almost anyway is great to especially if its wild. Somewhat hard to find here in Ontario.