Honey Mustard Maple Plank Cod

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I haven’t posted a fish/seafood recipe in a while, mainly because we are not very passionate about it and my personal interest in fish goes only as far as canned tuna. Well not really but looking to my three seafood recipes, two with salmon and one with basa (it was cheap), you get the idea… and I almost forgot about my tuna salad recipe which I love. I am not crazy about fish but every once in while a recipe catches my eye or some idea pops into my head and I start making my way into the kitchen, where I usually scare the heck out of my wife since she’s always there, cooking something… but that’s a funny story for some other time.

This time I got excited by fish cooked on a plank which I must sadly admit, I never tried until today. The whole idea of cooking fish on a plank kinda seems a bit too dangerous to me but more important is the fact that smoked fish doesn’t usually agree with my stomach so we try to avoid one another. Cooking fish on a plank however, is the easiest way there is, you just season the fish with whatever you like then throw it on a ½ inch plank and wait for 20 minutes. The end result is very good, has nothing to do with normal smoked fish that you can find at the grocery store, the aroma and smoky taste are so subtle that by the time you ask yourself “how the…” and “what the…”, the fish is gone. Even my dog loved it, but then again, she loves any kind of food lately.

I used a simple combination of honey and ground mustard to brush the fish with and then just a pinch of salt and pepper to bring up the flavors a little bit. It was actually a lot, especially after cooking on a maple plank for 20 minutes. Now a lot of people use cedar, but I was lucky to find maple planks at my grocery store and this is what I used, think maple smoked bacon, the aroma seems to be very close and maple adds a certain sweetness flavor to the fish. Make sure the wood is untreated, but they usually are if you buy them from grocery store and not home depot. [lol]

Before placing the planks on the grill you have to soak them in water, usually there are instructions coming with every plank, mine said at least 2 hours so make sure you read yours. The idea is to allow the wood to absorb moisture, giving fish the needed time to cook properly before the board starts to burn and it will also help create smoke. If the heat is too high or boards not soaked enough, they might catch fire so be aware and ready to spray it with water, but I never had this problem. Unfortunately boards can only be used once so if you want to make another fish on plank recipe, buy a new one.

On a final note, the honey you use for coating your fish needs to be pretty fresh or you won’t be able to brush it after mixing it with ground mustard. Mine was a bit crystallized but the easiest solution to this is to immerse the whole jar in a bowl with hot water, honey will become a thin liquid again in no time. Now on with the recipe and enjoy!