For those of you who are into BBQing you have to try plank cooking. You will experience unparalleled moisture and taste in whatever you’re cooking.  I personally like cooking salmon on a maple grilling plank. You can pick up the planks at just about any store that has BBQing supplies.

Prep time: About 5 minutes plus you must soak the plank for about 1 hour in water.

Cook time: 15 minutes

Cooks about 4 servings.

Glaze:

3 tablespoons mustard (I personally like Dijon Mustard or you can use whole grain mustard)

1 tablespoon bourbon

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

You can also substitute this glaze with a good quality BBQ sauce like honey brown sugar.

Salmon:

4 – 6 ounces salmon fillets or 1 ½ pounds salmon.

First:

Prepare grill to medium-low heat, about 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine graze ingredients or BBQ sausce and season with salt and pepper.

Next:

Brush salmon with glaze and allow to marinate at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.

Last:

Place plank on grill, close lid and heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Flip plank using tongs and place salmon on heated side of plank skin side down. Close lid and cook for 10 to 15 minutes depending on your BBQ until you get the desired doneness. Personally salmon is better a little under cooked in my opinion. Remove plank and salmon from grill and serve.

You can possibly reuse the plank another time, just wash it off with water, no soap but I wouldn’t use it more than twice.  You can use the plank to cook pork tenderloin and chicken, just make sure if cooking chicken you get the internal temp to 165 degrees.

Enjoy.

Chef Rob Charny

BBQ your Thanksgiving dinner turkey (a turkey that you may have won at a turkey shoot is even better!), you won’t believe how well it will comes out and you don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to make one.

After doing the normal safe handling:  

	Keep frozen until you're ready to thaw it.
	Turkeys can be kept frozen in the freezer indefinitely; however, cook within 1 year for best quality.
	Be creative, but BEWARE of FOOD ALLERGIES and Dislikes.
	PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE!
	UNCOOKED POULTRY CAN MAKE YOU ILL!
	UNDERCOOKED POULTRY CAN MAKE YOU ILL!
	NEVER reuse Marinade or SERVE on dishes that TOUCHED Raw Meat!

You’re ready to start cooking:

I love my rotisserie attachment for my BBQ, one of the beat inventions ever made for a BBQ. If you don’t have one get one!

After washing and cleaning the turkey get ready to put it on the rotisserie, coated it with EVOO (EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil), add spices (I use a seasoning call Grizzly Joes and you can find it at www.grizzlyjoes.com ), salt & pepper, stuff it with a orange that you cut slits into and you’re ready to insert the rotisserie rod and meat forks. Cover the tips of the wings and drumsticks with aluminum foil to keep them from burning and don’t forget to use cooking string to tie up the legs and wings. For added flavor I use smoker boxes with maple chips for a touch of smoke flavor.

Place a drip pan under the turkey to catch the juices and stop flare-ups, make sure to NOT turn on the burners under the pan. I do however ignite the indirect burners to add heat and I use them to heat the smoker boxes. Don’t forget to turn on the infrared burner.

The skin of the turkey may get cooked faster than the meat, so I normally turn off the infrared burner when the skin is golden brown. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil but keep cooking with the indirect burners until it reached 165 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh away from the bone, about 2 1/2 hours is all it takes for a 12 pound turkey. Allow 1 pound of turkey per person.

You guys have to try cooking it this way sometime; you won't believe how well it comes out.

Chef Rob Charny