Cedar planks

Rob and I are at the point in our lives where the things we want for our birthdays and holidays tend to be presents for the house. So for my birthday/Mother's Day, Rob got me a gas grill. We have a really wonderful built-in brick grill. One of these days I'm going to have it converted to gas, and those plans are the reason it took some time to get a freestanding gas grill. Why buy a grill when you're going to convert the one you have?

But we really wanted one right now and we aren't ready to spend the money on the brick grill. Living in Southern California makes gas grilling a necessity. Not only is it great year-round, but it's also a good standby in case of an earthquake. We keep an extra propane tank filled just in case. The grill we got is small, but it's just the two of us and we didn't want to spend a lot of money OBVS.

It's been working out really well and we have so much fun making our meals. We're both trying to watch what we eat and a meal of grilled meat and salad is healthy, tasty and good for the waistline. We've been trying out new ideas on how to use the grill and we were both enticed by the idea of cedar planks for cooking.

We wanted to get one to try it out but when we went to find one it seemed all the stores were out. Finding a cedar plank became a mission and we spent the past week trying to find one. I finally bought one today at Rain's in Ojai, which has a decent assortment of kitchenware.

So I bought some nice, fresh wild salmon at Westridge Market and got Rob a pork chop. I soaked the plank for a couple of hours and we were ready to rock. Rob and I were psyched. I seasoned the meat and the fish and put them on the planks and placed those on the low flame on the grill. It wasn't long until the smell of -- cedar -- filled the air. Oh yeah, we both realized cedar smells like -- well -- cedar; like the cedar closets where you keep the old stuff to keep out moths. It smells like the cheap souvenirs from the Poconos. It smells like summer cabins by the lake.

But hey, I thought hopefully, other woods have distinctive smells that work really well with food, so maybe it won't be that bad. I had placed Rob's pork on the plank and let it get a lot of flavor and then I took it off the plank and onto the grill to make sure it seared properly. I had moved my fish to the top rack, but when I came to check the plank was on fire. No biggie. I got the fish, which was fine, off, and put the fire out. I finished browning Rob's pork and we had dinner.

And there it was ... it all tasted like cedar. And we both realized that we never really wanted to EAT cedar. It's a strong smell, but it's never been anything I wanted to eat, unlike, say juniper, which smells really good and can be made into a really cool seasoning in a stew.

It kinds of reminds of the disappointment I felt when I tried gefilte fish. I'd read about it and was sure I'd like it. I like fish -- I LOVE lox and whitefish. I'd read about gefilte fish for years, what with this being back in the day of Philip Roth. But when I tasted the beigey/brown, spongy, slimy lump I was profoundly disappointed as I resisted the urge to gag. I felt, somehow betrayed. I tend to like everything and when everyone is going on how good something is -- like cedar plank salmon -- it's so disheartening when you find out it tastes likes -- surprise -- cedar, and I'm disappointed and feel a little stupid I didn't put that together in the first place.

Update: We got some oak pellets that you put in an aluminum foil pouch and place in the grill. They made the food wonderful. So remember, oak = good, cedar = BAD.