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Planked Fish
The Plank A fish plank should be part of the equipment of every camp or fisherman's kitchen-a nice thick piece of hardwood, oak, hickory, sugar maple or ash, cut across the grain. It should be at least a foot and a half long and a foot wide, for the best fish to plank are good-sized trout, whitefish, shad, blues, lake bass, and the like. Department stores carry these planks, of course. But in the open a thick slab can be sawed off the top of a stump, and like a wooden salad bowl, the plank improves with use.
The Planking Clean the fish, cut off head and tail, split the full length and lay on the plank, skin side under, wipe with a damp cloth, season with salt and pepper, minced parsley and a dash of lemon juice, and brush well with melted butter. Nail, wire, or tie fish to pre-heated and oiled plank, tilt it up before live coals; and broil 15-20 minutes or until almost done; and occasionally pour a little melted butter down it. Have ready some hot, well-beaten mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, asparagus tips, sliced onions, beets or whatever vegetables there are in camp. Make a ring of mashed potatoes around the fish; and brown 5 minutes. Decorate the space between potatoes and fish with little piles of the other vegetables, garnish with watercress or capers and plank it down on the table.
A camp method that works just as well on a backyard fire or, with adjustments, in a hot oven. The plank is doing two jobs at once: it holds the split fish flat and it radiates heat back into the flesh from below.
- Choosing the woodOak, hickory, maple and ash are all correct; never use pine, spruce, cedar shingles or any resinous softwood, and avoid construction lumber, which may be pressure-treated with chemicals. A slab an inch or more thick is far less likely to warp or scorch through than a thin board.
- "Cut across the grain"Taken literally this means an end-grain round off a stump, which is what the text describes for camp use. A commercial plank is cut with the grain and is less prone to checking; either works, but season it by oiling and heating gently before its first use.
- Fastening the fishIf you nail or wire the fish down, use stainless or plain steel. Galvanized nails and coated wire have no place against hot food. Cotton butcher's twine looped around the plank is simpler and leaves no holes.
- Heat and distance"Tilt it up before live coals" means a bed of glowing, flameless coals rather than open flame. The text gives no angle or distance; propping the plank steeply, a hand's span or so from the coals, works. Turn the plank end for end once or twice so the fish cooks evenly.
- Doneness rather than clockFifteen to twenty minutes suits a split two- to three-pound fish, but thickness governs everything. Cook to 145F at the thickest part, where the flesh has just lost its translucency and separates under a fork.
- Oven versionPreheat the plank in a 450F oven for ten minutes, oil it, lay the fish on skin side down, and roast on the upper rack. Keep a pan of water beneath if the board smokes hard, and do not walk away from it.
- The potato borderThe mashed potatoes need to be stiff and hot going on, or they slump. Pipe or spoon the ring, brush it with butter, and give it five minutes close to the coals or under a broiler for colour.
- YieldA good-sized trout, whitefish or lake bass of two to three pounds, split and planked with the vegetables, serves four.