Grilled Maple Plank Salmon

I got my dad these fun wooden planks for grilling meats for Father's Day, and I decided to get one for myself as well.

I know most of the time you see Cedar Plank Salmon, but I decided to try my luck with the Maple.  So the directions say to soak the plank in water for 2 hours prior to use...I'll come back to this later on...I'll advise soaking it for 2 days, but we will get to that later.

I bought these beautiful, wild-caught, Alaskan Salmon filets (kinda a splurge, but totally worth it when it is prepared well).

Remove the skin and lay fish on the water-soaked plank.  Season well with salt and pepper and then cover with spicy mustard.

Next, sprinkle generously with light brown sugar.

Then place plank on a pre-heated medium-high grill...

OK, everything looks great huh?  Right...I leave the fish on the grill...come inside for 10 minutes...start smelling a delicious maple smell.  Really it smelled awesome.  It reminded me of a campfire at my grandma's house in the fall...

Well, I thought I would go outside to enjoy the smell a bit more...and I opened my balcony door to a huge cloud of billowing BLACK SMOKE!!!  I couldn't even see the grill.  I opened the grill to find 2 foot high flames.  I immediately turn off the heat and run inside to get water.  I came back out and threw the water on the flames, shut the lid and slammed the door. 
So at this point we are like, ok...time to order a pizza...

Eventually I go out to retrieve the salmon and the plank...the edges are still burning...

SO I think, I might as well try it...see what it would have tasted like...

It was PERFECT!!  No, seriously, some of the best tasting salmon I have ever had!

So, I am not advising that you catch your grill on fire to produce the salmon, but really, I think I will give these maple planks another shot.  They give the fish such a delicious smokey taste.  Next time I will soak the plank overnight...heat my grill to medium, and stand over my fish the entire time with a cup of water in case it catches fire. 

Anyway, I wanted to share this recipe to show that not all recipes come out just the way you planned, but if you branch out a little bit, sometimes the outcome is totally worth it!