Fickle summer weather! It will be beautiful in the morning; I’ll wake up dreaming of lighting the grill, seasoning meat, pouring a glass of wine and cooking dinner outside while the kids run through the yard and the dog barks at the neighbor’s chickens, only to have the dream shattered mid-afternoon, when storms race in over the mountains and force us inside. Other days we wake up to a cool, cloudy drizzle and I think, there’s no way I could start the grill in weather like this. Only after I’ve panned a meal inside does the sun come out and the weather becomes perfect for grilling. The dichotomy of Colorado weather is that it can go from soggy to parched in a matter of hours, thanks to the elevation and the drying mountain winds. Sometimes we go weeks without even a drop of rain, and everything gets so dry that just the tiniest rogue spark from the grill’s coals could ignite a wildfire. On these days, all outdoor fires, including those in grills, are banned as a precaution. All of this poses a problem, because I’m a planner when it comes to cooking, and grilling so often must happen spontaneously. When the weather happens to be perfect, the stars align and I have all the essential ingredients to create a feast on the grill I have to seize the opportunity. That is, unless, I have something that works just as well on the grill as it does in the oven. That’s why I love this salmon. Each of these recipes can be made in either. Problem solved. Continue reading “Cedar Planked Salmon, Three Ways” →
