Enterprising Senior Chefs

Last night, we had salmon on the menu. Yawn, you say? No! Not when 1/2 of the team, whose initials are Richard, maintained for the last 20 years or so that he "DOES NOT LIKE SALMON!".

Willing to try this incredible fish once again, I, his wife and the resident fish chef, was looking for a way to prepare a dish that would have a 'wow' factor. Then, an idea flashed in my brain: smoked salmon, like on a grill, but done on the stove! Like they do on the Food Channel.

I grabbed my trusty Wok ($10, 15 years ago at Cost Plus World Market...they don't make 'em like this anymore). I lined the wok with Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil (does this need to be capitalized?), added a goodly handful of soaked hickory chips, a cake rack for the fish, and a lid from another pan that fit exactly. I turned up the heat, waited for 'smokeage' , and then tossed in some dried sprigs of rosemary. On went the fish, that had been marinating in citrus and pepper. In less than 20 minutes, we had an AWESOME entree of smoked salmon! And...Rich LIKED it!

NOTE: I did occasionally sprinkle water onto the chips. There was not a bit of smoke in the kitchen, either. I had been concerned that 'Shriek', our smoke alarm, would object to this cooking method, but he never noticed. The wok is fine. I am going to use this method again...maybe also for veggies! Happy cooking!