Planked Shad
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Prepare an open fire or preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Clean the shad and remove the gills.
Soak a wooden plank in water for at least 30 minutes.
Cook
Place the shad on the soaked plank, season with coarse sea salt, and spread butter on top.
Cook over the fire or in the oven until the fish is flaky and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Shad
- Is the main fish, cooked gently on the plank until its flesh turns flaky and opaque.
- Butter
- Adds fat that keeps the surface of the fish moist and carries flavour as it cooks.
The step that matters
Soak the wooden plank. A plank that is not soaked long enough can scorch or catch fire on the heat, and dry wood burns faster. Soaking it in water keeps the wood from charring before the fish is cooked through.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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