Chef Eric Villegas of Restaurant Villegas in Okemos and host of the Emmy award-winning Michigan television show Fork in the Road serves up a great recipe for Cedar Planked Whole Michigan Whitefish Stuffed with Wild Rice and Shitake Mushrooms!

Shitake on Log by sillydog

Ingredients

1 Whole Michigan Whitefish

¼ cup lemon vinaigrette (see recipe)

untreated cedar planks or shingles

¼ cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil (evcp)

for the stuffing:

¼ cup evcp olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup roasted garlic puree

¼ cup chopped parsley

1 tbsp freshly chopped thyme

1 cup chopped green onions

1 cup freshly cooked wild rice

½ cup lemon vinaigrette (see recipe)

Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce, to taste

sea salt, to taste

freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

In a medium size sauté pan heat a bit of the olive oil and add the sliced red onions. Cook the onions until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 2-5 minutes follow with the roasted garlic puree, parsley, thyme, and green onions season with some of the salt and pepper.

Over medium heat add the cooked white and wild rices and the blend seasonings with the lemon vinaigrette and hot sauce to taste. When the mixture is warmed through and thoroughly seasoned, remove from heat and reserve.

Season the whitefish inside and out with salt and pepper (if the fish isn't brined) Grill the cedar plank on one side to get nice black marks, (without a grill, heat the plank for 10 minutes in the preheated 400 degree oven to “cure”) then rub down the cooking side (grilled side) of the plank with a little olive oil.

Placed the whole fish on the grilled and oiled side of the plank. Stuff the cavity of the whitefish with the cooled wild rice stuffing. Drizzle the top of the fish with some of the lemon vinaigrette. Place the plank on a suitable cookie sheet or roasting pan and place in the oven.

Baked the stuffed whitefish for 25 to 50 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) or until the skin is charred the flesh is cooked and the stuffing is hot.

Serve the hot planked Michigan whitefish with lemon vinaigrette on the side.

View tons more recipes over at Fork in the Road.

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