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What's your favorite seasoning for Salmon ?


OnlyTheBest

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The recipe I eventually went with came from the Weber Fish & Seafood cookbook, I think.

I looked up my recipe. It did, in fact, come from a Weber cookbook, but the newer Art of the Grill book. The technique is pretty much as I described above. The ingredients are:

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. honey

2 tsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

You melt the first three together, whisk in the rest, and let it cool before applying to the fish. This amount was sufficient for 2.5 lbs of salmon filet (the recipe says 0.75 to 1 inch thick). Now, if I could only find big pieces of salmon filet in town....

Come to think of it, this might be interesting in combination with Pam's granola idea.

MelissaH

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

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Wow, lots of good options there!

I like the ginger/scallions/sesame combination, that's a good'n.

Horseradish hasn't been mentioned yet, that's a classic accompaniment.

I like a combination of cumin, coriander, lime, cilantro, and hot chilies as well. Or cheat, and use a prepared coriander chutney along with some freshly-toasted cumin.

Lots of herbs work well besides the omnipresent dill; I'm partial to tarragon but experiment with what you've got in your garden.

Fruit salsas are often used, but for something a little bit different try wrapping your salmon fillet in leathery dried apples and then in parchment. Kind of interesting.

Try shredding some beets and cooking them lightly with citrus and cumin, then after a few minutes add the salmon and cover with the beets. Sweat under a lid until barely done (judge by the finger-poke, as the colour will be "unnatural").

I also like salmon with (wait for it) well-cooked sauerkraut. Y'know, cooked long and slow with apples and onions and white wine until it's completely mellow.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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Another cool salmon prepration that I just recently learned is as follows:

Grate or finely chop some garlic, shallot, and fennel and sweat all of them in a pan with a little good extra virgin olive oil. After the veggies has sweated a bit place two fillets in the pan, add a little white wine, butter, and a littlefish stock or water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, turn the heat down low, and cover. Cook until the salmon is just done. Meanwhile, cook some linguine. When the salmon is done, add the cooked linguine to the pan, and mash up the salmon, stir the pasta around, season, add some tomatoes, dill, and plate. Make sure before you plate that the water in the pan has evoprated. It should be kind of a oil and garlic sauce

Edited by Lactic Solar Dust (log)
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We generally use the Weber recipe listed in MelissaH's post above. I make extra sauce, reserve, heat and pour over or under the salmon when plating.

Oooh, I like that idea. Is it the same when the sauce hasn't been lacquerized by the heat of the grill? I think that's the part I like best. (What happens if you just try cooking the sauce a little bit more? Do you just wind up with a pot that's impossible to get clean again?)

MelissaH

edited to fix minor grammatical issue

Edited by MelissaH (log)

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

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Oooh, I like that idea. Is it the same when the sauce hasn't been lacquerized by the heat of the grill? I think that's the part I like best. (What happens if you just try cooking the sauce a little bit more? Do you just wind up with a pot that's impossible to get clean again?

I don't cook it down that much. This way it still had a nice smooth texture and you don't have to through away your pot :biggrin:

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When I've done the whole baked/roasted salmon routine, I've tended to stick with the lemon slices/fresh herbs routine (I'll get an assortment of herbs depending on what's available and what sounds like it will play well together). I'll put some of the herbs and lemon in the cavity, and some in gashes slashed in the sides of the fish. Then seal the whole fish up in heavy-duty oven foil (oiled on the inside so the fish doesn't stick), slide onto a baking tray to catch the worst of the drips, and into the oven she goes.

With salmon steaks (I prefer steaks to filets, but I don't see why you couldn't do this with filets too), I either keep it totally simple with just some salt and pepper, or I go for a mix-and-match pan-Asian thang. I make a marinade of good soy sauce (I love the rich flavor of Chinese dark soy sauce), a little toasted sesame oil, a bunch of minced fresh ginger and garlic, and a bit of kochu-chang, mixed together and thinned with a little water as needed. The marinated steaks can then be either pan-seared, broiled, or grilled (one of the reasons I like fish in steaks is I think they have less tendency to break apart on a grill or broiler than fillets do--but you still have to remember to oil the grill or broiler grate for easy fish-removal).

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

One of my favourite preparations is Maple Baked

Marinade: maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic (marinate at least 8 hours in fridge)

To cook: On stovetop, sear over high flame (presentation down) about 1 minute, carefully turn fillets over (skin side down) and transfer pan to a preheated 400F oven for about 8 minutes.

Optional: serve with a rich bourbon/maple/cream sauce...

That's what we're having tonight, sans sauce (because I have no cream and no bourbon)

Edited by gourmande (log)

Cheese: milk’s leap toward immortality – C.Fadiman

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One of my staple dinners (when noone else is hungry. :raz: ) involves a salmon fillet quick-marinated with some cookin sake, salt, sugar, and just a little bit of teriyaki. Then, I just sautee the hell out of it (at a rather high heat) with some sesame oil until it gets quite black. blackened outside and nigiri inside. Simple, not that creative, but I love it nonetheless.

I may have to try some of the ideas in this thread, tho.

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We love salmon, especially with Mustard and Dill. With that theme in mind I came up with Salmon poached in butter and then with a mustard dill hollandaise using the reserved poaching liquid instead of butter.

Poaching the salmon in butter (1/2 cup sauv blanc and 1 lb butter) works wonders. Took second place in a local seafood contest and it was aptly described as being "incredibly moist."

Charles a food and wine addict - "Just as magic can be black or white, so can addictions be good, bad or neither. As long as a habit enslaves it makes the grade, it need not be sinful as well." - Victor Mollo

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I roast a piece of salmon in a high oven 450 for about 10 minutes, salt pepper olive oil. While the fish is cooking, I saute onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, capers and crushed red pepper. Top salmon with sauce - Yummy!!!

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One of my favorites is from Sautee Cedar . This is an example of "less is more" - the recipe is very easy and really really good. Looks like they have lots of good recipes. Check out their Recipe rubric.

Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon

3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

3 Tbsp. maple syrup

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

4 salmon fillets

1 soaked Sautee Cedar Grilling Plank

Combine first four ingredients in a zip plastic bag and add salmon. Marinate for twenty to thirty minutes. Place soaked plank on hot grill and close lid. When plank begins to smoke and crackle place salmon with skin side down directly onto plank. Close lid and cook to desired doneness. Salmon is best served medium rare. Do remember fish will continue to cook after being removed from the grill. Serve straight from the plank to create a unique presentation.

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am actually quite experienced with great salmon, being from Seattle originally. The problem I'm having is that we froze some alaskan king salmon and it's a bit on the fishy side now. I've never really had to deal with that before and don't know how to cook it to minimize this taste. Slow poach? If so, in what? Ideas please!!!

Edited by aaustin (log)
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I have two favorite ways, both super simple. One was an experiment that I thought would be horrible, that turned out amazingly good, and I've since made it many times. I smeared a bit of good mustard, like a country dijon across the top of a salmon filet, then drizzled a healthy amount of honey on top of that, and then reached for the slivered almonds.....which were gone. So, I substituted a homemade, simple granola of oats, butter honey that I had plenty of. I had this all on a sheet of tin foil which I gathered up at top, and then baked at about 350 for 15-20 minutes or so. It was so good. The granola melted into the honey mustard mix and created a great slightly sweet and crunchy topping which perfectly offset the salmon.

Another way that I often do it is to simply spread mustard on top, pour balsamic vinegar over that, add chopped tomato and onion and lots of rosemary, and then bake in the oven. The mix of flavors is great with salmon. I do it the same way as above, wrapped in foil and baked.

Another really delicious way that takes a bit longer, but is elegant and worth it is from Molly Stevens Braising cookbook and involves leeks and bacon and lots of pinot noir that cooks down into a wonderful sauce.

:) Pam

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WOW! Every one of your ideas sounds outstanding.

If only....I hadn't already marinated the salmon in Thai green curry paste mixed with soy, fresh ginger and garlic (both of which I put through the garlic press...a little secret of mine), some coriander, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, sugar, etc......

I think I'm going to broil it (too cold here for grilling already--a balmy 39)

But I love the crunchy topping idea and the rosemary tomato idea...I can smell that right now!

thanks

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  • 4 years later...

My wife's favourite sauces are based on dijon mustard, capers, lemon, and butter....

I often do salmon fillets with a dijon mustard and black/white pepper rub, sometimes a light dredge in flour and then pan saute until just about done. Remove from pan and cover to complete cooking.

Then add the lemon, a splash of white wine, champagne, or ver jus, to deglaze, and scrape up the brown bits.

Lower the heat add the capers, some caper juice to taste, and then whisk in butter to desired thickness and/or health quotient. Drain the salmon juices into sauce, whisk, plate the salmon and drizzle with the sauce, adding the capers to taste, or for decoration...

Enjoy.

PK

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I like salmon as noted above with a Dijon smear, also the sweetish soy (teryaki?) blend. My current favorite is big chunks at high heat with coconut milk and a spice paste of ginger/lemongrass/hot peppers/fish sauce and masses of fresh herbs

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I love these suggestions. My latest is salt/pepper, and smear the top of the filet with a peppercorn mustard. Then I add a layer of panko breadcrumbs that have been toasted in a little olive oil (I keep these in the freezer - can't remember where I heard this suggestion but it rocks and I use them on a lot of other things, like pork chops and pasta), and pop into the oven for about 12 minutes. Squeeze a lemon over it all. Delicious.

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i have a "house rub" which is FABULOUS on salmon.

created it by accident, trying not to waste any spices..what i made by accident, i now make on purpose. i know that most of you will not take to over-the-counter spice mixtures, and mix and use them (i know i probably wouldn't), but i implore you to give it a try. i can't make a seasoning rub more compelling than this.

50% Emeril's Original seasoning by volume

50% Jamacian Jerk seasoning Spice Islands

the combination is spread generously (like you would apply a rub) on both sides of the salmon filet and

rubbed/patted in. the salmon is then seared in canola oil on the cooktop (about 2 minutes/side). the surface of the salmon will take on deep red/brown crust, and the interior will be raw to barely cooked.

unbelievable good.

if you want, throw a fist full of fresh dill (stems and all), juice of half a lemon, teaspoon of chopped shallot, pinch of salt, black pepper, and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream into a container (i use a deep large cup), and blitz it with a stick blender, to make a dill cream sauce...

finally, i have started experimenting with Miso marinate/glaze. So far, its darn good with cod, and with tuna..haven't tried salmon yet, but i don't know why it should be great...

Edited by Heartsurgeon (log)
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I buy farmed Atlantic salmon trimmings which are the small irregular strips that come off when a whole fish is processed. They are a fraction of the price for other cuts and they are often fatty with Omega-3.

Kids love these bits cooked as-is on a non-stick skillet, then dipped at the table in stuff like maple syrup, soy sauce, mustard, dill tartar sauce, etc.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

Moe Sizlack

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I love salmon on the grill with just salt, pepper and olive oil, and then glazed the last couple of minutes with a glaze of plum jelly and minced chipotle peppers in adobo.

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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