What's your favorite seasoning for Salmon ?

[tamiam]

Holy cow, very creative with bed springs. I'm going to try cedar planking this summer. Our place "up north" has both salmon and cedar in good supply. Thanks for the tecnique description.

You can buy pre-packaged cedar planks for use in the oven (thicker, several uses thick), or the grill (thinner, 1-2 uses thick). Soak in water for a few hours, oil lightly, then place your seasoned fish or meat on it and grill. Mmmmm!

Being a total cheapskate, my alternative is to find UNTREATED cedar at the hardware store. You want boards that are of even thickness (i.e. not roof shingles). Since fish cooks so fast and you want it to get smoky, look for boards that are thin enough to get hot and burny. I've had good luck with cedar fence boards. For about two bucks you can cut a bunch of cooking planks! I made some great Xmas presents out of these, some homemade rub, tongs, and mits one year.

[Human Bean]

A few thin slices of fresh ginger on top of salmon (or any fish) is good. S&P or a bit of soy sauce.

Lemon / lime basil leaves are also good, though subtle, but you can't generally buy them, so you have to grow them yourself.

[Swisskaese]

I make salmon with:

a pomegranate sauce

olive and sun-dried tomato crust

rosemary, garlic and lemon

sauteed apple and cider reduction

We are having salmon with a pistachio crust at our wedding in April.

[Ovenfrenzy]

Start by grinding some black pepper onto a nice fat filet. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add one tablespoon of brown sugar, a tablespoon of bourbon,and a teaspoon or so of tamari. Whisk all of that together and put your salmon in there, skin side up, lid on, heat medium to low. That's my favorite way to season salmon!

[AK@Spicehouse]

[Our recipe for Cedar Plank Salmon, Rub this on, liberally, slap the fish on a wet piece of cedar plank, and cook ... Yum

SUGAR – DARK BROWN, SALT – KOSHER- MORTON’S, CHILI CHIPOLTE – GROUND, CHLI ANCHO- GROUND, CHILI NEW MEXICO RED – GROUND, PAPRIKA – SPANISH, HICKORY SALT – BL

Equal amounts of each ingredient will work well.....

[Grub]

I love salmon, and cook it any number of ways, but there's one particular recipe that I'm especially fond of just cause I arrived at it purely from my own experimentations, rather than someone else's recipes...

Top a salmon fillet with a mixture of crushed coarse sea salt, crushed green peppercorns, grated ginger, and grated orange zeast. Drizzle olive oil over, and pack the mixture down with your hands. Broil for 12-13 minutes under full heat, until the top starts changing color (adjust heat down, and cooking time upwards, if the fillet is very thick).

I tried different types of all these ingredients before deciding on these four...

The coarse, crushed sea salt gives a nice crunch that you don't get with the fine salt.

Black and white peppercorns are too strong, red/pink "peppercorns" are too mild -- green (dry ones, not in oil) are just perfect.

Lemon and lime zest both have nice flavors, but they just don't match the salmon and the ginger as perfectly as the orange zest.

I've tried additional ingredients, and to remove any of these four, but not been able to find anything that truly improves this -- although the next time I make this, I plan to add a small amount of grated parmesan, perhaps halfway through the cooking process...

[NulloModo]

I'm honestly not a huge fan of salmon, but there are two preparations which I do like quite a bit -

One is from Paula Wolfort's Slow Med. Kitchen book, the Salmon poached in olive oil. You basically bring the oil up to temp, sizzle some garlic and aromatics in it, then poach the salmon in it (at a low temp so it is more poached than deep fried) till it is done. There is not a whole lot of spicing transferred to the fish, so this one is pretty good if I have a high quality piece of meat to work with.

The other is good old cajun blackened salmon, which I am surprised no one has mentioned yet. Make a thick rub/paste of tons of black pepper, cayenne, granulated garlic and onion, parsley, a little tarragon and thyme, a hint of white pepper, some paprika, and well, I guess whatever else you feel like putting in. Crank up the heat and some oil in a cast iron skillet, rub the paste on the fish, give it a nice char on both sides, and serve (hopefully keeping it rareish and moist inside).

[Susan G]

Olive oil, mustard, shallots, dill, sauce.

[DRColby]

We had salmon last night. Brined for an hour, aired for about two hours then grilled.

Served it atop a sorrel infused olive oil and with grilled morels.

dave

[Jaymes]

I lived in Alaska for several years and up there they have something called "Salmon Bakes." It's a sort of misnomer, though, because the salmon isn't really baked....it's BBQ'd over an alderwood fire.

I got this recipe from the Fairbanks Salmon Bake

BBQ'd Salmon

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 C brown sugar

1/4 C soy sauce

1/2 t dill weed

1/8 t cayenne

juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients. Brush over salmon (enough for about 1 1/2-2 pounds). Marinate about an hour. Grill salmon over wood fire or hot coals, basting frequently with marinade.

Edited May 5, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[eje]

Salmon Braised with Aromatic Vegetables from Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" is the favorite in our house. Simple; but, amazingly great with a nice Sauvingon Blanc or dry Riesling.

Saute a neatly diced mirepoix briefly in butter, thyme, tarragon, salt and white pepper. Pour in a half cup of dry white wine or vermouth and cool mixture. Place salmon filet in oven proof dish, cover with mirepoix mixture, top wine up to 1/2 way up the fish, cover closely with parchment, and bake in a medium-low oven. Move salmon filets to warm plates or serving platter. Pour off liquid, (strain if you're picky,) reduce until syrupy, stir in cubed cold butter, and pour sauce over fish. The sauce is actually very tasty without being enriched with the cubed butter, if you are counting calories.

forgot a step.

Edited May 5, 2005 by eje (log)

[inespm]

I put to the salmon fresh homemade mango sauce (mango, peruvian pepper, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, olive oil)

[SuzySushi]

These do sound good!

I love salmon almost any way -- "plain" grilled, marinated, topped with sauce...

Some of my inventions/adaptations are:

Salmon topped with blue cheese. Broil/grill or microwave salmon fillets until not quite done. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and finish cooking util blue cheese begins to melt.

Salmon with green sauce. Cook salmon your favorite way. Serve hot, with a cold sauce made from 1/2 package baby spinach leaves, 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves & 1 or 2 scallions minced in a food processor, 3/4 cup plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and salt & pepper to taste.

Salmon topped with a sauce made from chopped shiitake mushrooms sauteed with garlic and bacon, then add a little oyster sauce.

[canucklehead]

Slow Roasted in a 275 oven for about 12 minutes. Super moist and rich - kind of a easy replacement for poaching (I know - it hard to get any lazier than poaching, but this method is..)

Broiled under a rub of crushed cumin seeds, salt, pepper, and brown sugar to taste. Very high payoff for low effort.

[Lactic Solar Dust]

I coat both sides of my salmon filets in granulated sugar and saute' them in a hot pan with an impartial oil ( canola or vegetable). After the salmon is carmelized on both sides I pop the pan in a 425 oven for 5 minutes or until slighlty pink in the middle. Serve it on top of a spicy cold northern bean relish and you have your self a great summer/spring dish.

[shelora]

Two of our favourites.

Salmon wrapped in fig leaves by Alice Waters.

Salmon fillet - I like to remove the skin and any bones for this treatment - and top with a butter, chopped shallots and lemon zest mixture, wrap the leaf around the salmon, securing with some string if need be and spritz with a bit of water and bake until done.

The kitchen becomes very aromatic with the fig leaf. It's such a great way to eat salmon. And when the fig tree is becoming a little too sparse of leaves we do this:

From chef Karen Barnaby - Fish House in Vancouver. Mayonnaise mixed with chipotles en abodo. Smear on top of salmon and grill - with the skin side down. I put the lid on the barbeque and cook until done. The mayo mixture becomes crust-like along with the crispy skin bottom - it's great, easy and very addictive.

[MicBacchus]

I do the Chesapeake Bay thing - my own crab seasoning consisting of a blend of kosher salt, cayenne pepper and a mix of Old Bay and/or one or more of the Wye River blends (black pepper, red pepper or spicy). Guaranteed pleasing for those who may not like fish but do like spicy and heat !!! Hard to believe there are people like that in the world, isn't it ?!?

[RobinCR]

Hands down favorite - Chili-Crusted Salmon with Sweet Pepper Salsa. Coat Salmon in mixture of chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper. Cook however you'd like - grill, steam, saute, bake. Top with Sweet Pepper Salsa - red & yellow bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, sugar, vinegar and a couple of other things I can't remember right now. My favorite way to serve this is over mixed greens, with the salsa as the salad dressing. Lots of flavors going on with few calories, almost no fat, and very little carbs - the best of everything.

[johnnyd]

Poached atop half-inch rings of fennel bulb in a mirin/chix stock broth; lemon slices and Parsley sprigs at random. Mmmmm....

[Daddy-A]

One of our family favorites is a recipe contibuted to a fund-raiser cookbook by former BC Premier Dave Barret ... Grilled Salmon with Dill Aioli. Very simple and really delicious!

My personal favorite ... Whole fish, bone in, stuffed with lemon slices, drizzled with s&p, grilled over charcoal. Wild Pacific salmon is best left to stand on its own.

A.

[jamiemaw]

"And so we marked the time of summers, until in late August the setting sun, moving farther south each night, would finally set between the two Popham islands—it might light a boil of late-run herring through the narrow passage—and the cooling nights reminded us of that school was near. None of us dared mention it because certain miseries are best left unsaid. And because boys who mess about in boats all day should know no time, no time at all: Just the smell of the ocean, the cut of the wind, the angle of their hull as it takes the sea, and that the only thing that can hurt them here is themselves . . ."

Big Pete’s Salmon

12-14 portions

Astound your friends and family with amazing pyrotechnics in the privacy of your own home.

We like the delicacy of baked or poached salmon (ballontine), but at summer cottages and on boats, sometimes the grill just screams out for action. You might find the collision of ingredients here looks more like a train wreck than delicious—so you'll just have to trust us, and the thousands served.

1. Secure whole-fish fillets from a fresh, firm-fleshed wild six- to seven-pound spring or sockeye salmon from a reliable fishmonger. Have the fillets cut in front of you and have them wrapped flesh to flesh with waxed paper in between. Do not allow the fillets to be folded while they’re being wrapped.

2. Place the fillets on a flat surface. Run your fingers from tail to gill to make the pin bones surface and with your wife’s best eyebrow tweezers pluck the wee blighters carefully so as not to disturb the flesh.

3. With a very sharp knife trim the fillets removing the bottom half inch of belly meat and any fin joints.

4. Cut the fillets into serving portions on the bias in line with the angle of the gill. You’ll get about six to seven portions per side.

5. Prepare a marinade by placing the following ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade (or blender or with a whisk) and pulse until the mixture is thoroughly emulsified:

1 ¼ cups vegetable oil

1/3 cup good soy sauce

2 oz. rye or Scotch whiskey

3 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp demerara sugar

2 scallions

In a non-aluminum shallow pan or dish, douse the salmon pieces in ¾ of the marinade, letting them rest flesh side down. Reserve the balance of the marinade. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two to three hours.

6. A half hour before firing the grill, remove salmon from fridge to a cool place.

7. Grill salmon skin side down over a medium hot fire for four to five minutes. Using a sharp steel spatula and chef’s tongs, turn for two minutes. The skin will remove easily and can be cooked further, then diced for a crackly topping (or salad topping) later. Splash a little of the reserved marinade over the finished fish.

8. Feign modesty as guests heap praise. But remember cardinal rule: Practice on family before friends, friends before clients.

9. Reserve at least two prime pieces for sandwiches the next day. You will need only salmon, pepper, mayonnaise and crusty bread.

10. Keep a friend by rinsing your mate’s eyebrow tweezers thoroughly.

11. Serve with buttered new potatoes, roasted young carrots, corn and a crisp salad.

This marinade also works well for snapper, halibut etc. with the addition of ginger and more scallions.

[sabiha]

My favourite is salmon marinated in lemon juice, garlic, chilli powder and a lil salt which is then quickly fried until crispy on the outside but still gorgeous and juicy on the inside. Mmm I love pink things

[howard88]

I liberally kosher salt the filet and cover with a thick coating of

mixture consisting of Hellmans mayo, dijon mustard and white

horseradish.

First, in a cast iron pan, saute in olive oil to get a crisp skin, drain

the oil and place in a 400 degree oven until the salmon is cooked

but still medium rare in the center.

Not only is it easy but the richness and the full flavor of the salmon

with the rich full flavor of the sauce on top provides a damn tasty result.

[MelissaH]

I'm not a huge salmon fan. In fact, I didn't eat salmon at all until about three years ago, when our local market had skin-on salmon filets on sale that week. I'm still not totally sure what possessed me on that fateful day, but I marched up to the fish counter, asked when the salmon had arrived (that morning), and had them hold out a piece of it so I could have a sniff. They complied, happily, and I buried my nose and inhaled. Deeply. And I smelled---nothing. I took this as a good sign, and brought a filet home.

And then I had to figure out what to do with it.

My husband thought I'd gone off the deep end when I told him we'd be eating fish that night, since he knew exactly what fish was on sale that week.

At the time I only had about 284 cookbooks, but since it was summer I decided to start with the grill-specific and fish-specific ones. The recipe I eventually went with came from the Weber Fish & Seafood cookbook, I think. I don't have the details here, but I remember it being vaguely teriyaki-ish, with soy sauce, sugar, and green onions. It may have also had miso and citrus. I can look up the recipe at home tonight, at any rate.

More or less following the recipe, I made the seasoning mixture into a sort of paste, and rubbed and patted it onto the fish. Then I took a piece of heavy-duty Al foil, cut it down to about the same shape and size as the fish, and put the fish on the foil, skin side down. Fish and foil went onto the grill together and cooked without turning until it was done. (I'm a little hazy on that part, because I left the actual grilling to my husband.) Once it was cooked, the meat was easy to separate from the skin, which stayed stuck to the foil. Under the lid of the grill, the seasoning had merged into a sort of glaze, so you got some in every bite. Cleanup was a snap. And nothing smelled remotely like fish the whole evening. I know this because the cats never noticed a thing.

Since then, I've eaten salmon semi-regularly.

MelissaH

[pam claughton]

This was an experiment that I was sure would fail. I thought I had almonds in the house, and I'd already drizzled honey and a smidge of dijon mustard on top of the salmon. No almonds, just some homemade granola, that is simply oats, honey, butter, and toasted coconut. I grabbed a handful of that and covered the top of the salmon, which was on tin foil, closed it up, threw it in the oven, and when I took it out, and tentatively took a bite, I was floored. It worked. Really, really well. It is now my favorite way to prepare salmon! The granola sinks into the honey mustard coating, and as it cooks, forms a delicious crust.

:) Pam