{ 2009 08 28 }

Grilled salmon

grilledsalmondinner

Maybe you’ve read enough about salmon here lately. And yet I must tell you about this salmon. Part of the fall-out from my trip to Cordova last month is that the very kind (and marketing-savvy) folks at Copper River Fish Market sent me some of their very fine fish.* They catch it themselves and “immersion bleed” it (bleed it out in salt water to maximize bleeding and overall quality).

It was so good that Ernest asked why, exactly, it was so delicious.

I explained how the salmon came from a place that is very good for salmon, that the people who caught it took such good care of it. He looked over at me like I was a complete fool.

“I don’t think that’s why it tastes good, Mama. I think it’s because you took it off the grill at the right time.” Snap.

If that’s your point-of-view too, here you go – I grilled it using this super-simple method: I heat the grill to a medium heat (you can hold your hand about an inch over the grill grate for 3 to 4 seconds), I sprinkle the fish with salt, I brush vegetable oil on the grill grate and the fish skin, put the fish skin-down on the grill, I cover the grill, and I cook it undisturbed until the fish is done to my liking (I go by 10 minutes minimum, and figure about 10 minutes per inch if it’s thicker than an inch). If the fish has no skin or you’re worried about sticking, simply do the same thing but put the fish on a piece of tin foil with plenty of small holes poked in it. With salmon I always buy skin-on and cook it directly on the grill to crisp it up because if there is anything my dashing husband and inquisitive son love more than crispy crunchy salmon skin I don’t know what it is.

You can add marinades or rubs or whatever you dig, but did you notice that the fish does not get flipped? That, I think, is the key to happy fish grilling. And those fish-grilling baskets? I don’t have a place to put one, but when I tried them in the Sunset test kitchen I was not impressed. Sure, the fish didn’t stick to the grill, but it always made a bit of a mess in the basket itself.

So I grilled this Copper River sockeye salmon using the above method and it turned out perfectly – we all agreed (partly because I took my dashing husband’s fillet off the grill way before mine or Ernest’s because he likes his salmon pretty much not cooked). And next to it? It’s this fattoush salad minus the feta and olives. The lemony dressing and cumin seeds were fab with the plain grilled salmon.

* I’ve been hassling my writing students lately about being honest. All that talk is starting to rub off. I told someone yesterday that I was reluctant to get too involved in school lunch reform in San Francisco because I hate meetings, can’t stand listening to ill-informed people, and am terribly impatient. I then mentioned some of my better traits and things I do like and could do to help, but man it felt great to just tell the truth. Yes, I’m also busy. True, time spent on school lunch reform would likely come from the block of time I volunteer at my son’s school and I’m not sure that’s a great trade off in these budgetary challenging times. But in the end I just really don’t want to go to meetings.
In that same spirit I will state explicitly that the Cooper River Fish Market people sent me the salmon for free. It was awesome salmon. Super rich and flavorful and in perfect condition. I’d love to eat it again, but it will have to be a very special occasion because I really can’t afford to buy a lot of $25 per pound fish, especially when you add the shipping charge and factor in just how much salmon these two males I live with want to eat when it’s presented to them. But you know what? Maybe that’s where things should be heading. Maybe salmon should be a special occasion item.

Posted by Molly Watson on Friday, August 28th, 2009, at 9:44 am, and filed under Alaska, cooked it, grilling, salad, salmon.

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