Pre-soak a grilling cedar plank (I usually wrap it in a soaking wet towel) for at least 30 min. Pre-heat grill, turn off one burner for indirect heat grilling. Place salmon fillet on the plank, sprinkle with lemon pepper, some rice vinegar, dill or your favorite herb. Grill on indirect heat until cooked through but nod dry. Yummm.
^^ Reminds me of when I used to warm-smoke salmon (aka “kippered”). Keep the grill around 130-135F with smoke and let it get comfy for a few hours. Absolutely fantastic flavor and texture.
You might want to read this. http://www.aquaculture.ca/files/GuidetoCanadianFarmedSalmon.pdf It has some simple recipes and cooking times…
While salmon is relatively low in mercury, you can reduce the risk by removing the skin. Years ago, I listened to a talk by a nutritionist who said removing the skin of a fish reduced the mercury content by at least 50%. So I do.
Has anyone tried IKEA frozen salmon? They are fantastic. Absolutely no fish smell and remains moist when cooked. I cook it without thawing, spray the frozen piece with olive oil and pop into the oven preheated at the highest temp I can get for 15-20 mins. Easy peasy. Keeps well too since it’s frozen.
We keep,it very simple.
I buy sock eye salmon. It’s what I like the best in terms of flavor. We just grill it for 12 minutes on the grill (indirect heat…we have a Weber…so it’s MOM).
Sometimes for variety I’ll put some dill and garlic on it…but really just plain is terrific.
Then again…we all love salmon in this household!
Do you have a Whole Foods nearby? That might be a good place for fresh salmon. I prefer wild-caught–my WF has both wild and farm-raised salmon. H is the cook in our house; he uses this recipe:
https://peayvineyards.com/recipes/barely-cooked-salmon-with-leeks-and-pinot-noir-sauce
What is the difference between Sockeye salmon, Keta salmon, and Pink Salmon? I prefer a more delicate flavor.
I buy salmon - have it skinned - soak it in teriyaki marinade for about 10 minutes - then cook on my george foreman grill for less than ten minutes (the only thing I use my george forman grill for)
There are some parts of the country that don’t have access to really fresh fish. That’s probably why the salmon you’ve tried has been fishy. Really fresh fish has little odor.
Your best bet is to buy it at Costco (it will be farmed, but fresher than the average market) or at an Asian market. I buy my fish at HMART, a Korean grocery chain.
No one’s mentioned poaching. I like to poach salmon and serve it cold (a nice summer dish)–the texture becomes quite different from warm salmon, solid and meaty, and to me it’s not “fishy” at all. I poach fillets in a skillet with water, white wine, lemon slices, and peppercorns, not measured, just whatever looks good to me at the time. Bring to boil, slide in fish, simmer gently til cooked through, remove to plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate til thoroughly chilled. Now the most important part–serve with dill sauce, which I make with a combination of half mayo, half sour cream, lemon juice and lots and lots of fresh dill snipped in, allowed to sit for an hour or so to blend the flavors. Yum!
So many devoted salmon enthusiasts! Thanks so much.
But despite your efforts, it still sounds tricky - marinade, grill, don’t over cook, chill, skin or no skin, wild or farmed, etc. I guess I’m just going to have to choose one of your recipes, buy the fish on the day I plan to cook it, and have a fall-back.
Here is my four minute quick and tasty recipe:
Take skinned salmon and season with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic. Microwave for 30 seconds for each 0.1 pounds.
If you’re still feeling a little confused/intimidated, consider the sous vide method I mentioned in my post. Basically you fill a pot with water, stick in the sous vide gizmo set at 122F, stick your salmon in a ziploc and drop in the pot. Go read a book for 45 minutes. Remove salmon from ziploc and you’re done! Spritz with lemon or make some kind of aioli or sauce depending on your preference.
The beauty of sous vide is that there’s absolutely no guesswork which is especially important when it comes to seafood. Results will be 100% consistent every time. And you can adjust by literally 1F increments to get to the exact finished texture that you like. Also slight time variations have no effect, so 60 minutes will have the same result as 50 minutes.
The same method works great for chicken breast, steak, and perfectly soft-boiled eggs (I sous vide all of those now).
Here’s the sous vide gizmo I use: https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-PCB-120US-K1-Bluetooth-Precision/dp/B00UKPBXM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1476312740&sr=1-1&keywords=anova%2Bsous%2Bvide&th=1
I like to season salmon with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning. Yum!
@missypie My rule to cooking/baking when trying something new is to always err on the shorter end of cooking time to avoid overcooking. You can always check it and continue cooking if need be.
I like the recipe that comes with the cedar plank. You soak the plank char it on one side on the grill, Meanwhile the fish gets covered with ancho chile powder and brown sugar. Then you put the fish on the burnt side and cook it till it’s done as much as you like. (DH likes sushi insides.) If you google salmon ancho brown sugar cedar plank there are lots of recipes. I’ve done it with maple syrup as well. Something about the sweet and spicy and smoky with salmon really works for me.
COSTCO dyes their salmon.
If you are from the Pacific Northwest as I am, you’d sooner swear off salmon that eat farmed. Wild Atlantic salmon, however, is a thing of the past, so you East Coasters are forgiven for falling for the farmed stuff. I’m spoiled, so I’d say, only eat the good stuff. If you live outside fresh wild salmon territory, consider it a treat, not a staple. Order it from Pure Food Fish Market (online from Pike Place Market in Seattle) or another reputable source. Order King fillets, heat a tablespoon of oil in a hot pan, put the fillet (salted and peppered) in the pan skin side up for two minutes (makes a delicious crust), then put the whole pan in a hot (400 degree) oven for eight. Simple timed perfection. Moist, cooked through, crusted. Works best if you take the salmon out of the refrigerator about twenty minutes before you cook it. You can marinade, grill, enfold in pastry for variety…but this is easy and, yeah, pretty much the best.
We use Pacific Northwest salmon filets. I sometimes ask the meat counter person to take the skin off while I’m there.
Marinate in teriyaki sauce for maybe 30 minutes, and grill.
Don’t overcook.
Yeah, I’ll definitely give you the edge on salmon, @Leaper12 but we have the lobster. 