Need Salmon cooking advice

On 3/30/2010 11:44 AM, Todd wrote:
On 03/30/2010 11:24 AM, Steve M wrote:
On 3/28/2010 9:19 PM, Todd wrote:
Hi All,

A customer gave me about five pounds of fresh, flash
frozen ocean caught Salmon from his fishing trip
to Alaska.

I only have a frying pan available (no smokers,
ovens, bar-b-ques, etc.).

I have butter, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, basel,
oregano, parsley, salt and pepper and a few other
spices.

What next?

Many thanks,
-T

Family recipe for frying fresh fish (of almost any kind)

Filet (if it's too small to filet, throw it back) being sure to get all
the skin and/or any pieces of skin off the meat.

Cooking fish with the skin on makes for strong/odd tasting fish. It
ranks right up there with cooking Dungeness crab whole, rather than
cleaning them first. Why would you do that?

Anyway.

If your fillets are thicker than 1/2 inch, slice down to 1/2 inch or
less. Thicker pieces get more 'interesting' to cook without the result
being overdone outsides and underdone centers. Fish is not beef and does
not fair well at the table when rare in the center. At least at our
house.

Cut length/width to suite, I usually shoot for around 3x4 to 3x5 as that
is a nice 'finger food' size. :-)

Just prior to cooking soak fish pieces for 10/15 minutes in large GLASS
bowl of mild lemon water (quart of water, juice of half a lemon). Metal
bowels will change the flavor. Plastic is probably alright, don't know,
I've always used glass.

While fish is soaking, crush crackers (to powder fineness, use a rolling
pin) for coating. I like a 50/50 mix of saltines and Ritz, myself. The
crackers will have enough salt, but I usually add some pepper to the
resulting 'flour'. (Lemon Pepper is good if you have it) I've been known
to use just plain flour too. It is fine, just not the way I like to do
it. (no pigheadedness here)

Mix (with whisk) 1 to N eggs in bowl for coating fish prior to rolling
in coating mixture. You want a totally homogenized egg mix here.

Start preheating skillet with a decent oil, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch
covering bottom of pan. I tend towards peanut oil as it stands high heat
well and I also like the flavor, but that's me. You want the skillet
fairly hot, not stir-fry hot, but hot enough to seal and cook the fish
quickly, I suppose around 375 degrees F.

Drain and dry the fish. The fish has to be dry for the egg to stick to
it.

Dip/role fish pieces in egg mix, roll/cover in crackers, set on plate
until you have a skillet full. Quickly load the heated skillet with the
prepared fish. You want all pieces to be as close to the same cooking
time frame as possible.


Cooking time will vary, but if you keep the pieces 1/2 inch or less,
when the cracker/egg coating is golden brown (2-3 minutes a side), the
fish should be done on that side. If the fish is too greasy, you are not
cooking hot enough.

If it's blackened, well, you can figure that one out. :-)

Put cooked fish on paper towel lined plate, serve with lemon slices on
the side, tartar sauce, salad/whatever and a cold beer.

Life is good.

\s


Wow! Thank you! I will definitely skin them. Would you
use any garlic? Any salt (brine) in the lemon soak?


I don't. But I do use the crackers for the coating and I don't want the
fish to be too salty, so..... The main purpose of the lemon soak is to
kill (or at least wound) any tendency towards strong fishy flavor.
Sounds strange I suppose, but though I love fish, I do NOT like strong
fishy tasting fish. People are funny.

I personally don't care for garlic on/with fish. Shrimp now.....

I brine my chicken and turkey in a Stainlness steel pot.
Comes out great, but these is no acid in it. Do you
think I would get away with a stailness pot?

I mention metal pots because we were having a seafood feed at a friends
house some years ago and all he had was stainless bowls. The salmon (I'd
caught that morning - see 'life is good' above) picked up a metallic
taste from the lemon soak. Not a bad flavor, but why encourage it.

\s

(I do use
lemon juice to clean up stains from my Stainless pots
and pans, so I would not want any of that in my fish.
So, I am thinking probably not.)

-T


--
"There is no use in your walking five miles to fish when you can depend
on being just as unsuccessful near home." M. Twain

On 03/30/2010 11:52 AM, Steve M wrote:

Wow! Thank you! I will definitely skin them. Would you
use any garlic? Any salt (brine) in the lemon soak?


I don't. But I do use the crackers for the coating and I don't want the
fish to be too salty, so..... The main purpose of the lemon soak is to
kill (or at least wound) any tendency towards strong fishy flavor.
Sounds strange I suppose, but though I love fish, I do NOT like strong
fishy tasting fish. People are funny.

I personally don't care for garlic on/with fish. Shrimp now.....

I will try Garlic on a little piece after it has been removed
from the general population. That way I ruin only a little
piece ...


I brine my chicken and turkey in a Stainlness steel pot.
Comes out great, but these is no acid in it. Do you
think I would get away with a stailness pot?

I mention metal pots because we were having a seafood feed at a friends
house some years ago and all he had was stainless bowls. The salmon (I'd
caught that morning - see 'life is good' above) picked up a metallic
taste from the lemon soak. Not a bad flavor, but why encourage it.

I will stick with plastic or glass.

Thank you!

-T

On Mar 31, 12:46*pm, Todd wrote:
On 03/30/2010 11:52 AM, Steve M wrote:

Wow! Thank you! I will definitely skin them. Would you
use any garlic? Any salt (brine) in the lemon soak?

I don't. But I do use the crackers for the coating and I don't want the
fish to be too salty, so..... The main purpose of the lemon soak is to
kill (or at least wound) any tendency towards strong fishy flavor.
Sounds strange I suppose, but though I love fish, I do NOT like strong
fishy tasting fish. People are funny.

I personally don't care for garlic on/with fish. Shrimp now.....

I will try Garlic on a little piece after it has been removed
from the general population. *That way I ruin only a little
piece ...


Ruin? With garlic?

Oh, ye gods and little fishes!

Take one or two (or more) whole garlic bulbs and cut off the
tops.....enough to expose the ends of all of the individual toes.
Stir them in a bowl with enough olive oil to coat them liberally.
Place them in the oven on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for twenty to
thirty minutes until thoroughly cooked and soft to the touch. Take
them out of the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. Squeeze the
roasted garlic out of the hulls into a bowl and mash.

Put the mashed garlic and half a cup of port wine in a sauce pan with
a liberal pat of butter. Simmer over low heat until volume is reduced
by about half.

Meanwhile, grind two teaspoons of brown mustard seed in a mortar.
Mash about an equal quantity of fresh or sweet pickled ginger in the
mortar. When the port and garlic mixture is reduced, allow to cool
enough that a finger dipped into it isn't scalded. Add the mustard
and ginger. Stir. Salt and black pepper to taste. Stir some more.
Strain the sauce through muslin and drizzle on the plate around (not
on) the salmon.


I brine my chicken and turkey in a Stainlness steel pot.
Comes out great, but these is no acid in it. Do you
think I would get away with a stailness pot?

I mention metal pots because we were having a seafood feed at a friends
house some years ago and all he had was stainless bowls. The salmon (I'd
caught that morning - see 'life is good' above) picked up a metallic
taste from the lemon soak. Not a bad flavor, but why encourage it.

I will stick with plastic or glass.

Thank you!

-T

I'll cook just about anything in stainless steel. Never noticed any
flavor or odor imparted thereby.

On the other hand, I can smell the stuff whenever I scrub the pots or
other utensils.

Remember those "fish smell" neutralizers? Just a bar of stainless
steel you swish around in your hands like a bar of soap. Tried em.
Don[t know if they actually removed fish smell.....I was distracted by
the smell of the "neutralizer." Very unpleasant.....liked the fish
smell better.

Glass (or glasslike substances.....just what the hell IS corningware
anyway?) are best for absolute non-reactivity (or as close as is
possible, anyway), with various ceramics (some of which sort of cross
the boundary into glassdome) coming in a close second. Ceramics
(heard of earthenware?), or some of them, anyway, possess other
characteristics which make them superior to glass for some
applications. But then, so do virtually ALL commonly used materials
for cookware.

Cast iron would be hailed as a miraculous breakthrough if it had come
out of a lab somewhere in the past half century.

g.
who owns (and uses) various bits of aluminum, teflon and
silicone.....but keeps a close and suspicious eye on them.

On Mar 29, 12:19*pm, Todd wrote:
Hi All,

A customer gave me about five pounds of fresh, flash
frozen ocean caught Salmon from his fishing trip
to Alaska.

I only have a frying pan available (no smokers,
ovens, bar-b-ques, etc.).

I have butter, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, basel,
oregano, parsley, salt and pepper and a few other
spices.

What next?

Many thanks,
-T


Want a brain-dead simple recipe that will astound you with its
phenomenal taste?

Cut two thick (1.5 inch) salmon steaks.
Put some rough slices of onion in a large pan
Throw in some slices of celery, a few chunks of pepper, a sprig of
rosemary and maybe a shake of dill.
Put the salmon steaks on top.
Fill the pan with white wine. Nothing too sweet or expensive.
Bring the wine to a boil, turn to a simmer, and cover for 5 minutes.

Serve the salmon with the veggies scooped up with a slotted spoon on
top. People will think you're a genius chef.

--riverman

On 03/31/2010 07:53 AM, riverman wrote:

Want a brain-dead simple recipe that will astound you with its
phenomenal taste?

Cut two thick (1.5 inch) salmon steaks.
Put some rough slices of onion in a large pan
Throw in some slices of celery, a few chunks of pepper, a sprig of
rosemary and maybe a shake of dill.
Put the salmon steaks on top.
Fill the pan with white wine. Nothing too sweet or expensive.
Bring the wine to a boil, turn to a simmer, and cover for 5 minutes.

Serve the salmon with the veggies scooped up with a slotted spoon on
top. People will think you're a genius chef.

--riverman

Cool. Thank you!

On Mar 28, 9:19*pm, Todd wrote:
Hi All,

A customer gave me about five pounds of fresh, flash
frozen ocean caught Salmon from his fishing trip
to Alaska.

I only have a frying pan available (no smokers,
ovens, bar-b-ques, etc.).

I have butter, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, basel,
oregano, parsley, salt and pepper and a few other
spices.

What next?

Many thanks,
-T

This is the recipe I see most used in the PNW for Pacific Salmon. Note
I would leave out all but minimal oil from Copper River salmon as this
fish's oil is best not tampered with. Copper River is the beaujolais
of Pacific salmon.)

Hold the fish in your hands, close your eyes and thank the Salmon
People for returning another year to feed the Human People, and for
giving your body sustenance.

Take cleaned whole fish, head-on preferably. (Whole Kings/Chinook,
Silver/Coho, brite Dog/Chum/Keta, Humpy/Pinks), remove blood line, pat
inside dry. If you are working with fillets, adapt.

Lightly coat all inside/outside with good olive oil.

Inside cavity, place one layer of 1/4 inch slices of Walla Walla Sweet
onion (Georgia/Hawaii substitute if the superior Walla Wallas are not
available).

Inside cavity, place one layer of 1/4 inch slices of your preferred
orange (peel-on).

Dust inside with white pepper. NO SALT.

A little garlic powder dust is optional, On skin, not inside.

Wrap in foil, not too tight but seal/wrap edges tight.

Bake, oven or grill.

Some inlanders are queasy about "fishy smells." If its a multi fish
situation, you might make up one with some Mexican oregano in the
cavity. The same method above works ok with steelhead, Atlantic Salmon
other big trouts, but add some garlic, a butter pat or two and some
herb go a ways to improving the flavor. Ive never used this recipe on
Sockeye.

Serving if from the foil on a platter or plank, flip open one side,
spoon out onions and citrus, pull the backbone etc out whole, use big
spoon to tease off the skin. Be sure to pop out the salmon cheeks,
that little piece of meat that is the very best morsel on the fish. I
love the onions and citrus but not evreryone does, so make it optional
on plates.

Dave

On 03/31/2010 12:06 PM, DaveS wrote:

Serving if from the foil on a platter or plank, flip open one side,
spoon out onions and citrus, pull the backbone etc out whole, use big
spoon to tease off the skin. Be sure to pop out the salmon cheeks,
that little piece of meat that is the very best morsel on the fish. I
love the onions and citrus but not evreryone does, so make it optional
on plates.

Dave

Thank you!

On 3/31/10 12:06 PM, DaveS wrote:

Wrap in foil, not too tight but seal/wrap edges tight.

Bake, oven or grill.

These foil recipes work well for cooking in the coals of a campfire.

My favorite way to cook salmon is fast broiling filets. I start them on
top of foil, skin-side-up, covered generously with thin butter pats.
After the skin gets crispy I flip the filets, add a splash of dry white
wine, and finish cooking. The wine keep the filets moist. They're done
when the fish separates into flakes with the touch of a fork. I like the
very center to be a little pink. The key thing, to me, is to get a
*gradient* of doneness, from the crispy skin and the well-cooked surface
of the other-side flesh, to the barely cooked middle.

Add spices as you prefer. I like pepper and tarragon. Save the salt for
the table. Fresh chopped parsley at the finish helps the presentation.
Serve with lemon wedges.

Salmon skin done to a turn is great. There's a reason the bears and the
sushi chefs like it -- it's packed with fat and flavor.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:19:28 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

A customer gave me about five pounds of fresh, flash
frozen ocean caught Salmon from his fishing trip
to Alaska.

I only have a frying pan available (no smokers,
ovens, bar-b-ques, etc.).

Where in the hell are you...? If you can make a fire, chances are, you can make
a "bar-b-que" and smoker. Hell, you have a frying pan - if it's cast iron, and
you have either a hot plate/gas ring/etc. you can use outside or a window near
the stove (and possibly a fan) and some aluminum foil, you're more than halfway
to a "smoker" AND an "oven."

I have butter, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, basel,
oregano, parsley, salt and pepper and a few other
spices.

What next?

Put the frying pan away and get a sharp knife, along with some good soy sauce
(and/or ponzu), some wasabi, some pickled ginger, and if you like, some
rice/sushi and maybe some fresh lemon in _THIN_ slices and/or daikon and
matchstick it. Sashimi or sushi.

If raw isn't your thing, heat the pan to about medium and melt the butter in a
little olive oil and increase the heat. Sprinkle the salt and pepper and
whatever spices and herbs you like (IMO, salmon and dill go together, perhaps
with a little garlic, but hey, that's why there's parsley, sage, rosemary and
thyme...). Increase the heat to about medium-high and lay the fish in and don't
touch it for 60-120 seconds, depending on thickness. Turn it once and do the
same thing to the other side. At the last second, squeeze a lemon (or use a
coupla-three tablespoons of lemon juice) over the fish and into the pan. Remove
fish to plate. If you want "sauce," add a little more lemon juice, a little
more butter (no more oil), and a little more of whatever seasoning - except salt
- you used. Stir quickly and pour over fish.


Many thanks,
-T

Many welcomes,
R

On 04/01/2010 03:41 AM, wrote:

Put the frying pan away and get a sharp knife, along with some good soy sauce
(and/or ponzu), some wasabi, some pickled ginger, and if you like, some
rice/sushi and maybe some fresh lemon in _THIN_ slices and/or daikon and
matchstick it. Sashimi or sushi.

You want me to eat my bait? EEEEEWWWWW! You cast
that stuff out, catch a bigger fish, then COOK IT!
:-)

Thank you for the recipe tips!

-T