Okay, the local grocery store had a special on frozen salmon and now I have this nearly three foot long plank of salmon in my freezer, just begging to be cooked. I’ve got a few recipes, but I’d like some more ideas on how to prepare it, since I’ll probably be the only one eating it and I’ll get tired of eating the same combination over and over again.
The following link is to a Russian salmon recipe, called Kulebiaka. I’ve made it a number of times and it is great. Involved, but great, and quite authentic I believe. At the end of the recipe a source is listed, but the ingredients and directions exactly match that of the recipe I found in a Time=Life cookbook. So by googling I save myself a lot of typing, as I had been going to type out the whole thing from the book. God, I love the internet.
http://ruscuisine.com/cooking-recipes/index.php/Breads-and-Pastry/?recipe=296&offset=36
I have also made this recipe for a very large dinner catered by my boss. It was 19 times the original, so instead of the three cups of onions for the filling, it was 57! Talk about crying. That made 47 1/2 pounds of salmon. I poached in in a BIG kettle, but still had to do it in stages. Got some good salmon stock out of that though.
This makes a really nice presentation dish, and I suppose you could maybe have it, but the work involved encourages the full amount. Or you could make a smaller amount of filling and bake it as a two crust pie.
Here’s a good start.
Simplest salmon recipe ever, and our family’s favorite dinner (kids love it, and wife loves it because she just sits there while I do everything):
• 1. Flop salmon onto grill (I use aluminum foil coated with olive oil to facilitate cleanup).
• 2. Pour a bunch of lemon juice and garlic salt on it.
• 3. That’s it. Get ready to eat, Opal, cuz there’s no #3.
It’s so simple! I start with it skin-side down over a good-sized flame, and the skin stays behind when I turn it over.
That good-sized flame gets it crusty on the outside and juicy (barely cooked) inside…
Mmmmm… lemony, garlicky, salty… and good for you.
I get requests for this about once a week:
Place salmon (or steelhead trout, if you like) onto aluminum foil, skin down. Coat liberally- and I mean liberally- with sage. Seriously, pack it onto it- it should allow you to touch the fish without getting your hands wet, if you put enough sage on. Then add a bit of salt and pepper.
Toss the thing onto the grill (foil side down, natch). Cook for about ten minutes or so, 'til it just becomes flaky. Then, and here’s the tricky part- flip the fish over so that the foil side is up. Crank the heat a bit, 'cause you want to char the sage coating a bit- do so for about a minute (maybe less). Use a spatula to pick up the fish, and put it on a plate (still fish-side down)- then, carefully, lift off the foil. If you do it right, the skin will stick to the foil and strip away from the fish. Add a bit of salt and pepper to that side, if you want.
Serve it up with some horseradish sauce on the side- I prefer Boarshead brand, myself.
Damn, now I’m hungry… there’s something about the combination of a lot of sage, lightly-charred salmon, and horseradish that just makes everything better.
The cooking program “America’s Test Kitchen” had a mouth-watering recipe for baked salmon, although I have not tried it yet. Place the salmon skin side down in a shallow, foil lined roasting pan. Bake 'til the thickest part is half done, then remove from the oven. Slather it with Dijon mustard[I’d skip this, as I don’t care for it] and pile on and press in the following mixture: dry bread crumbs, chopped dill, olive oil, freshly-ground[is there any other kind?] black pepper and CRUSHED POTATO CHIPS. Place back in the oven and bake 'til the topping crisps, being careful not to over cook it to the point of leather. You can probably get the full recipe on their website, or sneak a peak at their cookbook next time you’re out shopping.
If you have dinner and have salmon left over, put thin fillets on a plate, coat with kosher salt (like a dusting of snow), some dill and a shot of vodka - cover with something heavy and let sit in the fridge for three days…draining juice off every day…it’s kinda like gravlax only tastes better!
Duh - sorry - it has to be uncooked…just re-read notes and I made it sound like you ccould use cooked…sorry.
Take salmon filet - rub with olive oil - lightly season as you will - wrap in prosciutto - rub with olive oil - bake 425°F for 10 mins until prosciutto is golden and salmon is flaky - rest 5 mins and eat eat eat.
Saumon à l’unilatérale
This is a French recipe that is both ridiculously simple and surprisingly delicious, provided you have good quality salmon. This is very important as it uses no seasoning.
Spread coarse salt in a skillet to about 1 or 1/2 inch thick. Warm the salt over a medium-high flame until it starts to smoke a little. Not more than 4 or 5 minutes. Add the salmon skin-down on the bed of salt. Cover and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from flame and let stand for another minute or two. The skin will be stuck to the salt so pick up the filet carefully with a spatula.
That’s it. You can sprinkle some pepper on the salmon before cooking it also. The result should be a very juicy filet. Seriously. It’s too simple not to give it a try.
This is my favourite:
Put a thick fillet skin-side down on aluminum foil. (I make little baking pans from aluminum foil, since they fir the fillets better than regular baking tins and you don’t have to wash them.) Score the salmon with a sharp knife, at least half-way through the flesh. Pour some Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki on top. Fold the foil to cover the fillet and bake in the oven at 375°F for 15 minutes. Uncover the fillet and cook for another five minutes. (Vary the time and/or temperature according to how you like to cook and how thick the fillet is.)
That’s it! Fish, sauce, and heat. Serve with steamed rice (See? There’s a reason I cook the fish for 20 minutes! 
) and asparagus spears.
The Soy Vay really, really makes the difference. It’s the best teriyaki sauce I’ve tried.
No recipie, but I always wanted to make one up titled Salmon Rushdie.
Okay here are three quick recipes, I used to work on a comercial Salmon packer, so I have cooked a salmon or two in my day.
1). Take a filet of salmon and put it skin side down on aluminum foil. Coat fleshy side of salmon with Kraft Miracle Whip. Then cover liberaly with fresh dill. Crack some black pepper on it, throw it in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Mmm mm good!
2). Prep the salmon the same way (skin side down on tinfoil). Leberaly cover fleshy side with Golden Dragon Thicj Teryaki sauce. Sprinkle minced garlic, crack some black pepper and bake for the same amount as above recipe.
3). Take a piece of 3/4 cedar about the same size as your salmon filet. Soak over night. Place salmon skin side down on cedar. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon on it, throw some dill on it and crack some black pepper on it. Cook on propane barbecue at medium heat for 20-30 minutes, enjoy.
MtM
One of my standard jokes: “I’d like to have two pet salmon. I’d name one Ella, and the other one Rushdie.”
Here’s an easy one. Marinade your salmon in a 1 part lemon juice 2 part soy sauce mixture for about 10 minutes (any longer and the fish will start to fall apart). Oil your grill (I use olive oil). Slap the salmon on to a medium-hot grill, skin side down. When it’s about half way done, coat the top with some BBQ sauce cut down with beer (or wine for you fancy folks). You want the sauce to be runny, about the texture of whole milk, so you can coat the top, but not overpower the taste of the fish. Let it cook until it’s done. No flipping required. Serve it with the skin side down. Yum.
Here’s one of mine, so far pretty popular.
bunch of limes, plus some other citrus
ginger
Thai basil
fresh hot peppers; jalapenos if you can’t get the tiny Thai ones
garlic
honey
lemongrass
sweet onions
cilantro
peanuts
napa cabbage
Squeeze like 4 limes, couple oranges
add:
chopped up basil
sliced hot peppers
thumb or so of ginger, grated
couple tablespoons of honey
Marinate the salmon in this mixture. A few hours is great, but works OK with half an hour or so.
Meanwhile, you’ve sliced the cabbage hair thin, and the onions, and chopped the cilantro and the peanuts.
Now: get a cast iron frying pan, put the lemongrass in, laid out crisscross like a raft, and put it in a HOT HOT HOT oven until the lemongrass starts to smoke. Then dump the fish and the marinade on the lemongrass, put back in the oven for 8 or ten minutes (depending on bulk of fish).
Make a bed of cabbage and onions, dump contents of frying pan on top. sprinkle with peanuts.
Eat.
Also works well with whole rainbow trout, and other fish. Good for shrimp too.
Fettucine with Salmon Sauce
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
10 ounces salmon, skin removed, cut into thin strips
1 leek, sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
3/4 cup light cream
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon zest (I use 1 teaspoon of powdered lemon peel)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
8 ounces dry fettuccine noodles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
-
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the salmon, leek,
onion, and garlic, and fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix
together the cream, sour cream, and cornstarch; stir into the skillet. Stir in
the lemon zest, pepper, and paprika. Cook, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes,
until sauce is thickened and salmon flakes easily with a fork. -
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add
fettuccine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain, and toss with the
salmon sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.
I’d love to help you, but the only salmon recipe I know is:
- Grab salmon and flop it out of the net
- Toss salmon into a holding bin
- Offload big bags o’ salmon to the tender
I was a deckhand on a sockeye boat in Alaska for 2 summers. I can pick good salmon at the fish counter, but I won’t touch the stuff. After flinging the first hundred thousand pounds of 'em around, they’re just not that appealing.
Squeeze a little lemon on it, cut it into strips, dip in Wasabi/soy mix and eat! Drink Kirin or Sapporo with it. Sake if you like.
Yum indeed. I’ve smoked a salmon using a similar lemon juice/soy sauce marinade but without the BBQ.