This is the first time I’ve ever bought a whole fillet, skin and all. I’m leaning toward baking the darned thing because I don’t know the first thing about using my newly inherited gas grill.
So what’s the procedure? Skin side up or down? Under foil or naked to the heat? What’s your technique for killer salmon? I know we’ve got some great amateur and professional chefs out there… Bring on the suggestions!
Thanks!
Let me preface this post by saying that I do not normally like fish and don’t eat it very often. However, I’ve had some salmon fillets recently, and I cooked them by grilling them on the Foreman grill. Just added a bit of dill to them, and I couldn’t believe how tasty they were! So my suggestion is to grill them on a George Foreman grill if you’ve got one.
Hope you get some good suggestions–I’m trying to eat more fish (eeeee…!)
If there’s skin on the fillet leave it on - it adds flavor
I usually put a thin layer of oil in a pan (just enough to avoid sticking) and cook. Skin side down first.
I like the taste of just plain salmon, so frequently that’s all I’ll do, but a little salt, pepper, or lemon juice is fine, too.
You can also get some heavy duty foil, put the fillet skin side down in the foil, cover with sliced bell peppers and a little onion, at a pat of butter on top, maybe a dash of salt and pepper, and close up the foil. Bake until done (about 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven, but the size of the fillet makes a difference)
You said gas grill, but I’m not sure what that means. If you grill the fish be sure to have some light oil or butter to brush on the fish to keep it from drying out while it cooks. Otherwise, it’s just basically let one side cook, then flip it over to let the other side cook.
You know it’s done when the flesh is opaque all the way through and flakes easily with a fork. Also, when done the skin peels off easily.
Cook it in a cast iron fry pan, if you have one. This makes the best salmon. Just cut it into chunks that will fit easily in the pan (typically 3"-4" chunks), salt and pepper. Heat pan with a bit of oil on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes until pan in hot. Add salmon. Cook for about 3-4 min on each side, until it’s done.
If you want to really go all out, make a simple beurre blanc to go with it. Mince up about 1-2 T. of shallot. Onion works too. Add to a small sauce pan with about 3/4 cup of vinegar and/or white wine (I usually use about 1/2 of a flavored vinegar and half white wine, sherry, or vermouth. Lemon juice is good with fish, too.). Allow to cook down until vinegar is almost all evaporated.
Over low heat, whisk in 12 tablespoons of COLD (has to be COLD) unsalted butter, 1 T. at a time. Whisk constantly. When one tablespoon is almost melted, add the next. The trick here is to keep the temperature consistent, or the sauce will break.
Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and any other spices. I like dill if the sauce is going over salmon, but green onions, basil, hell, whatever you have around works well too.
I agree with the frying recommendation - but brush oil onto the fish itself, rather than putting it in the pan. Two advantages to this - prevents excess oil, and stopping a pan of oil creating loads of smoke!
I like to marinate it an hour or so first in a mixture of soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, rice wine, and a bit of olive oil first. Grilling would be very yummy, but be sure you brush the grill with oil first so it doesn’t stick. One of these days I’ll try one of those grill baskets meant for fish and other breakable things.
Here’s another simple one for grilling:
Marinate the salmon in a bit of lemon or lime juice, garlic, olive oil. Wrap in a banana leaf (they sell them in the frozen section of my grocery store), and grill. You can also do them in smaller pieces in corn husks (be sure to soak the husks for a couple hours first), but I find that too much a PITA. Banana leaves are much bigger and cooler.
It’s simple, tastes wonderful, and looks elegant.
For baking this came off of my Publix salmon fillet:
Skin side down in a glass baking dish. I spray Pam to keep it from sticking.
Cover with light layer of olive oil - maybe a teaspoon – table spoon.
Next, sprinkle some minced garlic on the top and then add a layer of pesto.
I usually add a few capers to the top and bake for 15-20 minutes for a good-sized piece. No flipping.
I like it with fresh steamed green beans and hollandaise sauce. Nummy. 
This is very similar to the marinade that I use. Umeboshi plum paste is also good, as is powdered wasabi and toasted sesame oil.
One thing you can do is to semipoach it: put the salmon in the heated pan, pour all the marinade on top, and put a lid on the pan. It’ll cook pretty quickly in the steam, and stay very moist.
Yay salmon!
Daniel
I usually grill a salmon fillet, skin side down on foil, meat side exposed, with lemon juice squeezed over it (from 1/4 to 1/2 a lemon, depending on the size of the fillet and the lemon) and either a sprinkle of lemon pepper, or garlic salt, or Bay seasonings–not too much in any case. Sometimes with aparagus also grilled on the side until the tips are slightly burnt and crispy. It’s very nice served freshly hot, or cold later on.
I think salmon season starts this weekend, here in Santa Cruz… I love this time of year, fresh salmon right off the boat!
I usually just grill the salmon. I put a bit of olive oil on each side, add fresh ground pepper and Hawaiian clay salt to each side and throw it on! I doesn’t get any simpler than that! I have a lemon tree in my backyard so I usually grab a fresh lemon and add it right before eating!
Bon appetit!
If you really want to turn some heads, you can cook it in the dishwasher.
I’ve never tried this, but I’m dying to.
Neat! Closest I’ve ever come to this was the time my husband put the dish into the dishwasher with the salmon skin still in the bottom of it.
YUCK!
Throw in a tablespoon or two of hoisin sauce and you’ve got an excellent glaze for the grill.
Some tasty recipes can be found here.
You could also smoke it if you have a charcoal type grill. Marinate in a salt water/brown sugar brine mixture overnite then smoke on a charcoal type grill the next day (use regualr charcoal plus apple wood). I would also suggest foil underneath the fillet to keep it from sticking to the grill top.
Cook on a grill with high-quality briquets.
Put a layer of foil underneath the fillets or steaks to keep them from betting charred (poisson du charbon tastes kinda nasty, IMO). Keep 'em skin-side-down if they’re fillets.
Smear a thin layer of olive oil on the side facing up.
Positively encrust the oiled side with a cajun spice rub. The hotter the better. This helps seal in the juices and the flavor that seeps in is mmmm-mmmmm GOOD!
Cook 'em until they’re just done. DON’T dry 'em out!
Eat with a good white wine or lightish beer on a hot summer night. Nothing better.
Try some “planked salmon”
http://www.kayaksportfishing.com/recipes/submissions/ted/recipe_salmon/salmon.html
My wife swears by this recipe.
Alton Brown did a novel approach for cooking salmon on Good Eats. He was on vacation in Alaska and caught a salmon. His wife had left specific instructions with the chef that Brown was on vacation and was not to be let into the kitchen. So he found a hotplate at a yard sale, scrounged a cardboard box, and broke the shelf out of the motel room closet. IIRC, he brined the fish in his ice chest, then placed it on the plank, suspended inside the cardboard box. He then used the hot plate to heat a can of wood chips and smoked the salmon in the cardboard box. 
Is Alton Brown Cecil?