1 Dyno-Mite salmon recipe comin' straight atcha!!
From the looks of them and your location I'm going to guess that those are atlantic salmon? Alot less fat content in them vs pacific fishies, so NOT over cooking them and locking in moisture is going to be absolute key!!
As for not over cooking them - 145* and not a stinking degree higher! I personally like mine right around 140. And when you're getting close to that temp, you start screaming at the wife and kids to be sat at the table ready to eat, cuz as soon as that fish comes off the cooker, it's time is limited!!
Hopefully those salmon are fillets with the skin on??
This is a recipe for salmon that you would have for dinner, not a smoked salmon recipe - Here be the secrets...
Items needed:
1 box morton's ice cream salt (rock salt, other brands are ok too)
1 cube of softened butter (not melted tho!)
1 medium-large lime, juiced, ok to leave the pulp in
2 - 3 cloves fresh garlic crushed or very finely minced (do not use garlic from a jar, that stuff is just wrong) add a pinch or 2 of kosher salt to it and mix together while it sits - draws out the moisture and flavors from it.
1 clove roughly chopped garlic - no salt added to it
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped very fine or pulsed in the food processor. You want small bits of leaves, not a slurry.
fresh coarse cracked pepper
1 alder, oak, maple or hickory plank soaked in water for at least an hour (you can use cedar if you must, but it really takes away from the flavor of the fish IMO, and remember Indians are laughing at you when you use cedar planks - they used alder cuz the cedar was too strong!
)
--OR--
2 layers of foil shaped into a tray with sides high enough to hold in juices. You could use a foil pan too, but usually the fillet is too long to fit.
Get started:
lay the whole fillet in a dish long enough for it to lay flat and at least 1/2" deep. Cover (and I mean COMPLETELY COVER!) every bit of the flesh side with rock salt and allow to sit for about 15-20 min (if someone out there is trying this on a thick king salmon, let it sit for about 30 min)
When the time is up, rinse it VERY well under cold running water, rub the flesh with your hand to get any excess salt residue off. You will be able to feel a difference in the flesh now, it won't be all mushy like before.
Lay the fillet on paper towels and pat the flesh dry and rub it down with the 1 clove of chopped garlic, don't worry about keeping the garlic on the flesh, if it sticks, fine. If it falls off, fine.
Evenly crack pepper over the fillet and lightly press it in so it sticks.
--Mix up the lime juice, garlic, butter and cilatro so that it's ready--
Heat grill to 300* and if using plank, put it on the grill for 10 min to preheat, flip it over so the hot side is up and lay the fish skin side down.
If using foil, avoid sliding the foil around so you don't tear it.
usually a fillet takes about 30-45 min on the plank depending on the thickness, much less if on foil.
when it starts to flake on the thinest end, put a dollup of butter mix every few inches on the fish and kinda try to flatten/spread it out a bit, doesn't need to be perfect, it will melt and distribute itself a bit...
Start watching the temp, it can change quickly!
The beauty of this mix is how well the cilantro lime & garlic play off the flavor of the fish, everyone expects lemon with salmon - you'll surprise them with lime!
My wife HATES any kind of fish, salmon included... she will eat a whole piece of this stuff tho! :thumb:
You'll find that the salt cure keeps the juices from weeping out like salmon usually does, it also keeps it from turning the horrible "sick E.T." milky color...
Oh and you can add a little smoke wood early in the cook if you want to, especially if you're using foil.
I've won the same salmon competition a couple years in a row in seattle using this recipe - Enjoy! :wink:
Edit: Forgot to mention, Don't flip the fish while cooking... rookie mistake! :heh:
Brethren
