How are you cooking it now?

I just cooked up the steelhead I caught a few nights ago (caught and cooked in the same day) and went with one of the most basic recipes because when the fish is that fresh, I don't want to mess it up with a bunch of seasoning.

Recipe is essentially...

Butter (melt on stove and then stir in the following, adding lemon juice after you take it off the heat)
Garlic
Salt/Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper
Fresh Lemon Juice

Bake or grill that with fresh lemon slices on top. Super simple, but tasty.

Miso glazed salmon
https://www.chowhound.com/...-glazed-salmon-29538

What kind of salmon? Pink? Chum? Red? King? Coho?

This. Caught fresh, a simple/quick grill is the best, hands down. If you wanna get fancy, you can grill it on a cedar plank instead of directly on the grates; just make sure it's an un-treated plank (several specialty foodie joints sell them, as does Weber) and pre-soak it (could use beer or apple juice, etc instead of plain water) so it doesn't burn up too much ~ gives the fish a little added boost of smoke flavor.

If I get a larger fish, we'll have the thinner/boneless tail section and collars grilled fresh, and then smoke the rest (how to smoke it is a whole other topic unto itself); then, our 2 go-to recipes for the smoked fish (besides just eating plain as a snack w/ cheese & crackers) are a chowder w/ fennel & leeks, and some variation of pasta w/ a light cream sauce.

I season it, wrap in in foil and cook it on the grill for about 25 minutes. It always tastes good, but time for a change.

---

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

I like to put a little dill, a little sugar, and a lot of salt on a salmon filet. Then weight it down and put it in the refrigerator for three or four days.

Lox on a bagel with cream cheese, capers, tomato, and red onion is the best.

Here we go, usually pink fillets. I was watching Top Chef earlier this week and they were talking about all the different varieties. Someone said that chum was used to primarily feed pets....So educate me if you can on varieties.

---

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

If I was on death row that would be my last meal.

---

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

Usually go with some dill, johnny's season salt, and throw it under the broiler until med-rare.
The wife has a surprising recipe that involves: mayo, worcestershire, chopped green onion, parmesan cheese, with salt and pepper.
It goes on like a spread over the top and then the whole thing is baked.

I have a great one. I'll send it when I'm home a bit later.

---

Long Chile was a silly place.

Fresh Yukon chum are D-licious!! Super fat, meat hasn’t turned soft from the fresh water, so good! Other then that, I’m not a fan of chum (also called “dogs”)...but I have access to all, so I can be picky. Usually reds (sockeye) are usually considered at the top. Then kings (chinook) are next, but Yukon kings are probably #1 in my book. Smoked bellies (really fatty) are unreal good. You’ll never need fiber again. Hahaha. So good. Then silvers (coho), chum, and then pinks. Pink are good fresh. Not fresh, then only (IMO) good smoked. The difference between all of them is significant.

For pinks I wouldn’t get fancy. Not enough flavor in the meat to direct seasoning. So just season as you’d like, as that’ll be the flavor.

Send me a pm with your address, and maybe I can send some fresh reds out this summer (we can sein them in the rivers, and runs so good that no limits. But there IS a limit on how much a person wants to deal with them. I smoke 99% of mine. So good, and a great snack.

We do pistachio crusted salmon, one of our favorites. Dredged in honey mustard than rolled in crushed pistachios. There's a little more to it, but I always have to ask honey... lemme know and I'll post it for ya!
- Jeff

I have a black bean sauce recipe that I like to do with salmon.

+1 on Yukon King strips. I bet we're the only two on this forum who can appreciate how good they are.

Pilot bread is mandatory, right?

Wow, you went all death row meal on us. I love salmon, and all these recipes sound great, but salmon doesn't make it into my death row meal.

For my last meal, I want beef as the main course. I'm thinking filet mignon or a big juicy ribeye--rare. And I'd want king crab and a veggie.

This one isn't up to my usual level of snootyness, but my wife loves it and makes me make it whenever there is good salmon available.
Marinade meat side down in oil and crushed garlic. Remove from marinade leaving garlic pieces stuck to it. Salt and pepper. Mix, about 50/50, BBQ sauce and maple syrup, cover meat side. Grill indirect, skin side down, add more sauce if you want, usually no need to flip.

I usually do fresh squeezed lemon juice and dill, then grill it. Basic I know, but that's how I like it.

I love smoked salmon; I don't have a smoker but a friend does and has given us a steady supply where I had an apple tree and a pear tree in my yard that both had to come down, so I let him take as much of the wood as he wanted for the smoker.

Best piece of salmon I ever had is an 8-lb silver salmon that my wife caught in Alaska years ago. Had it for dinner that night and again with breakfast the next morning.

---

"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

That’s a recipe I’m going to try. Thanks.

Pat'r dry, drizzle of EVOO all over, season liberally with Paul Prudhommes, bake @425 for however long to cook through. Touch of butter and/or lemon juice to finish it off.

Touch of heat without being overpowering.

I've made this one a couple times...love it. tl;dr start in cast iron pan, finish under broiler.

linky

---

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Me, I am sort of a grilled salmon kind of guy. Alder smoked salt always goes nice with a little butter and dill. Simple is good when it comes to Salmon. Farm salmon is a different cat. I use lots of sauce gimmicks to help out. But fresh wild caught, simple is good. Plenty salt makes it even better.

Hahaha. I'm not a Pilot bread fan. It works when I'm sitting out at camp, or for a snack out in the country...but that's where it ends for me. Not a box of it in my house. lol

Crazy thing is the locals aren't fans of the smoked bellies. When doing work down on the Yukon I made friends with some locals and would trade some of my food for the bellies that they didn't want. The trade was VERY slanted in my direction, and that is how they wanted it. They were happy someone would take them. SO GOOOOOOOD!!!!!