Copper River Salmon

[Mikey]

Salmon season started a couple of week ago at the Copper River in Alaska. They've been carrying Copper River sockeyes at the local Costco for a little over a week. I grilled a fillet last weekend on the bbq.

This weekend the price was down to $8.99/lb. Unfucking believeable. A couple of years ago the local grocery store was getting three times that much for the same thing.

Decided to try a different approach tonight.

Here's the fillet I started out with...this is a beautiful piece of fish. About as fresh as you can get if you're not Dinsdale.





Lightly salt the fillet.
Mix some Grey Poupon with some lemon juice and drizzle over the entire thing.
Add some EVOO.
Top with a few sprigs of fresh oregano.




Close up the foil and bake at 400 deg for 15 minutes. This is how it looks when opened:





Stick it under the broiler for 3 minutes.




Cut it up and spoon some of the mustard/lemon/EVOO over the top. This is be best salmon I've ever tasted.

[Dinsdale]

This is be best salmon I've ever tasted.

Whole buncha rolleyes.

First, if it was "fresh," you wouldn't have to burn it (which makes salmon rather nasty).

Next, yet another one who fell for the Copper River marketing scheme. Nothing special about it, it's just one of the few fisheries the Alaskan barbarians aren't quite as deep into the decimation of -- basically some greedy, stupid people managing things, who seem unable to take a look at what's happened in points south, and fail to see how quickly it can happen.

Sockeye is pretty low-end shit to begin with. There's a run up the Columbia, but very few people fish it, since they're not terribly good, and pretty much every other option out there is better.

The best salmon available any time, anywhere, is availaible in the Lower Columbia drainage right now -- the mighty Spring Chinook, which has the highest fat/omega-3 of any fish there is.

If sockeye is available to you, and you enjoy (burning) it, then by all means, knock yourself out. Just don't try the Alaskans marketing gimmick, since there's plenty of us out there who know better.

[Truman]

Saw some of that yesterday, Mikey, on a trip to Costco with my pop…

Absolutely beautiful flesh, so much “redder” than the Atlantic specimens they had merchandised next to the Coppers. And you’re right: You can’t beat the price. Rack your PET, btw. Making me wish I hadn’t pulled the trigger on the baby backs that I am about to put over smoke.

----------
:?

I realize this may come as a shock to you, Dins, but the rest of the country doesn’t have Columbia-like rivers thick with Chinook for us to select our groceries. Naw, we have to rely on the metrics of air-freight and distribution centers just to enjoy a taste of wild-caught salmon, which clearly is substitute so poor that you U&Ler’s would most likely chop it up and use it for bait.

Don’t hate. We don’t KNOW any better. It’s like trying to eat barbecue in Boston or Boise: Oh, sure, you appreciate the effort, but those folks have never really had good ‘cue.

For the record, I’ve “smoked” a number of Atlantic filets indirectly over an alder and charcoal fire using nothing more than a bit of EVOO and salt and pepper, and I’ve never once had to ‘burn” anything to finish them properly. And they ‘et just fine. But then again, I don’t have U&L sensibilities on the subject, either.

[Mikey]

Right on cue Dins. Very dependable you are.

Maybe I was a little over the top saying it was the "best I've ever tasted" - it may or may not have been but the whole combination was really good. Obviously you've tasted a lot better than 99.9999999999999% of the rest of us, so any actual comparisons are moot.

First of all, I didn't "burn" it. In most places, the Dins householed excepted I guess, it's called "roasting." The inside remained quite rare and tender. I suppose in the U&L you only eat it raw?

Second, I'm not claiming Copper River is better than any other "fresh" salmon (yeah I know if it's more than 1 hour out of the water it's really no longer fresh). It's what's available now and it's amazingly cheap and very good.

Go ahead and keep your head up your ass waiting for your "mighty Chinook" (lots of rolleyes here) while the rest of us enjoy the good deal that's available here and now.

[Mikey]

Saw some of that yesterday, Mikey, on a trip to Costco with my pop…

Absolutely beautiful flesh, so much “redder” than the Atlantic specimens they had merchandised next to the Coppers. And you’re right: You can’t beat the price. Rack your PET, btw. Making me wish I hadn’t pulled the trigger on the baby backs that I am about to put over smoke.

I usually grill, but my whole outdoor kitchen has been in sort of a deconstructed state lately, making the gas grill inaccessible and the charcoal grill a pain in the ass to fire up.

I got this recipe on Friday from Marcella Hazan's Facebook page (yeah I'm Facebook "friends" with an 84 year old Italian cooking guru ) and had to try it. Remarkably easy and simple, and it's all done in the oven. The mustard/lemon/EVOO cooked in the juices that the fish gives off makes a great sauce for the salmon and for mopping up with some good crusty bread.

[Screw_Michigan]

What are the measurements for the EVOO/lemon juice combo? Novice, here...

[Dinsdale]

I realize this may come as a shock to you, Dins, but the rest of the country doesn’t have Columbia-like rivers thick with Chinook for us to select our groceries.

No, not a shock at all -- an inevitibility.

Naw, we have to rely on the metrics of air-freight and distribution centers just to enjoy a taste of wild-caught salmon, which clearly is substitute so poor that you U&Ler’s would most likely chop it up and use it for bait.

Nah, we just call it "smoker quality." We do use the filleted carcarr for crab bait, though.

Don’t hate.

It's my web-based nature.

We don’t KNOW any better.

Of course not. Bear in mind, just about everyone here (in the urban areas anyway) is a transplant geenhorn, and doesn't know any better either.

It’s like trying to eat barbecue in Boston or Boise: Oh, sure, you appreciate the effort, but those folks have never really had good ‘cue.

Logical fallacy. A Chowd or Idahoho can learn to cue as well as anyone -- the Outlanders will never have good salmon.

For the record, I’ve “smoked” a number of Atlantic filets indirectly over an alder and charcoal fire using nothing more than a bit of EVOO and salt and pepper, and I’ve never once had to ‘burn” anything to finish them properly. And they ‘et just fine. But then again, I don’t have U&L sensibilities on the subject, either.

I appreciate the use of quotations -- smoked salmon is an entire process, as opposed to "cooking on a smoker." Smoking involves brining, rinsing, drying, then curing at a very low (160 is ideal) temp.

And yeah, with a freshly dead, properly handled fish (yet another difference -- there's no such thing as a "properly handled" commercial caught fish. Not really possible on that scale.), we pretty much cook them so the outside is a hair pink, and the inside is essentially raw... which would be borderline-suicidal to do with a store bought fish.

[Dinsdale]

mopping up...

...

Like moths to a flame.

[Mikey]

What are the measurements for the EVOO/lemon juice combo? Novice, here...

Sort of hard to say. Exact proportions aren't really important in something like this

I used the juice of two fairly large juicy lemons and a couple of big spoonfuls (the kind you would set your table with) of Grey Poupon. Mixed it well and poured over the fish. I prolly used 75% of it because I didn't want the fish to swim away. Then I just drizzled the EVOO back and forth down the length of the fish.

Can't really go too far wrong here as long as you don't overdo anything.

Also, I used the wide heavy duty aluminum foil. Regular size prolly wouldn't have wrapped the fish and regular weight is more likely to break through.

[Dinsdale]

I used the juice of two fairly large juicy lemons and a couple of big spoonfuls (the kind you would set your table with) of Grey Poupon.

Did you serve it with a big bowl of tartar sauce and ketchup on the side?

[Mikey]

I used the juice of two fairly large juicy lemons and a couple of big spoonfuls (the kind you would set your table with) of Grey Poupon.

Did you serve it with a big bowl of tartar sauce and ketchup on the side?

Sure, why not?

Do you slather mayo on dick before you eat it?

[Truman]

It’s like trying to eat barbecue in Boston or Boise: Oh, sure, you appreciate the effort, but those folks have never really had good ‘cue.

Logical fallacy. A Chowd or Idahoho can learn to cue as well as anyone --

Why, sure they can, Dins! With proper tutelage and years of experience, anybody can barbecue as well as a Flyover!

Lemme know when you're ready to learn how.

-- the Outlanders will never have good salmon.

Hard to imagine that Mikey might not have a theory-or-nine as to how to properly prepare one of your native carp should he ever get his hooks in one.

BTW, we Flyover-types celebrate an annual event 'round these parts called “vacation.” I, for one, will not camp without proper barbecue gear. Until your call out, I had always found Colorado's wild Cutthroats to be far more compelling, so you've piqued my interest. But I can assure you we know our way around a fishing rod, and your shit-hooks would soon find themselves invited to supper. How we roll. Salt-of-the-earth-types, 'n stuff.

[mvscal]

I got this recipe on Friday from Marcella Hazan's Facebook page (yeah I'm Facebook "friends" with an 84 year old Italian cooking guru )

Sounds more French than Italian. Tasty enough, I'll wager.

[Dinsdale]

Sounds more French than Italian. Tasty enough, I'll wager.

Wait -- poupon and salmon aren't Italian?

[Mikey]

Sounds more French than Italian. Tasty enough, I'll wager.

Wait -- poupon and salmon aren't Italian?

Oh shit, you're right. They don't have salmon OR mustard in Italy, do they?

Really, there isn't much that's more annoying than a bloviating self-proclaimed expert, especially when it comes to food, who has no fucking idea what they're talking about. Constantly spouting streams of parochial prejudices and misconceptions can go a long way toward proving how ignorant your are.

You and Goobs should get together an write a cookbook -- "25 of your favorite foods - the ONLY way to cook them"

I'd suggest that when it comes to any serious discussion of salmon you discreetly refrain from participating, because you obviouisly haven't a clue.

[Goober McTuber]

Mikey, I’d suggest that the only way to improve your recipe would be to wrap that salmon filet in some canned bacon.

[Mikey]

That might be worth trying. I think I'll wait until I can get some mighty Spring Chinook, though.

[Dinsdale]

I'd suggest that when it comes to any serious discussion of salmon you discreetly refrain from participating, because you obviouisly haven't a clue.

Yeah, run with that one, tard.

I've caught more salmon that everyone in this forum combined has eaten.

What's funny is a self-obsessed moron that wants to argue about a subject that his nemesis has forgotton more about than he'll ever know...


Kind of a KYOA moment you're having here.

Just because both your fish and recipes/techniques are inferior, it's doesn't mean you gotta be a hater.

[Mikey]

So, what you're saying is:

1. You can't get a decent piece of salmon anywhere but Portland.
2. Nobody outside of Portland can possibly cook it right anyway. In fact even in Portland it's probably only you and your low rent buddies, home after a hard day mopping the local shit basin, who know how to do it right.

I guess all the chefs in New York, San Francisco, LA, Miami, Atlanta, etc., etc. who anxiously wait for the season to start every year so they can include their favorite fish on their menus are just kidding themselves.

If that's what it takes for you to feel special, then go right ahead and continue with your delusion. I certainly don't want to stand in your way.

Me, I'm not a hater. I love the stuff. I'll just have to keep on buying the half spoiled, worm eaten crap that's available here and somehow get by.

[Goober McTuber]

While you’re at it, Mikey, you just might want to go ahead and teach brad about cocks.

[Mikey]

While you’re at it, Mikey, you just might want to go ahead and teach brad about cocks.

Are you angry because I left Madison out of my list of cities?

[Goober McTuber]

While you’re at it, Mikey, you just might want to go ahead and teach brad about cocks.

Are you angry because I left Madison out of my list of cities?

Angry? I was on your side. Self-appointed experts and whatnot.

[Mikey]

While you’re at it, Mikey, you just might want to go ahead and teach brad about cocks.

Are you angry because I left Madison out of my list of cities?

Angry? I was on your side. Self-appointed experts and whatnot.

Aha...point taken. I'm too conditioned to having to duck when I see one of your haymakers coming.

[mvscal]

Sounds more French than Italian. Tasty enough, I'll wager.

Wait -- poupon and salmon aren't Italian?

Oh shit, you're right. They don't have salmon OR mustard in Italy, do they?

I'm sure they do. I was just kind of surprised to see this coming from Hazan. Mustard is not a typical ingredient in Italian cooking same with the method of preparation. Baking fish in parchment (or foil in your case) is more associated with French cooking.

I make a salmon in parchment with a herb cream sauce that is pretty righteous.

[Mikey]

She lives in Florida now, and she's like 84. Gotta cut her some slack.

The salmon in herb cream sauce sounds pretty good. They'd never ruin it like that in the U&L though.

[Goober McTuber]

I'm not sure how much salmon they eat in Italy. My understanding is that most of what they do eat gets imported from Norway, but that Italians generally prefer whitefish from the Miditerranean.

[mvscal]

The salmon in herb cream sauce sounds pretty good. They'd never ruin it like that in the U&L though.

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

1 1/4 cups fish stock
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 shallots (finely minced)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (I usually use chives and parsley. Tarragon, dill and chervil are options as well)

Add stock, wine and shallots to a small heavy bottomed sauce pan and reduce to ~5 tbs. Add cream and simmer at a lively bubble for a few minutes to thicken it up a bit. Salt and white pepper to taste then add herbs. It will serve 4.

For the salmon you just lightly brush the filets with evoo, season and top with thin lemon slices (halved) then wrap them up in parchment circles and bake at 400 for about 10-15 minutes depending on the filets.

[smackaholic]

The OL bought some lovely farm raised salmon yesterday. Think I'll scrape the mold off it and try that old wop's recipe tonight on the barbeque. I'll leave the maggots in it as they give it a nice tangy taste.

[Dinsdale]

The OL bought some lovely farm raised salmon yesterday. Think I'll scrape the mold off it and try that old wop's recipe tonight on the barbeque. I'll leave the maggots in it as they give it a nice tangy taste.

If it's farmed, the "maggots" comment isn't that far off.

Nasty shit. "Fish farm" and "disease/bacteria factory" are pretty much synonymous.

[mvscal]

And especially with the way some of you cook salmon. Are you even tasting the fish....at ALL?

Yes, tardd, and it's delicious. Sure I appreciate the minimalist preparation every now and again, but don't kid yourself that that is the only way to enjoy fish. A properly matched sauce compliments the fish. It doesn't overwhelm it.

[Adelpiero]

Dins

Been told that Faroe Island Salmon, has a very high omega 3/fat count. Supposed to be good Salmon, and usually at a decent price.


And what is the difference in cold water/warm water lobster tails. Why is one more expensive than the other. I have some buddies who work for a local fish distrib, so i can get anything i need at cost.


Also, i'm trying to the the OL to try fish, what would be a good, non fishy tasting fish? Orange Roughy?

[mvscal]

Been told that Faroe Island Salmon, has a very high omega 3/fat count.

All salmon does.

Also, i'm trying to the the OL to try fish, what would be a good, non fishy tasting fish? Orange Roughy?

Orange roughy is mild. Cod and sole are also mild fish.

[mvscal]

I happen to like Grey Poupon and spicy mustards, but it seems to me that salmon would be better suited for a type of hollandaise or cream based sauce.

The French use mustard on fish in a type of mock hollandaise sauce but it's only a couple tablespoons in a 2 cup batch. It's not very common though.

[missjo]

I had kippers at a B&B in Dorset & they were deeelishus!!
But I am partial to a smoked fish, though being served them with their wee dried out heads still attached can be a bit disconcerting at first!

[Mikey]

Fixed some more half rotten Copper River sockeye last night.

Seasoned it lightly with , (mostly salt, pepper, garlic and onion), sprayed it with some EVOO, let it sit for 30 minutes and grilled it for about 6 minutes - 2 minutes very hot with the skin side up and 4 minutes with the skin down at a reduced heat. Served with lemon wedges, japanese sweet potatoes, a green salad and an Atlas Peak (Napa Valley) Meritage.

It was definitely edible.

[Dinsdale]

Also, i'm trying to the the OL to try fish, what would be a good, non fishy tasting fish?

Everybody loves halibut.