# Salmon!



## harrison (Oct 27, 2012)

This coming summer I am fortunate enough to be guiding fly fishing trips on the NakNek river in Alaska. :biggrin: We will be catching TONS of salmon. Many different species including, Sockeye, King, Chum/Pink, and Silvers. Also big Rainbow Trout and Arctic Char(most excited to hook into one of these badboys) The trout will be thrown back, but lets here some salmon recipes! Anything for primitive/wilderness style cooking will be awesome although once back at the camp I will have access to a *moderate* kitchen.


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## dreamwrx (Oct 30, 2012)

Salmon Sous Vide...


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## Mike Davis (Oct 30, 2012)

Hmmm...I think i need to come with you...to umm....give you recipes and such  Maybe i will get lucky and have some funds stashed away by then and come do a fishing trip.


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## DeepCSweede (Oct 30, 2012)

...and I will stow away in Mike's luggage.


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## bieniek (Oct 30, 2012)

safets bet:

Grill the crap out of it. On a spindle, over open flames whole roasted salmon a la rotisserie. Any garnish will do it.
You can throw some unpeeled potatoes wrapped in alu foil in the coals/wood. 
Alternatively if you have a cast iron pot, peel pots, chop ruoghly with osme bacon and onions and sausage, throw in the pot with butter and bang into coals, covered. 

Graved pleasures:
Whole fillets with skin on
Throw around 30g of salt and 30 of sugar per kilo of flesh, chop some dill and throw over it, connect the fillets flesh side, dig a hole, put it there for few days. After take it out clean of excess messy bits and dill, whip some mustard with honey. Eat together on bread or toast.

Pan fried salmon

Fry on medium-hot pan on one side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn it, fry for 1 minute and take out of the heat, but let it rest in the pan for few minutes. 
Potato of any kind goes well with it, sauerkraut if you want to make one quick one. Own made tomato relish with paprika and chillies also will do it. 

Salmon raw 
Slice and eat with scrambled egg, poached egg or coffee


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## mano (Oct 30, 2012)

Made this the other night as a trial run for a wine group dinner this Saturday. It was pretty easy and great! 

To try out a deba I bought a whole salmon from Philly's biggest fish distributor and it was a damn sight better and a lot cheaper than what you get at the supermarket.

FWIW, I always adjust amounts and cooking time as I go along, but here's the online recipe.

Salmon with Fennel and Pernod 

	1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed or star anisse
	1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
	2 tablespoons minced shallots
	1 large fennel bulb with fronds; bulb quartered, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons fronds chopped, divided
	2 6- to 7-ounce salmon fillets
	2 tablespoons Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur

Stir fennel seeds or star anisse in large skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer seeds to small bowl; cool. 
Mix together butter, shallots, and 1 tablespoon fennel fronds and add salt and pepper.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter mixture in same skillet over medium heat. 

Add sliced fennel bulb and 1/4 cup water to skillet; cover and cook until fennel is crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Uncover skillet and sauté until fennel begins to brown, about 2 minutes. 
Transfer fennel to plate.
Salt and pepper salmon 
Add 1 tablespoon butter mixture to same skillet and melt over medium heat. Add salmon; cover and cook 5 minutes. 
Turn salmon over; add 1/4 cup water to skillet. Cover and continue cooking until salmon is just opaque in center, about 5 minutes longer. 
Slide salmon to 1 side of skillet; return fennel to skillet. 
Add Pernod, 2 teaspoons butter mixture, and remaining 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds; stir to heat through.

Serve with pan juice, garnish with fronds


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## lumo (Oct 30, 2012)

Haven't taken up fly fishing yet but love to spin fish, are we welcome on these trips? 

Love Bienek's Graved pleasure idea, was just thinking you should cure some if the same party is there for a few days, even if not.

Raw: Sliced raw with lime juice, chopped mint, olive oil and sea salt with some grilled bread. If you want to get fancy bring some Engish pea pesto (sans cheese and nuts) to add to the bread with the salmon, (pureed peas with toasted garlic, olive oil, mint and basil)

Slow Roasted: I like to take a cleaned skinless filet, slather it with butter and sprinkle the top with a crust of minced shallot, chopped thyme, sliced chives, cracked pink peppercorns and chopped lemon zest, and of course salt and pepper. Slow roast at 320 degrees until me rare, about 8-12 minutes depending on oven and thickness of filet.


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## Joshua1970 (Nov 2, 2012)

love flyfishing, and love salmon!!!

I'm no chef - but I do make a decent gravlox I learned a number of years ago from an ex GF. - tho I usually alter the amounts of items each time as I experiment, or depending on amount of salmon..... also I've only ever written 1 recipe (my grandmother's calf liver recipe) so please bear with me LOL


first, tie on a streamer and catch a salmon LOL

next, filet said salmon and cut into portions to fit into a large glass tray, skin side down. 

depending on the size of the salmon, mix about 3/4 cup of kosher or sea salt and 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1.5 tablespoon of crushed peppercorns (I prefer white) and mix in separate bowl. sprinkle 3/4 of curing mix over salmon. 

add 1-2 bunches of fresh dill a top salmon, sprinkle remaining cure mix over dill.

pour about 1.5 cups of vodka (your choice, I use Tito's as it's a quality vodka without paying for marketing and bottle) over the dill til it comes about 1/2 way up the salmon.

cover with saran wrap, pushing the wrap tight against the dill. 

this next part requires weight - I use an old cutting board that fits into my glass pan perfectly and then I put a 10 lb weight onto the board to compress everything.

refrigerate for 3-4 days and once each day remove weight, remove the wrap and dill bunches, flip the salmon, replace the dill and spoon the curing syrup over it and replace wrap and weight and return to fridge. repeat daily.

once done (again 3-4 days depending on thickness), cut paper thin slices to the skin, leaving skin (you can also de-skin before slicing I suppose) and serve on plate w capers & crackers, or w cream cheese, or a mustard/mayonnaise mix (japanese mayo is even better)... endless possibilities/combinations.

wow I actually gave a recipe! well, sort of... who'd a thunk?


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## Zwiefel (Nov 2, 2012)

salmon en papillote is always good and easy...just make sure you have some fresh herbs and some kind of acid (lemon, lime, white wine, etc.).


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## harrison (Nov 2, 2012)

bieniek said:


> safets bet:
> 
> Grill the crap out of it. On a spindle, over open flames whole roasted salmon a la rotisserie. Any garnish will do it.
> You can throw some unpeeled potatoes wrapped in alu foil in the coals/wood.
> ...



Y:thumbsup:

This sounds awesome, i am excited to try the graved pleasures. How should i protect the fish from the dirt? How deep of a hole we talking? Pan fried is one I am very farmiliar with, was a staple in ome of the first restaurants i worked saute in. I will be taking my full line up of cast iron (22 inch pan, 18 inch pan, 18 inch deep dutch oven type ) all hand me downs very well seasoned. Any tips on building a rotissere?


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## harrison (Nov 2, 2012)

@ Joshua1970, thank you for grav locks recipe! i love to eat this but for some reason have never attempted it yet!


thank you to everybody for awesome responses, I will be trying them all.

@ lumo, all types of fishermen are welcome. The company i will be workong with offers adfordable trips, access to boats, the option to do thd fishing without guides for lower cost. Honestly it is the cheapest option for an Alaska trip. And the NakNek was recently named in the top three rainbow trout rivers in Alaska! Salmon populations are outrageous. AND tons o grizzlies


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## daveb (Nov 3, 2012)

A stove top smoker would earn it's keep in a camp kitchen.


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## Zwiefel (Nov 3, 2012)

daveb said:


> A stove top smoker would earn it's keep in a camp kitchen.



Stovetop smoker you say? Never heard of such-like....


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## daveb (Nov 3, 2012)

Not a gourmet item but will produce good smoked fish or shrimp quickly and easily. Similar cooking environment (moist, trapped air) to papillote.

http://www.cameronsproducts.com/stovetop-smoker.

Regards,

Dave


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## Zwiefel (Nov 3, 2012)

daveb said:


> Not a gourmet item but will produce good smoked fish or shrimp quickly and easily. Similar cooking environment (moist, trapped air) to papillote.
> 
> http://www.cameronsproducts.com/stovetop-smoker.
> 
> ...



Interesting....is this different from using a stainless steel skillet with the lid on?


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## Seth (Nov 3, 2012)

Craig - who is the Philly fish supplier?


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## daveb (Nov 4, 2012)

Zwiefel said:


> Interesting....is this different from using a stainless steel skillet with the lid on?



As a physics problem it should be the same. In reality, don't know.


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## Zwiefel (Nov 4, 2012)

daveb said:


> As a physics problem it should be the same. In reality, don't know.



Tx! Im intrigued by this...been looking for acway ti smoke food in my kitchen for a while now.


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## ecchef (Nov 8, 2012)

I used to marinate in miso and maple syrup before smoking.


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## TheNewMexican (Nov 18, 2012)

My basic recipe for salmon is this:

-Wash the fillet with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel
-Salt and pepper both sides and set the fillet on top of a long piece of aluminum foil
-Top the fillet with lemon slices and lightly salt again
-Top the lemon slices with chopped green onion (or a large white onion if that is all you have)
-Lightly salt again
-Fold the aluminum over on itself and fold over the edges making a "boat"
-Bake @350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (the wonderful smell will tell you when it's done)

This recipe can be easily used in your camp if you have a dutch oven or improvise a little.

A salmon fishing trip sounds like a lot of fun! Enjoy!


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## bieniek (Nov 18, 2012)

harrison said:


> Y:thumbsup:
> 
> This sounds awesome, i am excited to try the graved pleasures. How should i protect the fish from the dirt? How deep of a hole we talking? Pan fried is one I am very farmiliar with, was a staple in ome of the first restaurants i worked saute in. I will be taking my full line up of cast iron (22 inch pan, 18 inch pan, 18 inch deep dutch oven type ) all hand me downs very well seasoned. Any tips on building a rotissere?



Sorry I kind of forgot about the thread...:O

Dont think too sublime when you think gravad laks. Its very old technique if memory serves me right salt from saltwater was used as a preservant[hole was dug in sand]

There is another version of it, called rakfisk, something utterly disgusting. My boss was doing it, left the whole arctic chars for a year in a bucket, outside. You can imagine the smell of that shite. Im not sure if "zyklon B" was more dangerous. 

So basically find a cool spot in the nearby forrest, I would say 40-50 cm deep would do it, you can put the fish in alu foil or parchment paper but you can also set it just like that.

The heat from bonfire is radiant so the salmon doesnt need to be hanging directly over the fire. 
Dont forget to gut the fish, take gills and eyes out 

I think it would work with two sticks on the sides as a "pillars" but maybe easier is to dig a hole just long enough so the fish can be set over it, and throw coals/wood into the hole. So then when the coals are ready, and fish is on the "skewer" you just have to keep turning.


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