Your "Go To" salmon recipes...

Josh

Josh

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It's getting to be that time of year when salmon ends up on our tables. Whether you harvest your own from our PNW waters or buy fresh from your local market, what is your "go to" recipe or cooking method? Grill? Oven? Pan seared? Seasonings or plain? Is lemon crucial or sacrilege? Does smoker beat BBQ?

Does sushi like @Evan B makes count as a "recipe"?

Let's make this a good reference thread for the future. I want to have a list of recipes to try over the fall/winter.

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First/last two images are from @Evan B. Middle two are from @Kfish's Area 9 thread post.
 
Tinfoil packet, lemon, salt, pepper, grill. 10-15 minutes depending on thickness. Open the foil packet at the end to let in some smoke.

Unless it’s a chinook, then it goes in the smoker—especially the muddy tasting ones from this summer.
 
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I just want to clear the air and say that I love sushi, but loathe salmon sushi. Raw salmon is NOT my bag. At all.

With salmon, I find more and more I like simplicity. I've tried all manners of fancy recipes, and just baked salmon with some lemon and onion is still my favorite. I'm always sure to not overcook it, which I feel like most people tend to do.

I do occasionally like to use it as a protein in the curries I make.

Then, there's always smoked salmon. I have a decent collection of fillet chunks destined for the smoker. A few more trips and I'll be firing that baby up. Haven't decided what I'll do for a marinade. I always seem to change my recipe for that.
 
I've been doing a lot of salmon jerky in the dehydrator. Typically sockeye but others work too. There are a million recipes out there. Mine is basically a "salmon candy" recipe but with some dietary substitutions. Short version is that I marinate it in a mix of savory/spice/sweet liquid, toss it in a strainer to let most of the marinade drip off, place on the dehydrator trays and sprinkle with brown sugar. I'd share the specific recipe, but unless you are on a low-sodium diet, you probably don't care.

145F for ~3-4 hours in the dehydrator depending on thickness.

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What temp do people like to set the grill at? Direct or indirect heat?
 
Most frequently I grill salmon. I start with a filet lightly dusted with homemade salmon rub. (Brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, thyme, smoked paprika, teeny bit of cayenne). I put the salmon in a wire fish "basket" that makes flipping it a piece of cake. I get the grill hot, rub the grates with oil, then sear the flesh side of the fish for about 30-60 seconds, moving it around a bit so more parts get contact with the grill grates and get seared. Then I flip and cook skin side down until the interior is about 120*F, at which point it comes off the grill to rest before serving.
 
Hard to beat onion and butter but a few different ways.
Teriyaki salmon
Pesto salmon
Use leftover salmon to make salmon burgers, salmon fettuccine or salmon Caesar salads.
There are some good salmon rubs out there as well.

I’m a 10 minutes max per inch of thickness rule follower myself when it comes to cooking salmon.
Went to a bbq once where someone had sockeye on the grill for an hour. Talk about terrible tasting salmon. I think cardboard might have tasted better.
SF
 
Almost exclusively use the Traeger for salmon. Excellent flavor. If not the Traeger, we use a cedar plank (soaked in water for an hour or more) which works well too.

Traeger at 300 degrees for 15-25 minutes depending on thickness. Not sure about the cedar plank…my wife does that version. Check for flakiness before removing.

In both cases, spritz olive oil on both sides, then lemon pepper and dill on the flesh side before cooking.
 
I eat enough salmon seasonally that it helps to rotate a few different recipes.
My cooked recipes are always on the grill, to keep the stink outside … never overcook.
As above, I also use a wire fish basket to facilitate a single flip.

1) raw sashimi (frozen for 7 days at -4F or colder), use fatty cut below lateral line

2) salty
Use either straight fillet, or marinade 20-30 mins in lemon juice with dried spices (garlic, onion, ginger) and little veg oil
Remove marinade and salt heavily 5 mins with Lawry’s salt and some cracked pepper
Grill flesh down 5 mins, flip over and cook to completion. Serve with lemon

3) sweet tangy
marinade 30-60 mins with honey, soy, orange/lemon juice, and dried spices (garlic, onion, ginger)
make basting sauce using tiny amount of marinade with extra honey and fresh ginger
Grill flesh down 5 mins, flip over and baste often.

4) herby
make tin foil boat for grill
add salmon, drizzle fresh lemon and olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh dill, parsley, scallions, white wine
Bake in grill with top closed
 
My "recipe" uses fish that I catch and begins with the selection of the fish I opt to keep for the table. I start with the very best prime salmon I can get my hands on. Immediately upon catching the fish its bled, the cleaned and placed on ice (usually 5 to 10 minutes from landing to the ice bed.

I typically, grill the fish with a sprinkling brown sugar and lemon pepper. Fresh is the best but if to be frozen it is vacuum sealed and if to be frozen more than a few weeks it is glazed with ice and then vacuum sealed.

Often hear from those I serve my salmon to is that the fish is the best they have had. Lesson it is a wonderful salmon meal is not so much the recipe used but the starting with the best product possible.

Curt
 
Just can't imagine putting a ton of seasoning on something that tastes so perfect just the way it is.

Cedar plank, fresh dill, slice of lemon, direct heat on Weber charcoal grill.
 
This is the recipe I followed to smoke my salmon.

Dry brine method, for 1 salmon:
2 cups of brown sugar
1/2 cup of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of pepper

Mix up and coat the mixture generously all around salmon pieces in a pan, saran wrap and let sit in fridge overnight (8hrs). OK to stack pieces on top of each other. You should see a lot of fluid taken out of the salmon afterward.

Rinse pieces clean with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Place on dry rack (oiled) at room temp for 1-2hrs to develop the pellicle film.

Smoke in my pellet grill at 165deg for ~2hrs. At the last 30-minute brush on some apricot jam to get that glaze on. Enjoy!

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Adding @jasmillo, this guy catches a lot of fish.
 
One of my go-to preparations, especially for average sized coho is salmon cakes. Wrap the whole fish (minus head, those go in the tomato bed) in foil with a little drizzle of oil. Bake until cooked through and chill. Pick the meat and mix with mayo, panko crumbs, lightly cooked diced onion, garlic, roasted peppers, squeeze of lemon juice and about 1/4 can of chipotle peppers. Season to taste with salt. Form into cakes and dredge in panko (you need to press the cakes into the panko to get a good coating). Freeze on cookie sheet and bag up when frozen. Cook from frozen in skillet on medium heat with enough oil to properly brown the cakes.

It’s a bit of work up front but makes for an easy dinner fix from the freezer and is killer banh mi style on a crusty roll with mayo, cilantro, shredded carrots and jalapeños. I like that there is basically no wasted fish either.
 
Smoked Salmon Recipe:

I have never liked brining my fish in slimy soy-sauce-flavored sugar water, so I have moved to a dry brine recipe.

Two cups salt, two cups brown sugar. Mix 3-4 Tbsp of ground cloves and a bunch of ground bay leaves into the sugar-salt mix.

I wash my salmon pieces, score thicker fillets so there's more surface area, then dredge the fillets or chunks in it and dump them in a bowl for half an hour or so.

Rinse the fish well, and let it air-dry until it's tacky and the pellicle has formed.

Then I wrap the Big Chief in water-heater insulation and smoke it for 3-6 hours depending on outside temperature.
 
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