Since it is the beginning of the season, and everyone here is getting set to lay the smack down on some of our favorite fish, I thought I would share my 10 favorite recipes for cooking this delicacy. So here they are…my ten favorite ways to eat salmon!

Smoked Salmon Brine
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce
1 gallon of water
I prefer to start with a batch of fresh salmon fillets with the skin still on them.  Soak fish for 14 to 24 hours (usually about 20 hours).  Rinse well and allow to dry slightly on newspaper.  Place on the smoker rack skin side down.  With my Big Chief electric smoker it takes 10-12 hours.  Use apple, cherry or hickory for wood.   Cook until they are golden on the outside and flakey on the inside.  Place in Ziploc bags while still warm and refrigerate or just EAT!

Fish Basket Salmon
Get a gallon size Ziploc bag, and pour a quarter cup of olive oil inside. Then dump two heaping tablespoons of blackened fish seasoning inside the bag. Add a half tablespoon of Tarragon seasoning, along with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, and thoroughly mix everything inside the bag. I also add a couple shakes of minced onions and garlic to the bag. Take 2 or 3 pounds of skinless, boneless salmon pieces and cut them into nugget sized pieces.  Rinse and dry them, then dump them in the Ziploc bag. Work the bag until all of the pieces are thoroughly covered with the mixture, then stick in the fridge and marinate it for a good 24 hours. Stick the fish directly from the bag into a fish basket, and grill until it's done.  This is great hot and even better cold!

Blackened Salmon
To make this, you should plan to cook it outside or your house will be full of smoke.  Get either a cast iron skillet or an electric frying pan as hot as you possibly can before adding the fish to it.. Cut your fish into hamburger-sized chunks.  Start by soaking the salmon in olive oil.  If you have skinless fillets soak both sides and season both sides. If it is  a fillet with the skin on, soak only the meat side.  Soak it for 45 minutes to an hour and then sprinkle on Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic.  Pat this onto the olive oil side.  Put it on the hot skillet meat side down and leave it on the first side until it is cooked most of the way through.  Then flip over and let it finish cooking.  If you now have the skin side down, use a spatula to just remove the meat and leave the skin on the skillet.  I serve this with sautéed mushrooms and onions on top of the salmon.

Salmon on a Plank
Start by marinating a fillet overnight with the skin on.  The marinade consists of 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup canning salt and a half gallon of water.  Soak an untreated cedar plank in water for 1 hour.  Put the plank on the grill with the skin from the salmon fillet directly on the plank.  I put lemon pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic powder on mine.  Cook on the grill on medium heat until the meat flakes off.  Enjoy.

Uncle Mike’s Salmon
Mix 1/3 cup soy sauce to 2/3 cup homemade maple syrup.  Marinade your fillets in this overnight.  When ready to cook, put on tinfoil or place on a cookie sheet.   I add sliced lemons, peppers, and onions to mine.  Put on the grill and cook to perfection.  It is ready when it has a gold tint to it and the meat is white and flakey.  When served you can spatula the meat right off the skin

Red Rider’s Salmon Dip
Smoked fish dip:
8oz softened cream cheese
8oz sour cream
beat until creamy/add:

2T chop onion
2T chop chives
1T lemon juice
1/2 tsp Lawreys seasoned salt
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes garlic salt
3-4 dashes pepper
Mix well and add 2 cups of Red Rider’s flaked smoked fish. You can use your own smoked fish but, I bet it won't be as good. Enjoy! 

Canned Salmon
Start with boneless and skinless salmon chunks.  One 18# salmon will make about 8 pints.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  Fill a pint jar half full of fish and add:
 
1/2 teaspoon pickling salt
1 teaspoon ketchup
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce or Tabasco
 
Fill jar with more fish, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Close the lids and pressure cook 100 min. at 10# pressure.  I know there are many ways to enjoy this, but I prefer it chilled with Tabasco on crackers.

BBQ Salmon
Debone salmon. Remove lateral line, skin and ALL dark meat. Cut the salmon chunks in nugget-sized chunks. At this point, I give the fish a quick rinse in a bowl of cold water.  Drain off the water and pat the salmon chunks dry on paper towels.
Marinate the salmon chunks over night in BBQ sauce.  I prefer Sweet Baby Rays. The next day, wrap each piece of salmon in 1/3 to 1/2 a strip of bacon. Put a toothpick through each one or line several up on a bamboo ka-bob skewer. Rub a little extra BBQ sauce over the finished product. Place on a pre-heated grill over medium heat for a couple minutes on each side until the bacon is done. Don't eat the toothpick or skewer.

Willie Bee’s 6 Pack Salmon
For the grill or oven, take a raised side cookie sheet, wrap it in aluminum foil and form an edge around it. Place 2 skinned fillets in middle of a cookie sheet; add a good amount of butter, depending on the size of the fish. Salt and lightly pepper, add plenty of diced onions and some caraway seeds, put slices of lemon on the top and cover with 1 to 2 cans of your favorite beer. Bud Light works great. Put in the oven at 400 or on a hot grill and with a little help drink the other 4 beers and the fish will be done when flakey. This is excellent with a fresh king or rainbow.

Quick Fish Boil
This is a really quick and easy supper to make.  When I package my fish for the freezer, I always make sure I have a few packs that are skinless and boneless.  I put about a pound of meat in a vacuum seal freezer bag, and then add diced onions, diced jalapeño peppers, and now potatoes.  Then vacuum seal and freeze.  I normally take this directly out of the freezer and into a kettle of boiling water.  Put bag and all the goodies right in the water and boil until cooked.  Cut open and serve.  One of my favorite things about this one is that you don’t have to plan ahead.

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