Salmon

Salmon season is now open. This means an abundance of delicious, fresh wild-caught salmon will be gracing our plates through the summer. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy wild-caught, not farm-raised, salmon when possible—the flavor is well worth it!

Undoubtedly, fish is one of the more finicky and intimidating things to cook. Today I have a quick tip for cooking perfectly done fish that is not dried out, chalky or tasteless.

I usually buy large “sides” of skin-on salmon filets (3-4 lb) and use it all week for Vietnamese rolls, salads, pasta, sandwiches, croquets, or whatever else I fancy.  This technique will work will smaller filets (or other fishes), as well, with some minor adjustments.

Leaving the skin on will help retain moisture and prevent sticking in the cooking process. If, however, you prefer to buy skinless filets, that is fine, just be sure to liberally oil the side of the salmon that will be in contact with the surface of the cookie sheet.

Here goes:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
• Line a cookie sheet with foil (oil if cooking skinless filets)
• Rinse salmon with fresh cold water. Pat dry with paper towel
• Season however you like; I like to top mine with either:
• A mix of Tamari soy sauce (2 - 3 T), sesame oil (1 – 1.5 T), lime juice (1 – 2 limes), a drizzle of honey (1 T), and copious amounts of thinly sliced ginger, yellow and green onions
• Or, sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and spread a thin layer of pesto on top.

Then, the most important part (you will need a reliable timer for this!).

Place on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes; turn off oven and let sit for another 3 minutes; then remove from oven. Let sit an additional 2 minutes and serve! (If the filet is very thick--more than 1”—increase cooking time by 2 minutes.

This will cook the thickest part of the filet to a temperature of medium to medium well, leaving the tail (thinner end) closer to well, yet still moist and delicious.

This is the pesto version
(a recipe for the pesto will be in my forthcoming cookbook)

Enjoy!