If you read my Outdoors column then you know that I visited Waterfall Resort Alaska a few weeks ago. It was an awesome trip. Beautiful scenery, great accommodations, great fishing….. great everything. But one thing that makes the sweetness of the trip linger throughout the year is that we got to bring back 150 pounds of fillets. That’s nearly ½ pound of fish every day for the upcoming year!
But that brings up the next thought, how do I cook my fish to maximize my eating pleasure-to make eating fish a pleasant experience? At a Church I used to go to I had a lot of Hispanic buddies. We’d get together for dinners and fellowship. I remember the first time they invited me to one of their dinners. I told them I’d bring some smoked salmon. They told me that Hispanics didn’t really like fish. I told him that’s because they’d never had good fish. I went ahead and took some smoked salmon to the first get together. After that they invited me to every one of their get togethers. I’m not real sure that they actually liked me or that they just like smoked salmon!
You may laugh about the above story but really it depicts the plight of a lot of people. A meal of fish can either be the rankest meal that you’ve ever had, or it can be the best. It’s according to three factors:
1.The species of fish.
2. How it is prepared.
3. If it is fresh.
On top of the beautiful scenery, the fun you’ll have you’ll have a cooler full of fish to eat for the next year.
So, a fish meal can be either awesome or horrible with no in-between. Even Benjamin Franklin said that both company and fish stink after three days! So, what do we need to do to make eating fish a pleasant experience? First, you need to prepare it correctly. If you do it right, it will work out for your good. Let me share two stories.
One time my brother Eddy was wanting to go to Alaska. Money was a little tight in the little Claycomb family budget. I told him I didn’t think that I could go that year. Katy found out and told me to get to Alaska, she wanted some salmon. That is an awesome position to be in-where your wife is pushing you to go to Alaska fishing! That’s like manna from heaven!
Second story. The other day when we were flying home from Alaska Katy said “Tom, let’s buy a house in Alaska. Whoa, is this really Katy talking??? I’m all in but due to the small shred of integrity that I had left in me I said “Katy, I hear that winters can be brutal since there’s only 2-3 hours of daylight. She thought for a brief moment and then said OK, why don’t you be a guide and I can work in the kitchen of the lodge at Waterfall Resort Alaska. Whoa! I don’t know who this woman is that I’m flying home with but I’m definitely in love. I mean head over heels in love. She is like the girl you dream of.
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a b-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.
Blackened halibut with a moist center is delicious!
SALMON
OK, it’s hard to screw up salmon but here’s how we like it. I make the following marinate:
One cup of brown sugar
One cup of white sugar
½ cup of salt
A ½ teaspoon of ginger
A couple of cups of water
I mix the above ingredients in a bowl and pour in a bag. Put the fillet in the bag. In the old days, twenty something years ago I’d marinate my salmon fillets in a pan. But now I marinate them in a bag. Squeeze the air out and the marinate is touching 100% of the fillet. When you need to flip over just turn the bag over and the marinate is hitting the other side.
Marinate it for at least four if not 24 hours. Then, pull it out of the bag. Every recipe that I’ve ever seen says to pat the fillet dry. I don’t know what the purpose of patting it dry is so I don’t do it. I then throw it on my smoker.
Oh, but before I put it in the marinate, I use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull all of the bones out of the fillet. This does two things. It removes the bones so you don’t have to eat around them, and it also allows the marinate to permeate the fillet.
In the old days, I smoked my salmon in a pan. But now, I smoke them on a board. Here’s why. If you smoke it in a pan, it has the texture of a broiled fish. Which is ok, but not excellent. Smoked on a board the juices run off and it has a dried, almost jerky outside texture. I don’t over smoke my salmon, that way the outside is almost jerky like, but the inside is moist.
Ok, no doubt, using a real smoker is the ultimate but it is super-fast and easy to use a Camp Chef pellet smoker. I fire up my Camp Chef and lay the salmon fillets on a board on the smoker and cook the fillet. When it is done, I drizzle honey over it, heat it for five more minutes and then it is ready to eat. If you don’t love salmon cooked this way then you need to become a vegetarian.
Which speaking of, I used to work with a girl that was a vegetarian. One time I smoked a salmon and brought some to work. I told her I’d keep watch, and she could go in the closet and eat some. She said Tom, you’re horrible, quit tempting me. But ok, give me a small piece and I’ll take it home and eat on my salad. Smoked salmon is that good that even vegetarians eat it.
HALIBUT
I blackened some halibut the other day that was unbelievable. Ok, you know how that Mexican food has revolutionized the food world, right? Cajun food is even better. Here’s how to do it. Melt some butter in a Camp Chef cast iron skillet. Dip the fillets in the skillet and then lay them on a plate. Sprinkle both sides with Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Red Fish spices. The butter holds on the spices.
Everyone will tell you to turn up the heat on the skillet until it is smoking. I don’t do it quite that hot but regardless, throw on the fillets and blacken on both sides. You want to blacken the fillets but you want the fillets to be moist inside. I can’t tell you how good these are.
On your cod fish dust with your favorite breading or batter. An old buddy Kristy sent me a bag of her favorite breading that I’ve been using called Superb Blend. Or for a thick batter use pancake mix. Alaskans like Panko. After breading, throw in a hot Camp Chef cast iron skillet and fry until done. This makes great fish and chips.
I have one more great halibut recipe but we are out of room. The above recipes should prevent you from starving to death. Happy eating!
PS — Wilbur corrected me on my last article. I stated that Kokanee are land locked Silvers, they are land locked sockeye. Sorry for the misquote.