Fresh seafood on the grill, a sure sign of summer. And, what could be easier than grilling up some fresh salmon. One of the nice things about salmon is that you can get it pretty much wherever you live. No matter if you walk into a local fish market or grocery store with a descent seafood counter, you are bound to find a good supply of salmon filets.
More and more people are turning to a healthier fare for their backyard grilling and summer dining enjoyment. Salmon is a great grilling staple and it’s amazingly easy to prepare.
When you’re picking out salmon for the grill there will usually be some choices to make. Relax, they’re easy. There are several types which are readily available. Coho, pink and king lead the list. There will usually also be farm raised salmon and during some parts of the year, salmon from Alaska’s Copper River. For those who haven’t had it, the Copper River seems to have the perfect conditions for producing fantastic king, sockeye and coho salmon. Consider it a must buy, if it’s available and you have a little extra change in your pocket that week.
Here’s my method for preparing great grilled salmon. Of course, feel free to modify, experiment or change things to suit your own tastes.
How much to grill? For two people I usually cook 1 pound of fish. I portion it into 3 equal parts. I try and buy a middle piece, so the individual pieces are relatively the same thickness. I cut 3 pieces because I LOVE cold salmon for lunch the next day. Either straight out of the fridge, in a salad or as a sandwich.
Rub each filets all over with olive oil. Season with a good high quality sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Make sure to use a pretty liberal amount of each. Heat your grill (either gas or charcoal) to a high temperature. You can oil the grates before cooking to prevent the fish from sticking if that is something you like to do. I usually find the olive oil which I just rubbed on does the trick pretty well.
When the grill is hot, place salmon pieces skin side down on the grill. They should be directly over the coals or burner set to high (direct method). Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Carefully flip the pieces over and continue to grill covered for an additional 5 minutes. After lots of experimentation, I have found those cooking times produce the perfect piece of grilled salmon.
Remove immediately. There’s no need to let fish rest after grilling, so you can go ahead and eat, unless of course you want to take some pictures of your masterpiece. You can serve this with a fresh summer salad or as I did this night, a garlic couscous.
If you have a favorite way to grill some summer salmon. We would love it if you would share that with us (and the rest of the world of course).
Looking for a great couscous recipe? Our friends a Jen Reviews have a tasty one.
olive oil is very very tasty if you put it in fried foods and you can taste it raw too ;.~