A Taste of Home? Or at Least a Break from Virus Posts?

[Tommy T.]

Sorry I have no photos this time... I was too busy cooking, then eating!!!

But on Sunday night, I cooked up a special Seattle-style dinner for us:

Baked potatoes - standard fare for Americans, not so much for Filipinos, but L loves them with the butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, grated cheddar cheese and sour cream on top.

Lightly blanched fresh asparagus - cook in maybe 1/2" water with some olive oil sprinkled in. Blanch for only a few minutes then remove, drizzle with lemon or lime juice, some black pepper and maybe also a bit of garlic powder and salt, if desired.

Alder Smoked Salmon! - S & R seems to always carry frozen salmon fillets. Sure, they are likely farmed, but they are still salmon and quite flavourful. I take a 9 x 12" shallow baking pan and line it with aluminum foil inside and out. The outside protects the pan from soot and grease from the bbq and inside just makes clean-up a breeze.

I chop up an onion finely, several garlic cloves (more is better to me) and scatter them over the fillet that I have laid out in the pan. (I usually cut the fillet almost in half so that it will fit in the pan neatly, side to side, even with a bit of overlap). I sprinkle on salt and coarse ground pepper to taste. Then I slice up a fresh lemon or lime into maybe 1/8-1/4" slices, squeeze some of the juice onto the salmon then place the slices evenly on the fillet. I slice off some pats of salted butter and place these bits onto the lemon and salmon.

But, before I do all of that, I have already taken some alder wood chips - that I brought in from Seattle on my last return a couple years ago - and soaked them in a bowl of water for two or more hours. Not sure how to get more when I run out, but I brought in a LOT last trip....

I light off the bbq with L's favourite coconut charcoal and, when it gets nice and hot, spread it out and spread out the alder chips on top. They immediately start to smoke and then it's time to add the pan of fish on the grill. I use a Weber-type bbq so can somewhat control the airflow for the fire. As soon as the fish goes on, I close the lid - with all vents wide open top (and below) and set the timer for 20 minutes. Sometimes, here, I have to open the lid because the vents do not allow a lot of flow and the fire can sometimes cool down too much.

Anyway... the salmon is done when the lemon/lime slices on top start to brown a bit. It always seems to take about 20 minutes.

The salmon fillet can usually be easily separated from the skin and served.

It may not be the perfect NW Seattle meal, but it comes awfully close, in my opinion. L loves it as one of her favourite dishes with the potatoes and asparagus... Add a fresh garden salad and you will be busog, fat and happy. A nice wine or even beer goes well with it too.

Hope you can try it and enjoy it too!

Edited May 5, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Gator]

Sounds great! Thank for the recipe. I love fresh asparagus, but prefer it lightly roasted. Blanched first, the same as you do it, then tossed in some olive oil, salt and garlic. Finish with a bit of lemon or lime juice  

[Mike J]

19 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Baked potatoes - standard fare for Americans, not so much for Filipinos, but L loves them with the butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, grated cheddar cheese and sour cream on top.

WTH - no bacon bits????   Food sounds great.  BTW - you can order wood chips on Lazada.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Mike J

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

WTH - no bacon bits???? 

I have a couple of jars of Hormel Bacon Bits, but once opened, they mold out very quickly - even in the refrigerator. And I was too lazy to fry some fresh...

I just checked online with Lazada... They sell Cherry, Apple, Hickory, Acacia and other wood chips for bbq, but I could not find alder. If you are from the Pacific NW, you know that only alder really works well with salmon... For some reason, the tastes and aromas blend perfectly... I don't need any yet, but someday I will run out, so I am scouting now...

Edited May 4, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Mike J]

38 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I have a couple of jars of Hormel Bacon Bits, but once opened, they mold out very quickly - even in the refrigerator. And I was too lazy to fry some fresh...

I just checked online with Lazada... They sell Cherry, Apple, Hickory, Acacia and other wood chips for bbq, but I could not find alder. If you are from the Pacific NW, you know that only alder really works well with salmon... For some reason, the tastes and aromas blend perfectly... I don't need any yet, but someday I will run out, so I am scouting now...

Alder is also what I always used when I smoked salmon in my smoker.   I wonder how apple would taste?   You could order alder chips via Amazon but the shipping might be a bit high. 

[Tommy T.]

7 hours ago, Gator said:

I love fresh asparagus, but prefer it lightly roasted. Blanched first, the same as you do it, then tossed in some olive oil, salt and garlic. Finish with a bit of lemon or lime juice  

Yeah... that sounds perfect! I, too, prefer asparagus when lightly roasted on a bbq grill... But it is a bit fiddly for me and I am too lazy to tend to turning it constantly to make it just right. We love asparagus, but not the smell of burnt rubber later....

[Tommy T.]

5 minutes ago, Mike J said:

You could order alder chips via Amazon but the shipping might be a bit high. 

I think it would be prohibitively expensive considering that the wood chips are so cheap in Seattle, then tack on the shipping here? Oh well... keep on looking. Maybe next salmon I might try the apple and see how that goes?