Grilled Salmon

We are very fortunate to have a few fisheries within a 100 mile radius of our home in addition to being able to fish ourselves.  It is an interesting way so spend a bit of time watching the fishing boat dock with their delicious cargo.  As a result we are able to enjoy local fish like perch, pickerel (walleye) and bass of a fairly regular basis.  Most of these fisheries also have fresh fish like Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, lake trout and whitefish as well as other fish and seafood.  We recently stopped at one of the fisheries, Purdy's Fisheries who have three locations in Ontario:  Grand Bend, Point Edward and Port Franks.

We live in a smaller community with two grocery stores but only one carries a very limited supply of fresh fish.  That fish is transported to the grocery store and while it is fresh fish, it is not a fresh as the fish at the fisheries.  We brought home a lovely pickerel fillet and salmon fillet.  I cooked them on foil over charcoal along with acorn squash wrapped in tin foil and grilled potatoes.
Salmon is a nice, sturdy fish that lends itself nicely to grilling directly on the rack, in a pouch or on a prepared cedar plank.  Pickerel, on the other hand is a bit more delicate and sticks to the grill easily so needs to be cooked on foil or in a foil packet when grilling.  The fillets were lightly seasoned with lemon juice, butter and garlic pepper.

Fish is the ideal fast food because it does cook quite quickly.   Charcoal adds a lovely flavour to the fish that can be enhanced using wood chips if desired.  Salmon can be cooked to rare if desired but pickerel should be grilled until the flesh is opaque and flakey yet moist.  It is important to not overcook the fish as it will become dry.  Place the fish on a baking sheet with holes or tin foil with a few holes poked into it.  Let the fish fillets cook without turning.

We certainly love our fish but the two fillets were too much for dinner.  I vacuum sealed the remainder of the salmon fillet to be frozen.  Pre-cooked like this, salmon is excellent for making salmon dip for entertaining, flaked for salmon sandwiches or used in seafood chowder.  It certainly will not go to waste!

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