I like to broil salmon and trout. There are many ways to do it. Here is one way I have found that works well. And it is FAST.
First, find a sale on salmon or your trout (that is the time consuming part). I got Steelhead Trout for a song and then went back to produce for limes.
FYI… Steelhead Trout and Salmon, different species of the same genus, are virtually interchangeable.
Slice long slashes and insert thin half-slices of lime. I gave it a good coating of garlic-infused olive oil and ground pepper over it.
Broil for just a few minutes, not real close to the heat source. Salmon will cook quickly. You don’t want to ruin it by overcooking it into fibrous slab. The tomatoes could have had more time, but they were good.
Dressed up.
Salmon with lime and garlic-oil.
Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.
By interchangable are you saying they taste the same? I love salmon. [It’s very much like.] I’ve not tried steelhead trout. I’ve had some other lake trout and was not pleased. I have thought I just don’t care for freshwater fish, shellfish, etc.
Yummy. And nice to look at–cookbook please
Father Why not grill the fish? [Ummm… because I…. wanted to broil it?] It’s hot enough; is there a problem grilling salmon/steelhead we should be aware of?
Looks delectable and will try this next time I fix salmon. BTW, saw limes for 12 for a buck here in Utah yesterday. This with key lime pie for dessert would make for a true Lime-O-Rama.
@Grabski, perhaps it’s the tendency for fish to come apart almost like orange slices when pressure is applied and they’re fully cooked, rather than stick together like a cut of meat. Sure it’s more noticeable in some fish than others, and sure it doesn’t usually make much difference when cooking fish, but personally I know I’d expect too much of my meal to fall through the grill. It is a nice idea though, so if anyone wants to tell me they’ve done it with no problem, or I’m buying the wrong kind’a fish, I’d be pleasantly surprised. (Although… I can’t grill here. Apartment rules. Oh well, someday, some other place.)
And to think I had cheese and crackers for dinner and cheap burgundy. Oh well . . . .
The Cobbler Thanks for that; wasn’t sure. But couldn’t you use tin foil and punch holes in it to make sure it doesn’t fall through the (grill) cracks?
Looks scrumptious! I went with cheese and crackers, as well, sans burgundy : (
This is cosmic: I just came back from Costco, where the salmon of song price lives, and have a bunch of limes and cherry tomatoes that need to be used. I’m on it!
My easy-peasy take on salmon… A Sweet vermouth, ginger, & honey marinade. Preheat oven with cookie sheet in oven @ 400 degrees. Place fillets on smoking hot cookie sheet to begin carmelization, for first 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 for last 12-15 minutes. Et voila! Result is restaurant style texture at home.
We grill salmon on a sort of expanded mesh thing that is for cooking, but it looks just like the stuff I see in hardware stores to put on gutters to keep the leaves out. There is such record heat here that using a broiler briefly might be cooler.
bbmoe: Let us know how it goes!
What is the difference between grilling and broiling?
I take grilling to be outside and broiling inside. That might be a regional thing.
@Grabski: That would work, though I wonder how well it’d capture the grilly flavor–unless you laid it on the foil without wrapping it and then covered the grill to retain the smoke… yeah, seems like that would work after all, wonder why I didn’t think of it before!
Norah – Basically, it’s just the direction of heat application. Both are direct, high-heat cooking methods – broiling from above the food, grilling from below.
I’m going to try it next week! Something aside from the mundane American meatless meals will be whiz-bang !
Broiling is done in an oven with the heat coming from above the food. Grilling the heat emanates from below the food.
Looks delicious, heart-healthy, too. I think it’s cool that you take the time and the effort to make a pleasing presentation, as well. Enjoy and thanks for the post.
Fish on Friday, great book of short stories!!
We cook it in foil with either lemon and white wine or orange and red wine. I will try lime and white wine.
That’s a ‘5’ on the Drool Factor Scale. I love broiling fish, or grilling. When you’re ready [?!?] for some light fleshed fish, catfish, I’ll send a really easy and fun blackened recipe. You just need the cast iron skillet you used for the squirrel….
Bah! I cooked my salmon over a camp fire. Delicious and no clean up.
I like to grill it on the bar-b-q (mostly so my wife doesn’t complain about the FISH SMELL). I’m never sure if you are supposed to have the shiney or dull side of the foil touching the food.
Another type of fish I have begun to enjoy (and really cheap) is tilapia.
All right, here it is: you need dry catfish fillets. That means you need to have just cleaned it or pat dry with paper towels if you bought the fillets. If they are frozen (sigh) they should be completely thawed and dried. You need about eight ounces of fish per person. On the work space have ready Dijon style mustard, about a table spoon per fillet. About a cup of what I call Italian herb mix (basil, mint, parsley, chervil, oregano, and chives) fresh from the garden or recently dried, chopped finely and mixed in even ratios of each in the cup. Finally, you need just under a table spoon of olive oil or grape seed oil, some spicy dry rub, and a cast iron skillet. Get the skillet hot, but only about medium high, since you are using olive oil and the herbs might burn if the skillet is too hot. Look for the shimmer in the oil and that’s the time to cook.
Pre-heat you oven to 400 degrees. Get all your ingredients ready while the oven heats. When the oven is ready heat the skillet on the stove top on medium high heat. While the skillet is heating coat the dry fillets in the spicy rub. Coat ONE SIDE of the fillets with the Dijon mustard and pack on the herbs to cover the mustard so all you see is herbs and you can’t see much mustard. Get ALL the fillets ready. When you see the oil shimmer lay the fillets in the skillet with the mustard/herb side DOWN for about five minutes. Turn them over after the five minute mark and put the skillet in the oven for about ten minutes.
Notes:
Any oven safe skillet is OK as long as it is basically non-stick. Cast Iron is the best for this ESPECIALLY if you have to keep making fish in batches for friends. Cast Iron retains heat and cleans easily. Wear a mitt!
I make my mustard. Same for the spicy dry rub and herb mix. You can buy them, but if you do look for a farmers market or a trade with a nice lady who has a garden, I promise you can tell the difference. I also reload and my brother is a gunsmith, but that’s another story.
I often use grape seed oil because it has such a high smoke point the heat is not as big of an issue. This recipe is great in a camp over a real fire and the olive oil might smoke and burn on a fire when temps vary a lot.
You can tell the fillets are ready to turn when they slide easily to your spatula. But go by time as the basic metric and don’t mess with them until the five minute mark or it will make a mess. Like eggs or steaks.
Fill the skillet up with the fish as quickly as possible without letting them touch each other. This helps with the heat transfer and keeps the time before flipping and in the over more true to the recipe. Fewer fish means the skillet stays hotter and might burn the fish. You may have seen a similar issue with frying.
The recipe is as easy as garlic crostini with a searing step added.
This sort of searing/baking sequence works great on steaks, vegetables, nearly anything. It is basically the same heat control as grilling.
There you are!
I prefer my salmon smoked and accompanied with a nice crisp lager beer. That’s my vote, anyhow…