Thanks to many millions poured into ongoing aquaculture, principally in British Columbia and Chile, volume and prices for fresh salmon have never been better…and there’s currently no shortage of wild salmon, which is preferable.

We developed the following method of preparing our personal catch from salmon fishing expeditions and the result is toothsome, to say the least!  Trick is to have a covered BBQ grill and to keep Salmon apart from the smoking wood…which must be the vine maple indigenous to western Oregon.

  Barbecured Salmon

 4-6# Salmon Fillet  ½ large Onion, sliced thinly
 ¼ lb. unsalted Butter
 Generous heaping of small sprigs of Vine Maple, soaked in water 1 hour
 Marinade:
 1 ½ cups Oregon Pinot Gris  ½ cup Olive Oil
 ¼ cup White Wine Vinegar  5 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
 Juice of one Lemon   Dill, fresh if available
 Salt, fresh ground Pepper, chopped Parsley

 Prepare a charcoal fire (or fire up a gas grill), arrange maple sprigs in pan or foil directly over the heat.  Place Salmon on a rack in another pan, skin side down.   Dot top side of fish with Butter & Onion slices.  Prepare marinade by blending ingredients.  As soon as smoke is being generated, place Salmon in grill and baste every 5 minutes with the marinade.  After 10 minutes, sprinkle Salmon with dry seasonings & Parsley, cook another 25 minutes.  You’ll wind up with a rare, juicy, lovingly flavored hunk o’ fish!

Following your grilled Salmon feast, if you have leftover fish, there’s a breakfast treat to prepare:

   Salmon Cakes

 1 lb. Salmon scraps  6 oz. fire roasted Red Peppers in oil
 4 Green Onions, sliced ½ cup crushed Soda Crackers
 1 Egg, beaten   2 tsp. Olive Oil

 Thoroughly mix all ingredients, form into patties.  Saute’ cakes in Olive Oil until nicely browned.

Here’s another Northwest seafood treat we titled Shrimp Delkin upon its creation…

   Shrimp Delkin 

 4 tbsp. unsalted Butter  4 tbsp. unsalted Butter
 4 tbsp. Flour    ½ cup Craft Beer
 1 cup ½ & ½ Milk   ½ cup Chicken Stock
 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar  1 tsp. Paprika
 2 tsp. Dry Mustard   1 lb. Oregon Shrimp
 2 lg. Green Onions, sliced  3 cloves peeled Garlic, chopped

 Stir up white sauce with Butter, Flour & Milk…add Beer, Paprika, Mustard, Garlic, Chicken Stock and briefly simmer…add Shrimp and warm.  Serve over Rice.

One more local seafood fling…

   Crab Stuffed Potatoes

 Shelled meat from one Dungeness Crab 4 large Russet baking Potatoes
 1 ½ cups Whipping Cream   2 tbsp. finely chopped White Onion
 1 Tomato, seeded and finely diced  ¼ cup chopped fresh Tarragon
 ¼ cup chopped Parsley   2 tbsp. fresh grated Parmesan 
 2 tsp. Sea Salt     2 tsp. fresh ground Pepper

 Preheat your oven to 400.  Scrub spuds, pierce w/fork and bake for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Increase oven to 450.  Cut top 1/3 off each Potato lengthwise.  Scoop out the pulp from the spuds, leaving skins intact. Mash spuds in a bowl, blending in as much Whipping Cream as necessary to make mixture spoonable but not runny.  Add Onion, Tomato, Tarragon, Parsley, Crab Meat, Salt & Pepper.  Spoon potato mixture back into the potato skins, sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.  Place spuds on baking sheet, place in heated oven for 15 minutes and serve at once.

© 2003 Oregon Magazine