Salmon

Something's fishy here
There are a lot of ways to prepare fish, but really only one thing matters: fresh fish. When we lived in Dupont, Steve Turella took Andrew and me salmon fishing on his dad's boat.  It was a lot of fun, and we caught some silver salmon. I remember when we filleted it, the inside was pink from eating shrimp in the Puget Sound. It was wonderful. Freshness matters. We typically make salmon with either asparagus or carrots as a side and fresh Focaccia bread. It's an easy meal that's healthy, tasty, and satisfying. I like the fish cooked to 135.
Medium: 130     Medium Well: 135     Well: 145
Ingredients

Salmon
  • 2 pounds of fresh salmon fillet (2 pounds of salmon fed 7 of us, so maybe less if there's less of you, makes sense, right?)
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
 
  • Heat oven to 350 degrees
Directions
  1. Make sure you have made the bread by now, if not, go to the focaccia bread recipe and make the bread so that the bread is ready to eat by the time the salmon is done.  If not, then it's a waste.  Nobody wants just fish for dinner, what are you thinking?
  2. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet (trust me, it makes cleaning up MUCH easier). 
  3. Place the salmon skin side down on the aluminum foil.
  4. Place the butter in a ramekin and melt it in the microwave until it is very soft and mostly liquid.
  5. Put the lemon juice in the butter (I usually just squirt a fair amount in until the butter is lemony flavored).
  6. Take a basting brush and brush the butter mixture on the salmon.
  7. Salt and pepper the salmon.
  8. Place it in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.  Usually about here, you should start checking the temperature of the fish.
  9. Put the thermometer into the middle until it is 135 degrees.
  10. Remove the fish, divide, and serve warm.