Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Simple recipes for Cod and Salmon?

We are picking up more of these two spieces and thought I'd ask here for some easy recipes. I'd like to try baking, pan frying and using our charcoal grill.
Thanks

Cod fillets usually get either battered and deep fried (rarely) or pan fried in olive oil and butter with different spices depending on mood and whats on hand. Sometimes crushed garlic, sometimes lemon pepper, sometimes a commercial fish rub mix. Cod will bake fine, but I prefer pan fried. I don't use bread crumbs or anything when pan frying. I usually use non salted butter and a no salt lemon/pepper mix - cod doesn't need it to my taste.

Salmon fillets are great on the grill. Skin on of course. Firmer fillets I'll season and cook flesh side down for 5-10 min on medium heat, then turn over to finish skin down. Softer or more delicate fillets go skin down entire time, or if real "weak" I'll cook on a pieces of aluminum foil. Grate needs to be real clean and oiled to keep them from sticking. There's enough in oil in salmon that I use dry spices, no marinades. Have used all kinds of stuff that works well - cajun spices, good old lemon pepper, lemon and dill, various premixed fish rubs. Try a cajun type spice or another mix with paprika in it at least once - its good. Did try one mix that was heavy on the tarragon and didn't really care for that one. For baked salmon lemon, lemon & pepper, Lemon & dill, or all three works pretty good.

Years ago I did cook whole salmon on the grill in sort of a poaching method. Put sliced onions, lemon and pepper in the body cavity. Make a "boat" out of foil large enough for the fish, add enough beer to fill whatever space there is in boat without overflowing, cover fairly tightly with another piece of foil so moisture doesn't all boil out, then put in on the grill for awhile (our timing wasn't real precise - wasn't just the salmon getting beer). We'd probably cook a 4-6 lb salmon a half hour or so over a fairly hot charcoal grill. Definitely wanted to hear it bubbling. Came out pretty good and was an easy way to cook a whole fish - but you do need a few people to help eat.

I go for simple - usually dry spices then on the heat. If I remember I'll put the spices in a half hour or so before cooking.

I bake a lot of salmon fillets. I use basic dry spices like black pepper, salt, garlic powder, basil, brown sugar. Honey and a couple pats of butter help make a tasty sauce. Once in a while I will put lemon slices on top. Close it up in foil and bake away.

RE: Salmon

I agree with MikeL when preparing a large filet of Alaskan Wild or Lake Superior Salmon or Lake Trout. Grilling adds great flavor. I like to pat dry the filet, apply a thin coat of olive oil on both sides of the filet. I will shake on a good quality Smoked Paprika, bit of salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

The other seasoning I like is a butter, dill & lemon basted onto the flesh side. I do not season the skin side, but like MikeL, I first grill flesh side down, then finish to flaky perfection on the skin side down with the cover down adding more of that gill flavor.

I like to serve with white and real Minnesota Wild rice (Uncle Bens is good, but I make my own rice medley with onions & cranberries) & grilled green beans, asparagus, Or summer squash & zucchini & tomatoe (halved or quartered), rolls/bread and maybe a salad (a good time to try some of those salad dressings in a previous post)!

I have had good success with broiling if a grill is not available.

The poached recipe sounds great, may try that too.

FishingHank has a good one too - maybe serve with yams or sweet potatoe with some of that sauce.

I have yet to try grilling on a cedar plank, but have heard the cedar lends a good flavor as well.

Forgot all about planking. I actually have some cedar cooking planks somewhere - need to dig them out.

I've also wrapped salmon in very thin cedar sheets and baked - worked ok but its a little too fussy for me soaking the cedar until flexible enough to wrap around the fish and tying them off.

The other thing is to pick up a smoking box or tube to hold wet wood chips in a covered grill.

The wood wraps and chips I had came from http://www.kellycraigllc.com/home, but you can get planks and chips lots of places or make your own. The wood wraps would be tricky to make.

Rely on the Canadian School (or Method) of Fish Cooking! Ten minutes per inch of thickness, max... salmon is usually better at eight minutes when direct cooking.

http://orcabayseafoods.com/cooking-tips/the-10-minute-rule-for-cooking-fish/

Several responders obviously like their fish overdone.

The Double Musky Coconut Salmon is the only salmon I will ever order in a restaurant. It is incredible and the sauce makes it!

Rather than typing it out, here is a link to the recipe. This is one of my very few fried fish standards and it is a good one.

http://cookingandkitchenstories.blogspot.com/2008/10/coconut-salmon-w-sweet-sour-sauce.html


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Fish tacos with salmon and/or cod are very good... I have posted my method here a number of times and more than several folks have gone nuts over them... just did a search and found it...
Cut the fish into 1" cubes and put it in a bowl.
To it, add some pressed garlic, about half a dozen cloves.
Add a splash of oil (I use canola) (maybe a couple of tablespoons?)
and a splash of Yoshida's teriaki sauce. (again, maybe a couple of tablespoons?)
Sprinkle in a generous amount of chili powder and some ground cumin. (a couple of tablespoons of the cp, and a couple of teaspoons of the cumin)

Stir it all up and let it sit for up to 30 minutes.

Pour it in a hot skillit and stir fry it until almost done.

In another skillit, heat some oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Put in a corn tortilla, flip it and then add some of the fish mixture. It doesn't take much, just a couple of small spoonfuls.

Turn the tortilla in half and fry on each side a minute or two.

Take it out and set it on a plate covered with a paper towel.

Keep doing that until the fish is gone.

Garnish with the usual stuff, grated cheese, jalepenos, lettuce, sour cream, etc.

Sorry I can't supply exact measurements of everything. I just sprinkle it in, and you'll figure it out.

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Blackening works for either, but cod is more delicate and prone to falling apart.

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Just dusting the cod fillets with flour before frying in butter is very good... do not overcook!

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Halibut Olympia is improved by substituting cod...

If you want to really experiment, here is a direction rather than a detailed recipe. One summer when we had abundant salmon, I first tried this.

Cut firm salmon carefully into approximate cubes 1 ¼ inch on a side. Mix a sauce to taste. I can't remember details and make this up each time from what is on hand. I do a mix of Thousand Island dressing, Caesar dressing, soy, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, liquid smoke, maybe a smidge of honey, any spice that goes well with fish and tinker with it till it tastes good to me. (Teriyaki sauce, barbecue sauce, Miracle Whip, Greek salad dressing, seafood cocktail sauce, almond butter etc. all have potential). This is one of the times when I wish that I had written down the original because it was fabulous.

Spray a large cast iron skillet with non-stick. In thin olive oil start the salmon chunks cooking on low to medium heat in the large cast iron skillet, turning gently with a couple of big spoons or heat capable spatulas to get a couple of sides lightly seared. Pour in the sauce when the salmon is about half cooked and let it bubble and cook gently, carefully turning salmon chunks as needed till done. Careful or they fall apart. I normally start with enough sauce to about/barely cover the salmon chunks. I usually slide the whole into a big mixing bowl to set on the table but it can be served on each plate from the skillet. Guests have raved about it, family wants it whenever we have salmon.

Sorry for no recipe. Just fiddle with taste till you like it.

This from a family that has come close to OD on salmon a few times and who love it grilled, smoked, barbecued, splayed on sticks beside a fire, pan fried and even microwaved for a late night snack.

For fresh salmon, I like to keep it simple. Take a stick of butter (or 1/2c evoo) add a heaping T of diced fresh dill, 3-5 cloves of diced garlic and the juice of 1/2 lemon. If you used butter, combine then put in the freezer to firm up. If evoo combine in a small bowl.



Add a chunk of alder on top of a pile of hot coals.



Put fillet skin side down on foil covered grill and top with slabs of seasoned butter or brush on seasoned evoo



Cook until the flesh just firms up, ideally just prior to the interior flesh changing color and it finishes up over retained heat



Goes great with a saffron rice and ice cold Alaskan amber

Not a huge fan of cod, but topping with mayo mixed with red Thai chilli paste and baked at 425 until it firms up isn't 1/2 bad for any white fish.

You can also take the fillets, cut them into ~1" wide strips, form a circle with the strip held together with a toothpick and stuff the center with mixture of sour creme, cocktail shrimp, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and after stuffing dust with paprika. Again back at 425 until firmed up.

!!!!!

Thanks very much fellas! I've got a lot of experiment with! I'm glad I asked cause salmon and cod are rather new to us.
Thanks again.

Salmon on a pre-soaked cedar plank with Dijon mustard and pure maple syrup,,,or use brown sugar in a pinch. S & P. Grill on high heat for 20 minutes. Delicious!