Jim Minion's Salmon Recipe

Was that the brown sugar dry rub recipe on VWB? I was planning to try that myself. Sounds good

Don't know,but Jim has been written up in several magazines with the salmon recipes and a gracious member of our forum in sharing.

Private message him,and he'll get back to you.

Tom posted this in January 2004 so I tried it and am glad that I did:

This is our own Jim Minion's & Jack's recipe.

It is famous around the country,and rightly so.

I have used it a lot.

Posted by Jack on June 28, 2003 at 03:27:40: Cardogs� Award Winning Salmon

Try this recipe and see what you like best.
Jack
Smokin in the rain

Cardogs Award Winning Salmon
This recipe won a Reserve Champion ribbon at the Canadian BBQ Championship in 1999 at New Westminster, BC and 2002 2nd place at the Pacific NW Regional Championship Anything Butt Competition.

3 lb. filet of salmon - boned (preferably Sockeye or King)

Dry rub:
1 C light brown or turbinado sugar 1 T dill weed
1 C non-iodized salt 1 T summer savory
3 T granulated garlic 2 t tarragon
3 T granulated onion

Finishing rub:
½ C light brown or turbinado sugar
1 t summer savory
1 T granulated garlic
1 t tarragon
1 T granulated onion

Buy a fresh salmon filet, sockeye or king if available. Bone the filet using tweezers or needle nose pliers. Do not remove the skin. Place in a glass or stainless steel pan.

Mix all ingredients and pack on the flesh side of the filet. Let the filet rest for 3 hours. Rinse the filet in cool clean water to remove the dry rub and pat dry. Allow to dry for about 30 minutes, until the flesh becomes tacky.

Heat a BBQ grill to medium to medium-high. Sprinkle finishing rub on the filet (twice what you would use as if you were heavy salt and peppering). Cook with the lid closed to 155*F measured in the center of the thickest part filet.

I used my Elite at 225* for an hour then kicked it up to 250* for 25-30 minutes with 4 oz of Alder.

Enjoy.

OK. I did the pellicle thing (if that's what letting it dry for 30 minutes until the flesh becomes tacky is) because the recipe called for it. What does forming a pellicle accomplish? Inexperience showing.

The idea is that it forms a barrier to keep the moisture inside the fish...inside the fish.

It worked didn't it

Yep,you should see the co-cook when I first covered most of our open house with beer cans,covered with racks,covered with a couple cold,wet packs [130 lbs] ,shipped in from Alaska and ran all the fans for about 3 hrs to form pellicle.

We cooked every way,ate,and vac packed the rest.

It was a great experience,in a lot of ways.

The stuff you usually buy now,after 9/11,isn't worth all the effort/cost.

Since I'm here at the beach,guys do it for us,and I can buy 1/2 lb of 3,or 4,different products,they get fresh from the boats.

Yep. It worked.

I'm absolutely clueless on fish.

I assume to rest IN the fridge???

Do you sprinkle the finishing rub on the skin side or???

Do you place the fish directly on the grill or leave in glass container??? And skin side up or down?

Thanks
Briggsy

I should have been a little clearer. Yes, rest in the fridge packed with the rub. Once rinsed, patted dry, and aired for 30 minutes, finishing rub on the flesh with the skin side down on the grill grates. Or a fish basket or a wire mesh arrangement. Let the smoke get to it, although I'm not sure much smoke will penetrate the skin.

If you'all have access to nice salmon, you should try gravlax too.

First place one pork butt in smoker per your usual method. Set temp probe to desired final temp and let cook as usual. This step makes this a smoking post, so it's very important.

Then take two whole salmon fillets and coat flesh sides liberally with mixture of salt, sugar, black pepper, fresh dill and a sprinkle of vodka. Put the two sides together, flesh to flesh, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in baking dish and weight down with another dish filled with cans. Turn every 12 hours for 3 days, then unwrap, rinse lightly, slice thin off the skin, and eat on toast points with cognac dill mustard or cucumber/garlic sour cream. Yum.

How does anyone ever think up a recipe like that? Sounds good like sushi but is there a pickling process going on with the vodka?

What type of wood would you recommend for the PB?

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
How does anyone ever think up a recipe like that?

I always ask myself the same thing about tequila. Who would have consumed enough to find out there were benefits to drinking it? But the gravlax idea has been around since people on this continent were still living in caves. And you don't need the vodka, but it makes it cure a little faster.

Texture of gravlax is smoother than smoked salmon IMO. Very silky. Great on little rye toast points.

For sauce, use 1 cup good mayo, 1tbsp Dijon mustard, 1-2tbsp cognac and a several big sprigs of fresh dill(to taste). Blend. Enjoy.

You can add a touch of brown sugar and/or black pepper if desired. See what you like and go with it.

Here are some pictures of gravlax and instructions:
Gravlax For Engineers

Here are some guys that are known to use Cookshacks,and give some pretty good approaches to getting started with your fish.

3Men with Nothing Better to Do