Ooh...Sockeye!

I am really excited tonight because I FINALLY managed to find some quality Sockeye here in the Midwest.  I think Sockeye is one of the things I  miss most about Northwest summers.  Salmon is so important in the Northwest that the Sockeye season commences every year with a Salmon Days festival.  Oh how I miss Sockeye.  Oh how I miss eating salmon that is red and not light pink or white.  Oh how I miss walking outside and peering down into a creek and seeing hundreds of thousands of salmon spawning.  Oh how I miss salmon.  But I digress, I was at Sam's Club of all places and they had a special fish guy there (who knew!) who told me that the Sockeye was shipped fresh every Friday from Seattle.  Oh how excited that made me!  Even more exciting was that this past weekend it was only $8.99 a pound!  Oh yes, I had to buy some.  I was a little skeptical, especially after my Sockeye incident from last week, but it didn't have any odor and it seemed fresh, so that was encouraging.  So tonight I prepared the Sockeye, and oh boy was it yummy!  I have to tell you, I am a salmon snob, and even though it wasn't as good as if I had purchased it at Pike Place in downtown Seattle, it was still very worth it! Back home there are two ways I would prepare the Sockeye, the first is with lemon juice, rock salt, and brown sugar.  Marinate that overnight, remove the rock salt, and grill (this is the best way).  The second way would be very simply with lemon juice, garlic and dill, and the Cedar Plank it on the grill.  Tonight, I made a soy ginger glaze and I served this up with a nice rice pilaf and some broccoli that came from Abbe Hills Farm.  What a beautiful summer meal!


Tonight's Sockeye with a Soy Ginger Glaze

 

This is the color salmon should be!  RED!  BEAUTIFUL!

• 1-2 lbs fresh Sockeye fillets
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger root, micro-planed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1/8 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray generously with cooking spray.  Place the salmon on the foil.  In a bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together and pour over the salmon.  Place butter cubes over the top of the salmon.  Fold the foil into a little packet to tent the salmon.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the salmon flakes when a fork is inserted into the middle.  Enjoy!

The leftover fish is quite delicious served cold the next day on a salad, with crackers, or just by itself!

Until next time, happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!