The Fish - Grilled Salmon

It's Copper River salmon season, so I knew I had to serve salmon.  If I had do overs I'd rethink this course.  But remember back to the beginning of the meal when I served all the liquor?  That was so when this course came, you didn't notice my mistakes.  Unless, of course, you are Roy.  Well, others may have noticed as well, but were too polite to say anything!

Grilled Salmon with Lemon Butter

A perfectly cooked piece of salmon

 1 1/2 lbs fresh caught Copper River salmon fillet (mine was a king salmon)

Skin the fillet and remove any bones you find.  My husband will find any you don't find!  Cut the fish into six equal pieces.

Place each portion of salmon individually on a square of non-stick foil.  Fold foil over and crimp edges to make a packet.  Grill for 7-10 minutes (depending on the size of each piece) until done, turning once while cooking.  Serve with Lemon Butter.

To make lemon butter, melt 1/2 cup butter, add the juice of one lemon and heat through.

Grilled Asparagus and Garlic Spears

Wash and trim spears.  Toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Place on grill and cook for 10 minutes, or until asparagus is cooked but still crisp. 

This course was the most simple, and the most difficult.  When you cook salmon, timing is everything.  Which can be difficult in a multi-course meal.  In between eating the crab, and keeping my eye on the roast (which was cooking faster than I anticipated) I had to race out to the back deck to the barbeque grill to do the fish and asparagus.  The fish was portioned into foil packets, ready to place on the grill at the appropriate time.  The asparagus was ready to go on as well, and needed just a few moments longer to cook.  At the last minute at the store, I'd added garlic spears to my basket, to cook with the asparagus.  I'd never cooked them before, and I was intrigued by them.  I wasn't sure how they would turn out.  So I was juggling all this in my brain, which had been fogged over by this time by the previous glasses of wine!  30 seconds can make the difference between a perfectly cooked piece of fish, and one that is overcooked.  Unfortunately, I erred in the other direction.  Although my piece of fish was cooked perfectly, Roy's was a bit under done.  I apologize profusely!

Again with the do overs, I wish I'd reduced the lemon juice a bit before adding the butter.  It was just a bit too runny the way it was.  I think the intensity of the lemon would have helped as well.  Live and learn!

The wine, however, made up for at least part of my boo boos.  It was my favorite of the evening.  Boedecker Cellars Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2010.

It had a nice balance of fruit and acidity.  Very drinkable and went well with the fish.  Look for this one!

So, tomorrow we cleanse our palate.  Thank goodness!