BlatherMunch18: blasted sockeye!

I don't think all that much of the sockeye salmon, despite its designer-fish reputation and the popularity that's sprung from its recognizability, good looks, and lower price.

Sockeye is pretty. The meat is bright orange -- the Japanese love it for sushi -- but all-in all, it doesn't have the fat and  lacks the flavor of a big King.

(Mr. Sockeye: "I am a great fish, I am not a great salmon.")

That said, it's the salmon we can afford these days. With King filets going for $25 a pound, suddenly the sockeye I disparage (like the snobbular Pacific Northwesterner I am) seems reasonable at $12.

Buying a whole salmon is the least expensive per pound way to go, but it behooves you to use all of it, if the economics are important to you. Fish butchers will usually fillet a fish for you but unless you actually use the head, tail and frame, it's still expensive.

I usually trim the meat left on the backbone and anything from the head and collar to sauté with browned garlic and olive oil for a quick pasta sauce or omelet garnish. I boil the bones and head for fish fumé.

For a whole sockeye, I stuff (and I mean stuff) it full of whole fresh herbs stems, seed and all and blast it in a hot oven. This is easy company fare, with the least amount of stress or guesswork around cooking the fish.

Blasted Sockeye

• 1 5-8 lb. head-on sockeye (or silver, pink or any lesser salmon)

• Armload of fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, tarragon, oregano, lemon balm, sage, mint... any, and every herb you've got growing or can get your hands on whole & fresh)

• Half a lemon, zested

• Salt & pepper

Lay the fish down on a flat broiler pan or plank. I cut 4 or 5 chevrons -- not too deep! -- down the shoulders of the fish.

Salt and pepper the inside of the fish. Add the lemon zest.

Twist and rub the herbs in wringing motions with your hands, then cram as many of them as you can in the cavity.

Squeeze the rest of the lemon into the herbs, discard.

Roast at 450F using the Canadian Cooking method (see below). (For small fish, this won't take but 25-30 minutes or so, but crank up your cooking fan, this can get smoky).

Pull the herbs out of the fish before serving. It makes a gorgeous presentation on a buffet table; the fish is infused with the heady aromatics of the many herbs. Serve it hot or cold, but room temperature is best.

The 10-Minute Rule or Canadian Cooking Method for Cooking Fish

The 10-Minute Rule is the best way to cook fish by roasting, baking, broiling, poaching, or steaming. It works for any fish except shellfish (which aren't really fish). It's almost fool-proof.

• Measure the fish at its thickest point. Use a tape measure. If the fish is stuffed or rolled, measure it after stuffing or rolling.

• Cook fish for 10 minutes per inch at 450F. Add 5 minutes to the total cooking time for fish cooked in foil or in sauce.

• Double the cooking time for frozen fish that has not been defrosted.

Comments

[joanie]

I just checked the refer and at our little store it is selling for $15.99 a pound! And I put it on the top of a very hot stove, salt and pepper really well, then finish if off with a little water and a lid.

Oh no! I hear you from here but it's good. I like simple.

Sure, I'd love king but sockeye is what they sell.

Also, one year I bought three Copper River whole salmon from Central Market, cut it up and froze it. Did my best to do it fast and air tight. I ended throwing most of it out. Last time I throw money away like that. Rather eat the store frozen when fresh is not available.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

I love my omega 3s!

[pthom]

This is a testament to a failed blog on talk radio who has to resort to restaurant reviews because he couldn't make anything he said politically relevant.

Luckily...he has his two faithful posters still here...the only two who have ever kept this dreck going: joanie, sparky.

[nevets]

$16.00 a lb for sockeye? A little steep if you ask me.

[meow]

p(itiful)thom
Can you link your spectacular blog on anything so we can reap your wisdom? We like the Sunday diversion - it's better than the Sunday funnies.

[Ask Andy]

What's failed is talk radio.

[chuck]

We sold an RV to a guy that lives in Frazier River, BC last week. When he came down to pick it up, he brought 50 lbs of fresh salmon plus some smoked for us to share. Made for a great July 4 Bar BQ.
Free salmon is almost extinct. We tried some of that farmed Atlantic stuff once. Had to darn near starve the cat to get him to eat it. That stuff is flavor free.

[sparky]

Farmed salmon is higher in PCBs, and they give it special food with dye in it so they will have the familiar red flesh color that people want.

ICK!

[KS]

Stay away from farm-raised salmon - mercury has been found in detectable amount. Wild Salmon is more expensive, but better for you - no detectable heavy metals. I try to have salmon at least once/week.

[chuck]

Oh my goodness!!!
Sparky and KS had the same thought at the same time. I think the jinx, you owe me a Pepsi thing I hear from my Grandbrats fits here.
Shhhh!! Do not tell joanie, her head will 'spload. This will be our little secret.
And thanks to both of you. No more of that farm raised stuff in my house.

[joanie]

Sorry, chucks. The same thought struck me as soon as I read your post. They say you aren't supposed to eat it very often (think I heard once a week maybe?) because it is actually dangerous.

NY Times did an investigation of restaurants (in NY City of course) and found that out of about seven restaurants advertising wild salmon only one was actually wild. The others all farmed. These were expensive and highly regarded restaurants.

We live in an area where we can still get it but who knows for how long. We talk a lot about global warming but I think food that lacks nutrition is going to be the death of us first!

Also, if you listened to left-wing radio, you'd probably have known this. (insert happy face)

(You know I had to add that)

[joanie]

And chucks, glad you're still selling RVs.

[pthom]

p(itiful)thom
Can you link your spectacular blog on anything so we can reap your wisdom? We like the Sunday diversion - it's better than the Sunday funnies.

Nope! :) I don't do a blog (I am not so pompous!). I just like to laugh at blogs that fail when they are pompous at the get-go. (This one sure was!)

[sparky]

Pdtuhfofman how was your trip down "south"?