Wild Atlantic Salmon

O.K., I'm a salmon snob, which is to say I like the wild salmon, not the farm raised mushy, strong/strange tasting fish.

Today at Roche Brothers in Wellesley, there was a fantastic looking piece of wild salmon. Kids, they don't give it away, and after I told the guy behind the fish counter to wrap it up, I damn near fainted when I looked at the price tag. Yikes!

The first thought had been to smoke it, but then it would taste like smoked salmon, good, to be sure, but it seemed too fine a fish to just smoke.

In mid-afternoon, I went thru my recipes, and nothing appealed. It was also raining buckets. I googled around and found Epicurious recipe for lime-grilled salmon with lime butter sauce. Shoot, we had limes and butter and salmon. I even had my few fancy plane grater like they use on the food channel.

Got busy again. Pretty soon it seemed like a good idea to start dinner. Ooops! Why is it so dark? Because the sun had set. I hustled about fixing the rice and broocoli and grating the lime rind with my new grater, careful not to mix in any bits of knuckle. No need for extra protein tonight.

The lime butter sauce went together quickly. Pitch dark now, raining dripping from the leaves, Significant Other's back out most mysteriously, and the fire just about ready. Put lantern out by grill. Puny insufficient light.

Take flashlight, timer, and fish to deck. S.O. puts fish on the grill. Timing to the minute. Turn fish. More timing. Fire kind of wimpy, fish not done. Or is it? Take flashlight to grill and inspect. Yes! Perfect. Carry fish gingerly into house, careful not to fall up stairs, or do anything really stupid like drop fish.

Cover with foil, bring food to the table. Sprinkle lime zest and lime butter sauce on fish. Looking truly succulent.

We eat!

Yowza, this is one for the books, but in a good way. Enough left for tomorrow. Sauce is dynamite. Salmon is moist and tastes like it should.

Bring in lantern, timer, tongs, spatlula, and whatever else was left in the dark. Remind self to get an earlier start now that the days grow short.

Feel virtuous for having a good well-balanced meal. No dessert tonight.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/GRILLED-SALMON-WITH-LIME-BUTTER-SAUCE-1222181

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Don't Rain on My Grill

All ready for a grilling extravaganza and here comes the bloody rain again. We have the cedar planks soaking, new barbeque tools, a slab of salmon from the ocean, not the farm, some squash and zucchini, everything for the grill. The salmon will receive a fab mint/mustard sauce that's to die for. Now rain, rain, go away.

I forgot to take a photo of last night's tomato bread salad; remembered when the bowl was, like, empty. It was all red, white and green just like the flag of Italy. And good! The tomatoes were like the platonic form of tomato--everything a tomato should be. Big, ripe, sharp and juicy. My god the juice! This was a winner.

Tuesday evening we motored down to Woods Hole to meet friends for dinner. Tried a fish place under new management. The Fishmonger. Was it ever good. Did I say good? It was superb. The Atlantic salmon was so toothsome that I just had to have some more tonight. The people who had scallops loved them, and the sea bass eaters were more than satisfied. So hie yourself over to the Fishmonger right in the port area in Woods Hole and have a fantastic feast before the rest of the world discovers it and the line it out the door.

Wine was good, too. Grilled asparagus exceptional. Done just right. How many times does THAT happen? I had a couscous salad as a side, and it tasted to bright and right, somehow, with the salmon.

I am a salmon snob, which is to say I turn up my nose at farmed, which has a weird color, a bizarre taste, and a suspcious texture. Sorry, the girl can't help it.

So here's to all the wild fish in the ocean and may they live a joyous life until the fisherman's hook or seine lands them. Fishy, fishy in the sea. . . . Does anyone remember how this goes?

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