Catch of the Day

As a child, I was very intrigued by what my mother, but particularly my grandmothers were cooking in the kitchen.  When I became a mother myself in 1989, I had dreams of passing those traditions down to my daughter, Alyssa.  Although she was not as intrigued by the mystique of cooking as I was, she did help assist with various holiday baking, which she still remembers to this day.

Now grown up and on her own, my daughter had a wonderful opportunity to go fishing off the coast of Seattle, where she now lives.  She had a great time and caught one large salmon, which was later cleaned and filleted for her.  She sent me this picture of her holding her great catch along with "How do I cook it?"

Alyssa caught the big one!

Salmon is one of my favorite fishes (and hers too!) and I love to try new and exciting recipes. One of my favorite go to recipes is for Barbecue Roasted Salmon.  This is the recipe I sent her to cook her freshly caught salmon that night along with rice pilaf and a salad. Keep in mind that she had just moved into her first apartment, so ingredients, utensils, etc. were very sparse at the time.  Later that night, I received pictures of her fresh salmon dinner masterpiece. Interestingly, she seemed to be quite pleasantly surprised when it turned out just like mine.  The proof that it was as good as she said it was is that there was not a flake of fish left- that's all you need to know that this recipe will be sure to reel you in, and before you know it, you'll be hooked on this salmon!

Nicely filleted salmon

The flavor of this salmon is an intriguing blend of sweet (thanks to brown sugar and cinnamon), spicy (chili powder and cumin lend a barbecue flavor), and tart (lemon rind).  You don't have to cook the salmon on a cedar plank, however I prefer to because the infusion of the cedar lends yet another layer of flavor.  

Barbecue Roasted Salmon

1/4 c pineapple juice
2 T fresh lemon juice

Roasting on the grill

4 (6 oz) salmon fillets
2 T brown sugar
4 t chili powder
2 t grated lemon rind
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt

Catch of the Day is served!

1/4 t cinnamon
lemon slices (optional)

Combine first three ingredients and let marinate in a shallow pan in refrigerator for one hour. Meantime, combine sugar and next 5 ingredients in a bowl.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees (or soak a cedar plan in cool water).  Remove fish from liquid and discard marinade.  Rub barbecue mixture over fish and place in 11 x 17 inch baking dish covered with cooking spray (or cedar plank).  Bake for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.  Serve with lemon slices.