One of the many benefits of making our home at Alaska West on the Kanektok River is that we’re right smack on top of a healthy, well-managed salmon fishery. Salmon runs in the Kanektok are big and consistent, and that gives us the privilege of allowing our guests to harvest some salmon during their trip.
Most of the salmon gets sent home with our guests to be shared with friends and family, but some of it gets eaten during a shore lunch – a nice optional break in the middle of the fishing day, when your guide cooks up some fresh salmon that you caught on the river that morning.
Our guides at Alaska West have prepared quite a few shore lunches, so we decided to start a little series in which we’ll pass on a favorite salmon recipe from a few of our senior guides. You can bet that in each case,
- It’s going to be simple to prepare since we do it out on the river.
- As long as the fish is fresh, it’s going to be real, real good.
Today we start with a favorite recipe from Rick Sisler!
Salmon and a Can
1 silver salmon fillet, skinned
1/2 large yellow onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp dill – fresh, if you have it
2 tsp lemon pepper
2 pats of butter
1 6 oz can of V-8 juice
First lay out enough tinfoil to fully wrap the fillet. Then you can season the fillet on both sides with the dill and lemon pepper.
Next cut slices of onion and place over the fillet evenly, then fine cut the garlic and sprinkle evenly on the fillet. Separate the butter into thirds and place on the fillet and then pop that can of V-8 juice after a good shake and pour evenly over the entire fillet.
Wrap the foil package as airtight as you can get it, then place into your heat source. This is best done over an open fire or barbecue, but it will be pretty good out of the oven at home if that’s your only option. Typically this recipe cooks in a matter of a few minutes as long as you have a consistent heat source.
I like the fact that with the extra moisture in the V-8 juice you can get away with overcooking the fish a bit if you happen to be busy netting fish for your guests!
For something different, I like equal parts mayo, bbq sauce and honey, mix it up, spread it on the salmon fillet and bbq (covered) until cooked.