For My Sister

I have all kinds of things to write about since my parents are here and Ana had HER field day yesterday but my sister asked me how I make this salmon because she is heading to the coast for her (Big Milestone) birthday and she wants to make it when she gets there. So, once again, I will endeavor to showcase my rockstar cooking prowess. (By which I mean I probably should have hired a cook.)

Smoked Salmon on the Grill

First, you light some coals.

THEN, you make a pan out of tinfoil.

And you put the salmon into it.

Wait! Wait! BEFORE you start drinking wine, make sure you take some wood chips
and soak them in a bowl. (They can stain so use a bowl you don't care too much about.)

Okay, now it's safe to pour yourself a glass. If you start drinking before you soak the wood chips, there's a danger you'll forget and then there you'll be with smokeless smoked salmon. (Don't ask me how I know this. Let's just move along, shall we?)

When the coals have grayed over, dump them to one side of the grill, like so:

And now go back and adjust your grill plate, in case you didn't do it right the first time, so that the opening is above the coals. You'll need it later.

Now, place the tinfoil pan with the salmon on the grill on the side that's away from the coals.

Splash it with some Allegro marinade. I only had the spicy one for some reason but the non-spicy one is actually better if you like to keep the skin on the roof of your mouth.

Then open the gate-thingy and put a handful or two of the wood chips on the coals. (Here's where it becomes really clear that you need to have the chips soaked. Because if you don't soak them first, they still smoke but they catch FIRE, which leaves you no recourse but to douse them with water. Which puts the coals out and then, my friend, you are, in technical cooking terms, totally screwed up a creek without a paddle. Just, um, sayin'.)

So, now your grill should look something like this:

Now you put the lid on top with the holes over the salmon so the draft draws the smoke over the fish itself.

Set your timer for 30 minutes (don't forget (wine) or it's likely you'll let it smoke too long and it will dry out and be inedible unless mixed with a lot of cream cheese, lemon juice and scallions. Whereupon you can call it salmon mousse, but it's a waste of wild salmon which isn't exactly cheap these days.) You can watch my animals playing in the yard during this time if you want. (Ana took these pictures.)
(Sydney was inside waiting for her dinner.)

Anyway, if the smoke stops billowing (this is not the most earth-friendly recipe) just throw another handful of chips on. After about 30 minutes, you should have salmon that looks like this.

Voila! (Which I saw spelled recently as "Well-ah." Honest.) I don't know why I always feel like the Swedish Chef when I attempt to blog a recipe but there ya have it.

Happy Birthday, my Sisu. I love you! (And honest, you don't look a day over 25.)