Pacific Wild Pink Salmon...A Whole New Experience.

The other day Maria and I were shopping at our neighborhood supermarket, passed by the frozen fish section and my eye caught a 20 inch (50 cm) long headless fish which looked like salmon...



There was a whole stack of them showing that people were not buying it. As I picked one up, the hardly legible tag on it read: Wild Pacific Pink Salmon. Maria and I kept a poker-face and put it in our basket! We did not want to show our happiness for finding such a salmon, instead of the fatty, sometimes artificially colored red, fishery raised Atlantic type salmon because the word would get around and everybody would be buying it!! This fish is lean, mean, naturally pink, with good, healthy Omega 3 in it.

My daughter Barbara, is very susceptible to tastes and heavy oils.  She cannot eat fishery grown salmon, but she loves this wild one.The fishery type salmon is very fat and oily and difficult to eat without feeling nauseous reason being that wild salmon is free range, exercises and consequently gets leaner, and eats natural food from the ocean, but the fishery type has a limited space to swim around in, no exercise and eats what it is given which is not always what's best for it.
 
This fish defrosted completely in two hours when immersed in tap water.

Started to filet with a special filet knife.

The result was quite good but not good enough. My cut was not decisive...made many little cuts which is wrong. As soon as you start to filet a fish you would want to do it in one go from head to tail or vice versa.
I like to leave the skin on because it protects the fish from falling apart. You can always take it off after it is cooked.

My First Time To Filet A Fish.

If you prefer to have the salmon stuffed then you do not filet it, but open the belly so:
Then you stuff it with what ever you wish, usually fresh dill, rosemary, parsley, thyme, or leeks, and wrap it tightly in a parchment paper lined aluminum foil and bake it for 7 minutes max in 200 degrees C oven.
If you prefer to filet the fish:
You will need:
Serves 3 or 6 if you use one or both sides of the fish.
-  Cut one side in three. Or both sides. Keep skin part down,
-  2 medium leeks thinly sliced only the white part.
-  2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil.
-  Juice of 1 lemon.
-  ¼ cup white wine.
-  Salt, pepper, and some sliced chili peppers (optional).
Method:
-  Line a baking dish with aluminum foil, then line the aluminum foil with parchment paper.
-  Saute the sliced leeks till they are soft, add the wine, simmer till the wine odor is expelled.
-  Divide the saute leeks into three and transfer to lined oven proof dish.
-  Lay each filet on a "bed" of soft leeks. (The delicate taste of the leeks goes very well with the salmon).

-  Add olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper, and if you wish, the chili.
-  Wrap tightly, and bake for 7 - 8 minutes max. in 200 degrees C.
Unwrap, and serve with steamed baby potatoes and broccoli.
Enjoy!
Stelio