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Alder Grilled Salmon

Number of Servings: 4-6King Salmon
Alaska

Ingredients:

3-4 pound salmon fillet with skin
1 cup butter
2 lemons
1/2 cup white cooking wine
Sprinkle of lemon pepper
Sprinkle of chopped parsley
Sprinkle of brown sugar

Directions:

Begin by soaking fine alder chips and starting a charcoal fire in barbeque grill.  
Then make a foil boat with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Place salmon in foil boat with skin side down.
Melt butter in sauce pan.  Add juice from lemons and white wine to sauce pan and stir while warming.
When warm, pour sauce over salmon; then sprinkle fillet lightly with lemon pepper.  Finally apply heavy sprinkle of chopped parsley.
When coals are glowing red spread evenly and add soaked alder chips over coals.  
Place salmon boat on metal cooking pan and put on grill; then cover.
Cooking time will vary with size of fillet, fire and weather.
Monitor closely to avoid over cooking!  Sauce in boat will begin to sizzle and white fat will come to surface of fillet as salmon cooks.
To avoid burning the sauce in boat additional basting is recommended.
Cook until flesh flakes with a fork or monitor with digital meat thermometer (145 degrees F).
When salmon is cooked remove from grill, baste again and add light sprinkle of brown sugar.
Place salmon boat on serving tray and place in warmer to rest.  Garnish with fresh parsley and serve on warmed dinner plates.

Notes & Variations:

For best fillet results, smaller kinds of salmon are preferred, i.e., reds, silver, chums, etc.  For best grilling results with the larger King Salmon, they should be staked.  Other kinds of wood chips can also be used but alder is the traditional choice of the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

Contributor:  Bob Kolowith, RRGC


Anecdotes:

The 60 pound King Salmon shown here is a Kenai River, Alaska, fish caught by my son Mark.  The Kenai River boasts a world class salmon and steelhead fishery.  The sport fishing world record King Salmon was caught on the Kenai and weighed over 90 pounds.