Wild Alaskan salmon? After rolling this one around in my mind, I've decided that, really, it could go either way, depending on where you live. If you reside anywhere near the ocean's edge, or even by a small stream in Alaska, wild-caught salmon is peasant food, for sure. But, in land-locked Wyoming? Not so much.
We lived on wild salmon during our ten years in the far north, and oh, how we've missed it! So, you can imagine my complete delight when my friend insisted that I pack a fillet of this goodness into my suitcase before I left last week!
I know that not everyone likes fish, and I can understand that, especially if your only experience with fish was farm-raised and overdone. I wouldn't like it either. But, wild-caught fish, cooked the right way is closed-mouthed-moans-and-groans-good. It's fall against the chair-back, hand-to-the-forehead good. It's out-of-this-world good.
And it's not hard to do.
Preheat your broiler, or (better yet) an outdoor grill to high (for broiling, set the oven rack on the second notch down from the top; for grilling, make sure you grill it with the lid closed). For a 2-3 lb fillet, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Toss in 2-3 cloves of minced fresh garlic, swirl around in the butter and let it saute just a bit. Rinse your fish fillet and pat dry; place skin-side down on a baking sheet. Pour butter/garlic mixture evenly over the fish, and season well with salt and freshly cracked pepper. If you're feeling fancy, you can sprinkle the top with dill weed, too, or chopped fresh parsley.
Here's the trick: Broil or grill for 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fillet. You will see it begin to crack down the middle and fissures in the flaky meat will become more apparent. The fish will continue to cook, even after you've removed it from the oven, so don't over-cook it!
To serve, transfer the entire fillet onto a large platter, and glide a turner between the meat and the skin, separating the two (if you're grilling, do this while it's still on the grill, leaving the skin sticking to the grill, then keeping the grill on high, close the lid and burn the skin off - easy clean-up!)
In summer, I loved serving this salmon with wild/basmati rice and fried squash blossoms!