Early Spring Update

Another early season update: fishing is picking up and will be getting better and better from now until Fall! There’s already reports last week of good-sized halibut being caught on Swiftsure Bank, up to 80 pounds. As well, salmon up to 20 pounds have been reported along Southwest Vancouver Island. Things are starting to heat up – and we’re starting to get excited about another excellent fishing season ahead.

To get you thinking about good times ahead, here’s a couple of fish recipes for you. In my experience, it’s a pretty good idea for keen anglers to get skilled at preparing tasty fish meals. For one, you’ll have the pride and satisfaction of providing a succulent feast – from the ocean bottom all the way to the dinner table. But more important, when catching the quantities of fish we’re used to, you will need to come up with new and interesting ways to prepare fish in order to promote keen fish eating in your household. Because the more fish you can serve, the quicker your freezer empties, and the sooner you get a green light for another trip out to spectacular Swiftsure Bank!

So, in the spirit of promoting lots of fish eating, here’s a couple of our favorite recipes, one halibut and one salmon:

Baked Halibut with Mint Salsa (thanks to Kevin Arndt)

Your mother-in-law will think you’ve been taking gourmet cooking lessons.

Part One: Salsa Preparation

• Grate rind from one lemon.
• Remove the seeds and dice the lemon as fine as possible.
• Add 1 small diced red onion.
• Add a handful or more of diced fresh mint leaves.
• Add a few chilli flakes if you want a bit of spice in it.
• Add quarter cup of white sugar, stir in.
  
• Taste: should be nicely sweet and tart, not too much of either.
• Serves 2-3, double everything if you want more.

Part Two: Halibut Cooking

• Ideally remove skin from halibut (get knife between skin and meat, then pull knife along skin with pressure downward beneath the meat at a 45 degree angle, knife will slip between skin and meat without cutting into the meat). But don’t worry if too much hassle!
• Press lemon pepper and sea salt into both sides of halibut. In a hot oiled frying pan, sear the halibut 1 minute each side. You may fry some diced garlic with it if you like.
• Pre-heat oven to 350, put halibut in for 10 minutes or so, depending on thickness – don’t overcook, as there’s nothing worse than dried out halibut! You’ll know it is ready when it flakes with a fork and is still juicy inside. It will cook outside the oven for a minute or two, so be cautious about putting it back in oven.

Add salsa onto halibut and serve.
Proudly accept guests’ compliments.

Cedar Planked BBQ Salmon

A westcoast favourite. When you serve, your house will fill with a great smoky cedar aroma, complementing the meal.

• Find a cedar plank that fits on your bbq top. Best is a thin piece of green cedar (1/2” thick), but a piece of cedar fence board will do (untreated!!!).
  
• Soak the cedar board in water – overnight is best, but an hour or two will do.
• Heat BBQ to medium heat and cover – you want it nice and sealed in order to bake the fish.
• Cut up salmon filets or steaks to fit on the plank. If thick filets, cut them narrow (1” widths) – this will cook them faster and give more surface area for glazing.
• Mix the marinade: a cup or so of soy sauce with 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar, microwave and stir until sugar melts.
  
• Liberally brush on marinade throughout cooking. As the fish cooks, the brown sugar will carmelize and glaze, so don’t be shy with it, the more marinade, the better the flavour.
• The cedar plank will steam a lot and later in cooking will begin to char. The steam cooks the fish, the smoke adds that beautiful cedar flavour. The glaze will harden to a crisp sugary coating – even kids who hate fish will like this one!
• Depending on thickness of the fish and the heat of the bbq, it should be cooked in 20-30 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when it is light pink inside and flakes when forked. Try not to overcook, although overcooking isn’t as critical as with other recipes, as the fish will get more flavourful even if a bit dry.
  
• Final tip: make sure you make twice as much as you think you’ll need. Your guests will enjoy this so much, they’ll eat all you give them and still want more.

There you go -- store these away for future reference, for when you return from another plentiful Jolly Rogers fishin' mission.