Fairbanks Fantastic Foods and Feasts

Happiness is standing in my front yard, barbecuing salmon over mesquite charcoal in FEBRUARY! We aren’t talking cheating BBQ with propane on a covered deck, we are talking about being out in Seattle sunshine in February. I cleaned out the grill and got it set up with the last bits of mesquite from last summer. It started right up and as my coals heated, I soaked the hickory chips. I lightly sprayed my fish grill with Pam for outdoor grilling.  I rubbed a crushed garlic clove over the salmon, sprinkled some mesquite seasoning on top and squeezed a wedge of lemon.  As soon as the coals were hot, I spread them to the outside edges of the grill. I spread the cup of water soaked hickory chips over the coals then placed the salmon in the center of the grill. I quickly covered my trusty weber grill, but the yard streams of hickory  smoke escaped from the vent to scent my yard with summer.

Hickory smoked salmon

Checking the grill every 15 minutes, I removed the salmon after an hour. I didn’t have time to do a traditional smoked salmon. This dish was designed to give potent hickory smoke flavor while slow grilling the fish. I wanted the smoky flavors to infuse the salmon.

I was a little skeptical about February salmon so I only purchased half a fillet of this wild Atlantic salmon. What a mistake, this was sooo tasty! I would have been very happy with this as my main dish.

Wine Pairings

The classic rule is white wines for fish but salmon gives us lots of possibilities to break the rules! Pinot noir is another classic pairing with salmon but barbecued salmon is great with Syrah! Add a bit of pepper and smoked salmon is a great pairing for a big Syrah. I also like salmon with the versatile rosé. We paired it that particular night with  a french style rosé from Lullaby Winery out of Walla Walla, Washington. Vivian thought the salmon was too intense for the this old world style rosé but once the rosé had opened up a bit, I enjoyed it with this tasty salmon.