Salmon barbecue

8 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 Whole 6-lb salmon
1 cup Olive oil
4 Cloves garlic; crushed
3 Bunches parsley; washed
Alder-wood chips or sawdust for barbecuing

Directions

SERVES 8

I love to have people from the Midwest come to my house for dinner.

Generally they have had little salmon in their time, and very little that was truly fresh. I do not buy a salmon at my fish market unless the creature winks at me! People who have never tasted such a fish are always startled by its wonderful flavor and texture.

My wife, Patty, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. When we went to our first United Methodist Church parish here, a member of the board delivered a fish to Patty while I was out calling. He opened the trunk of his car and displayed a twenty-five-pound king salmon, which he had just caught. "This is for you!" "What is it?" asked my bride. When Ed told her, Patty almost died. Her only memory of salmon was of the canned kind, mixed into a disgusting salmon loaf and passed off as food at Brooklyn Public School 139. She knew she could never enjoy that big fish. I stuffed it with vegetables and baked it in the oven. She was the quickest convert I have ever made!

This recipe is simple and even better than the baked version.

Pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Mix the olive oil and garlic together and brush the outside and inside of the fish with the oil. Place the parsley in the stomach cavity of the fish and set it on a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Roll up the sides of the foil so that you have a very shallow pan around the fish.

Have your barbecue fire ready. I prefer to do this in a Kamado or a covered cooker, such as a Weber. Have the fire at about 375ø and place the wood chips on the coals. Soak them first so that they will just smoke rather than ignite. If using sawdust, put it in an old pie pan or aluminum-foil pan and set it on the coals. Place the fish in the cooker and close the lid. Watch the temperature carefully, and in 25 minutes test the fish. The meat should just begin to flake, but still be moist. Remove to a platter and pull the skin off the top side.

You will need no sauce to go with this, as the fish is wonderfully flavored by the smoke and parsley and garlic.

Serve with a great deal of French bread and a large Tomato Salad.

Barbecued Zucchini (see recipes) would be delicious.

From <The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American>. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, .

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