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Champion Canadian Salmon


In the summer of 1993 my wife, Page and I went up to Vancouver Canada to cook at the Canadian BBQ Championship. It was a wild trip to say the least. We flew into Seattle to meet up with a dealer of my who had an Oklahoma Joe’s Trailer and then drove up to Vancouver. Did you know that pistols are not legal in Canada? I did not know either until we went through customs. Oh well that another story. We did make it to cook in the BBQ Contest and after winning that, I was looking at the new big fancy cookers that were arriving. Chefs from all over Canada were converging on the lot to compete in the Canadian Salmon Championship, so I had to go see what they were up to. As they described their cooking methods of slow smoking, poaching and the more elaborate styles of cooking, I informed them that I did not even know what a salmon was. Then I asked them if it was too late to enter the contest. In general, they all laughed and winked at each other as I paid my entry fee. Being that I had stayed up all night the night before, I made my way up to the room to get a good night’s sleep as they stayed up nursing their salmon all night long. The next morning I started cooking the salmon at 10:30 AM with a 12 Noon turn-in. Along with glances and funny looks from the chefs I made turn in at Noon. When the smoke cleared, I won the Canadian Salmon Championship. Upon receiving the award I announced “To think yesterday I did not know what the hell a salmon was, and today I’m the Canadian Salmon Champion”. I’d like to personally thank the Mounties that help me get out of the country alive!

Ingredients:

2 fillets of Salmon, skin on
3 ticks of butter
2 lemons
1/4 cup dill weed
1/4 cup Joe’s All Purpose BBQ Seasoning

Directions:

  • Preheat grill to 275-300 degrees using lump charcoal and hickory chunks
  • Gently wash fillets and lay on buttered foil boat or aluminum pan.
  • Apply Joe’s BBQ Seasoning sparingly to fillets
  • Gently sprinkle dill weed over fillets
  • Lay patties of butter over fillets
  • Cook at 275-300 degrees for 1 _ hours
  • Remove from grill when fish is just becoming flaky and baste with the following sauce
Directions for basting sauce for Salmon:

  • In a separate foil pan or boat add 2 sticks of butter, 1/8 cup of dill weed, juice from 2 lemons, and _ cup All Purpose BBQ Seasoning
  • Melt on the grill stirring occasionally, remove when blended and melted


Serves: 12-20

Grilled Blue Fin Tuna


I first fell in love with the taste of Tuna, as a young boy, on the pristine shores of Deep Fork River in Oklahoma. OK, I have now entered the BS Zone. I really do love Grilled Tuna. If it were a piece of beef I would say slap it on the ass and run it thru the grill and that’s good for me. In other words, don’t ever over cook tuna.

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus _ cup
1/2 ounce golden raisins
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup California black olives, drained
1/4 cup Nicoise olives
1 ounce roasted garlic
Fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon whole butter
4 large red bliss or assorted waxy potatoes, skin-on, washed
8 ounces assorted summer beans, snipped
7 ounces sushi grade tuna
8 red cherry tomatoes
8 yellow cherry tomatoes
4 teaspoons pitted Nicoise olives
4 teaspoons pitted Manzanilla olives
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
1/4 cup baby arugula, rinsed & dried
8 marinated white anchovies
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:

  • Begin by preparing the vinaigrette.
  • Sweat the red onions in 1 teaspoon olive oil until tender
  • Add golden raisins and the sherry vinegar
  • Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let cool
  • To the blender add the mustard, olives, garlic, anchovies, and half the sherry liquid
  • Pulse to begin, and add the remaining sherry liquid slowly
  • Once all ingredients are homogenous add the _ cup olive oil in a slow steady stream
  • Vinaigrette should be emulsified and able to coat the vegetables.
  • Add fresh ground black pepper to taste, the olives will provide sufficient salt flavor
  • Preheat grill or grill pan
  • In a 2 quart pot of cold water, add the whole butter, a pinch of salt and the potatoes
  • Bring to a simmer
  • Cook until fork tender, drain
  • While still warm slice each potato into 3 equal parts and toss the vinaigrette
  • In a pot of salted and boiling water blanch and shock the summer beans
  • Drain and slice down the center to expose the beans inside the pot
  • Slice tomatoes lengthwise and hold

    • Grilled Blue Fin Tuna continued…

  • Ten minutes before plating, lightly coat the tuna in vinaigrette, before grilling
  • Cook the tuna to a recommended medium rare/li>
  • While the tuna is cooking, toss the beans, tomatoes, olives and potatoes in the vinaigrette
  • Add the greens just before plating
  • Check the seasoning and adjust
  • In a large bowl arrange a bed of vegetables
  • Slice the tuna horizontally, exposing the center
  • Place in the center along with the white anchovies
  • Sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with olive oil and enjoy


Yields: 4 servings