Copper Salmon; the noblest of all pink fleshed fish

Had quite a weekend that featured some high quality steaks at Costco, A nice slab of Copper River Salmon, and a fine wine in the Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells 2005 Merlot. Everything was so amazing its hard for me to pick a place to start. I may as well go straight to the Salmon. We had so much food that we elected to simply outright smoke one slab and the other I got to take home for the Sunday BBQ. Using the biggest, heartiest slab of Salmon I used a simple brine and a Ziploc in the fridge for roughly 4 or 5 hours. I would have liked to done it overnight but alas being short notice the 4-5 hours sufficed. My brine was nothing fancy, Sea Salt, Brown Sugar, Cracked Black Pepper no more no less. After that it was straight onto the smoker where it sat for roughly 3 hours at a low heat using pecan chunks for the smoke. This was the first time we smoked a salmon of this quality as well as being the first time using the brine technique. I couldn't help but think that smoking a high quality Copper River Salmon may have been like using Filet Mignon for Hamburger Helper but at the same time-why not go for broke? I also smoked some Olive Oil Saffron Lamb Chops as well as some Sharp Cheddar and Jack Cheese for appetizers.










The next night we had leftover steaks and a leftover slab of Salmon...I was so dissapointed that I had to spend Sunday Night BBQing. Add Sarcasm Smiley right here.
The Steaks were over the top but delicious enough, and the salmon-lets just say you cant go wrong with Copper River Salmon and Chef Pauls Magic Salmon Seasoning. You simply cant-you cant put on enough of the seasoning and barring one drastically overcooking the salmon its a perfect meal. Notice the garlic clove sauteeing in steak fat in the middle of the grill. Nutritious and Delicious!









And finally since I know I havent done a wine review in a while I picked up a bottle of the Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells 2005 Merlot. Amazing wine. A nice oak flavored nuanced by a gentle, chewy but slight cherryish overtone. Some reviews had it as very good but just short of excellent. I can agree with that whole heartidly but for 15 bucks a bottle I think it an excellent buy. Maybe the best sub 20 bottle Ive had since the Ghost Pines.