BC Wild Spring Salmon with Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

My apologies for writing so sporadically over the last few months. I have been on an extended vacation, and as you can see from the posts I have made, eating has been the main priority.

Central to this part of my vacation has been family gatherings and family style meals at my parents' house in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. And one of my favorite things from this part of the world is the fresh, wild, BC Salmon.

Salmon is such a versatile fish. It is hearty and meaty and can be cut into steaks, fillets, or cooked whole by steaming, grilling, roasting or BBQing.



For this family dinner, I decided to keep it simple and low maintenance by prepping the salmon, wrapping it in tinfoil, and throwing it onto the barbeque (hmmm...sounds very similar to my campfire cooking methods...).

The reason it's so great for entertaining? Because you can prep the fish anytime during the day and then just throw it on the grill 15 minutes before you are ready to eat. Plus, you can serve it straight onto the table in the tin foil package. All of your guests will be wondering what's inside, and clean up will be a breeze!

BC Wild Spring Salmon with Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

Makes 1 Whole Fish Serving 4-6 people

1 Whole Fresh Salmon (about 1 kg), cleaned (head on or off doesn't matter)
1 Lemon
6 Cloves Garlic, minced
Handful of Fresh Thyme
1/4 cup White Wine
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil for drizzling

First, rinse the salmon, inside and out, under cold water. Pat dry. Place salmon on a large piece of tin foil.

Put aside a few stems of thyme. Then, destem the rest of the thyme and chop finely.

Zest the whole lemon and chop the zest. Mix the zest with the minced garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture generously on the inside and outside of the fish. Place the whole thyme sprigs inside the fish. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice of the whole lemon on the inside and outside of the fish. Drizzle with olive oil.

Fold up the sides of the tin foil around the fish, and pour the white wine over the fish. Continue to close up the pocket around the fish until all sides are sealed. If necessary, wrap the fish with another layer of tin foil to ensure that it will not leak. Transfer the foil package to a baking tray. (At this point, you could put this into the fridge until you are ready to cook it).

Heat a barbeque on medium high. When hot, place the fish package onto the grill, cover and let cook for 15 minuutes. After 15 minutes, remove the package from the barbeque and place on a serving tray. Do not overcook the fish! You want the meat to be moist and soft.

Place on the table and carefully slice open the top of the package (be very careful as hot steam will escape from the package). Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve and enjoy!