Grilled King Salmon, Corn, and Garlic Bread
A hunting-camp dinner off the grill grate: salmon in foil, corn in the husk, bread toasted at the edge.
- calories
- 860
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 61
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| King salmon fillet | 1.5 lb | skin on, cut into four pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Garlic | 6 cloves | or 2 tsp granulated garlic |
| Butter | 4 tbsp | keeps a week in a cooler |
| Baguette or sturdy loaf | 1 loaf | split lengthwise |
| Sweet corn | 4 ears | leave the husks on |
| Salad greens | 6 cups | romaine hearts travel better than spring mix |
| Olive oil and vinegar | 3 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp vinegar | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Dry rosé | 1 bottle | optional |
Method
- Get a bed of coals going, or run the gas grill to medium. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Soak the corn in its husks in a bucket or the cooler melt for ten minutes, then set the ears directly on the grate. Turn every five minutes for about twenty. The husks will char black. That is correct.
- Lay each piece of salmon skin down on a sheet of heavy foil. Salt it, pepper it, put a pat of butter and a sliced clove of garlic on top. Fold the foil into a loose packet with room for steam.
- Set the packets on the grate and close the lid or tent them with more foil. Twelve to fifteen minutes for thick king. Open one and check the middle: it should flake but still look wet.
- Mash the rest of the butter with the remaining garlic, spread it on the cut loaf, and toast it cut side down at the cool edge of the grate. Three minutes, and watch it. Bread goes from pale to ruined fast.
- Toss the greens with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in the bag they came in. Shuck the corn with a towel, since the husks come off hot.
- Serve everything out of the foil. Pour the wine if you brought it.
Foil is doing most of the work. Salmon over open coals sticks, dries out, and falls through the grate; in a sealed packet it steams in its own fat and the butter, which is close to foolproof on unpredictable campfire heat. The packet is also the dish, so cleanup is one wad of foil in the trash bag.
Everything cooks on the same grate at the same time, which is the point of the menu. Corn takes the longest and tolerates neglect, salmon takes the middle, bread goes on last and needs watching. The salad is the only thing that needs a cooler, and it is the first thing to cut if you are short on ice.
Packing
Salmon stays on the bottom of the cooler on frozen blocks, not cubes, and comes out last. Greens ride on top in their bag or they freeze and turn to slime. Butter, garlic, and the loaf go in a dry box, and pre-cut the foil sheets at home so you are not fighting a roll in the wind.
Variations
- No cooler space for greens? Skip the salad and grill a second round of corn.
- Trout, steelhead, or any fatty fillet works the same way. Lean whitefish needs less time and more butter.
- A squeeze of lemon or a spoon of soy sauce in each packet before you fold it changes the whole dish.
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/predation-hunt-menu.206923