After really enjoying the grilled lamb, I had a quite a bit of the tzatziki sauce left. I had used it for potato salad and to top the lamb, but I was out of ideas. So I’m thinking, gyros? Wasn’t in the mood for them. See that’s the thing, I am not the most creative cook in the kitchen. Coming up with ideas generates quite a bit of brain smoke. I wish I could be more like you guys with your clever dishes.

So off to Whole Paychex to get something to eat. I wandered around pondering the steaks, the chops, the sausages, the shrimp, (or skrimps if your from Georgia), and I spotted a really fresh looking specimen of coho salmon. Whenever I can get Sockeye or coho salmon, I snatch it up. I stopped buying the farm-raised salmon several years ago. My local market only sells some breed of salmon that is so good, they feel the need to, not only, “enhance” the color of the fish, but to actually inform you of their methods to bring you such “enhanced” fish. Wasn’t Barry Bonds “enhanced"?

Anyways…

Now I actually have developed a preference for wild salmon, particularly King, Sockeye, and coho. It could be my imagination, but they seem to have more fat, flavor, and color than the salmon sold at Sam’s club. I think they have more bones too. I always have to remove bones from the wild caught group.

So I decided to prepare this fillet in one of my favorite applications for fish, smoking. No not smoking in my pit, but in the trusty stove-top smoker.
A scoop of alder and one cherry dust into the bottom of the smoker and we’re ready to go. I topped the fish with dried rosemary, salt, pepper, and some good french butter with sea salt.



Pop the lid onto the smoker at the first whisp of smoke, set the timer for 20 minutes, pour another glass of wine, and set a spell.

Ding!

I didn’t use any citrus this day because I was firmly convinced that the tzatziki sauce would be a fine pairing with the subtle smokiness of the fish. And you know what? It was.