Skill of the Grill Winning Recipe: Part II

Grilled Bristol Bay Salmon with Corn Butter, Roasted Tomatoes, and Citrus-Marinated Blueberries

Eric Stover is a Corporate Roving Chef for Seattle’s Tom Douglas Restaurants and the co-champion of Bellingham SeaFeast’s 2019 Skill of the Grill! Eric works in all of the Tom Douglas restaurants, which provides the opportunity to experience daily our region’s abundance via many different and exciting styles of food and service. He and his wife live on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Eric Stover (center) and members of the Tom Douglas team celebrate their Skill of the Grill victory in the Brews with a View Beer Garden.

Bellingham Mayor, Kelli Linville along with Miss Washington USA and Bristol Bay fisherman, Evelyn Clark, and local fisherman and 2019 Soul of Bellingham Bay Award winner, Phil Erickson, were our judges for the 2019 Skill of the Grill. They selected Eric’s recipe and Chis Wang’s Maple Soy Salmon with Wasabi Avocado Cream and Salmon Bacon the co-champions of this year’s contest.

Looking for the place to get Bristol Bay sockeye near you? Check out the list of suppliers from Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.

Try Eric’s winning recipe this holiday season!

One of two winning dishes at the 2019 Skill of the Grill!

Grilled Bristol Bay Salmon with Corn Butter, Roasted Tomatoes, and Citrus-Marinated Blueberries

Ingredients

• 4 - 6oz sockeye salmon filet portions, skin on

• 2 ears of yellow corn, left in the husks

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

• 2oz basil, picked

• 1 cup blueberries

• Two lemons

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black peppercorns

• Flake sea salt

• Tom Douglas’ Rub with Love*

* a required ingredient at the contest! Find yours here.

Equipment Required

• High speed blender

• Heat tempered plastic spatula

• Microplane citrus zester

• Grill pan or barbecue grill

• Serving platter or dish

Directions 

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees, high fan, if possible. Place the corn on a cookie sheet, and place the corn (still in the husks!) in the oven once the oven is at temperature. Cook the corn for 10-12 minutes.

While the ears of corn are steaming in their husks, add the cherry tomatoes to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, 1.5 teaspoons of kosher salt, and 2/3s of the basil to the bowl. Stir ingredients to coat well, then place on a lined cookie sheet.

Remove the corn from the oven, and cool at room temperature. You can then place the tomatoes into the oven for 5-6 minutes. You want to blister and slightly cook them, but stop cooking short of blackening them. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and cool at room temperature.

Cut off the root end of the corn, and remove the yellow ears from the husks. Most of the silk should stay in the husk, but you might have to clean additional silk from the ears. Once de-silked, cut the corn kernels from the cobs. Place the still-warm corm kernels into the blender, and add one tablespoon of olive oil plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Starting on low, then gradually increasing speed, puree the corn kernels until they are a smooth sauce. Using a heat tempered plastic spatula, remove the corn “butter” from the blender and keep covered.

In a third mixing bowl, zest the lemons - be careful to only remove the yellow zest, and not the white pith. Cut one lemon in half. Add the blueberries to the bowl, and carefully squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl. Mix thoroughly, and reserve.

Season the salmon with olive oil then rub with about 2 tablespoons Rub with Love seasoning on the flesh side of the fillet. Make sure your cooking surface is properly seasoned. Place the skin side down first onto the cooking surface, and cook until the salmon skin has nice color. Flip the filets over, and cook until you have reached your desired temperature. Remove the filets from the cooking surface and let rest for 2-3 minutes. Add a pinch of flake sea salt to the salmon filets.

While the salmon is resting, plate your dish! To do so, place a pool of the corn butter on your serving platter or plates. Place 1/2 cup of the blistered tomatoes on top of the corn butter. Place your salmon filets on top of the tomatoes, then spoon on a few tablespoons of your marinated blueberries. Tear the remaining leaves of basil into a few smaller pieces, then scatter over the top of the blueberries.

Enjoy!

Volunteers dishing up the Tom Douglas team’s Skill of the Grill entry, yum!