Salmon Steaks

The salmon came to us by way of Lisa, who caught it in British Columbia last summer, and it's been hanging out in the freezer waiting for a day when it made sense to cook it.  See, since the 9 year old really, really dislikes fish, cooking an entire fish isn't really worth it, not to mention dealing with the drama that ensues trying to get said child to eat.  Our niece is visiting so it was the right time for that salmon to make it to the table.

Normally, we grill salmon.  Our grill has only just started emerging from under all the snow and it will be months, maybe, before we can actually get to it.  Keep in mind, it's a regular height gas grill.  Sometime after the second snowstorm up here, we gave up trying to dig it out.  This left me only the choices of baking or pan frying.  I decided to bake it.

First, I cut the salmon into steaks.  Lisa had brought us one entire fish, with fins and tail, but cleaned.  I had to use my Japanese knife as it was the only one I had that could get through the spine.  Once I had the steaks, I brushed them with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, tarragon, salt and pepper and let them sit for a while.  Then they were baked for 20 minutes at 275-300 degrees (hard to tell with my oven) and rested while the biscuits baked.  Then they went back in the oven at 475 to warm up a little before dinnertime.

I think they came out perfectly.  If you ask the 9 year old, however, you are likely to get a different opinion.