Ray’s Wine Braised Open Water Salmon

March 2016

Ray, an active retiree living in Maine, reports: “Open water fishing season starts in Maine on April 1. It’s usually the best time of the year to get salmon, because they’re right up close to the top.”

“But, unfortunately, we still have about 13-14 inches of ice still on the lakes. The smartest thing, if you want to catch them, is to ride around the lakes, and find a stream that goes into the lakes. Usually, at the end of those streams, it’ll warm the water up, so you’ll have a pool of open water, and you can fish that. A lot of the big salmon congregate around those streams, because they like to catch the bait fish that go up and down those streams.”

“And, what I like to use…live bait of course is the best you can use. But you can also use Joe Smelt flies, if you want to do fly fishing. Or, if you want to do lure casting, wobblers. They’re also good to use.”

“It also pays to get yourself a long handled net, because the size of some of these fish, when you pull them up to the shore, they like to bounce around, and will bounce themselves right off the hook. So its good to have a long handled net, and, net them up.”

“You’ve gotta check your law books, because different salmon lakes have different lengths of salmon and different catches. So, you wanna check your books before you go.”

“And if you’re lucky to catch a salmon, I’ve got a nice salmon recipe for you!”

Ray’s Wine Braised Open Water Salmon

Serves 4
Total time: 40 minutes

Clean and filet your freshly caught salmon. Landlocked salmon, which are the most common salmon caught in Maine, sometimes dry out, so this recipe includes olive oil, lemon juice and white wine, to complement the natural flavors of this fish.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 salmon steaks
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ cup of dry white wine

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Arrange salmon steaks on lightly oiled baking dish, drizzle extra olive oil on top.
3. Sprinkle fish with oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Drizzle lemon juice on steaks.
4. Pour wine around fish.
5. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until fish becomes firm and begins to flake. It’s important to baste the fish, as it is a dry fish, and this will keep it moist. You can experiment with different herbs.

"This is a great way to eat this fish!" Ray says.