Salmon - Canned vs. Steak

One is grade A meat cutlet.

The other is chopped up arse end, and any other offcuts that can be pressed into the tin, with probably brine added to keep the air out while it sits there on the shelf for months

It's still probably healthy, but I know which one I prefer.

Tinned salmon is good for sandwiches though.

How do you prepare it for sandwiches? Do you mix it up with mayo and relish like tuna fish? Or is there another recommended way to do it?

The hazard of buying fresh salmon is the stores often sell it too old. I used to buy fresh, but it seemed I got bad fish nearly fifty percent of the time.

Ladyaswas takes out what she calls the piggybones and all the skin, puts the remaining bits into a bowl, shakes a few spurts of malt vinegar over it, a few twists of the pepper mill, and then makes sandwiches with it.
There are many other and more fancy ways of doing it, but the boss's way is the best for me.

Possibly mix up with mayo? Thousand Island dressing?

Whatever takes your fancy.....

Malt vinegar, hmmm, I hadn't thought of that. Sounds interesting. Thanks.

tangy dill relish is my favourite mix-in for salmon and tuna

pretty much anything you can do with canned tuna works with canned salmon though canned salmon (I think) can stand up to stronger flavours

.......and cutlets?

I cover mine with black pepper, medium hot chilli (finely chopped), even more finely chopped shallot and a sprinkling of soy.
I usually fill up the vacant area of the grill tray with fresh button mushrooms and anything else I fancy (mmmmm asparagus), just so it can soak up all those juices.
Grill until perfect, or has smoke billowing where you forgot about it and had a beer in the garden.

I'm hungry now.

I put dill relish in mayo for a "dip" - if not mayo, greek yogurt - to go with my canned pink salmon fishcakes (or mackerel, or sardines, or tuna, all tinned). The fishcake mix usually has one egg, mashed potato, sometimes herbs, sometimes spicy sauce, black pepper, sometimes bread crumbs (I freeze old bits of bread) if the mixture is too moist. After I make that into patties, I press them lightly, top and bottom, into some cornmeal I've put on a plate and then saute in a non stick pan with a light coat of olive oil or canola. I don't use a very high flame.

When they are getting nice and brownish on the outside, they are usually done (check, of course, if this is the first time you are cooking them).. If they are very plump patties, they might need a bit more time for the egg to cook (everything else is already cooked), but I'd rather make more patties than have very plump ones. I suppose these can be baked instead, or microwaved, but I like the light sauteing in olive oil.

On salmon, I used to live at the coast in the US northwest, and salmon in our local coop market was by far the best I've ever had for flavor and freshness. In contrast, I don't trust the "fresh" salmon here in my local New Mexico markets. Perhaps the salmon at Whole Foods is flown in from the east coast quickly, but that market is pretty far away for me, and expensive to boot.

Back when excellent fresh salmon was available to me, I used to bake it on a good sized bed of previously slow cooked onions that had a little mustard added and some squeezed lemon. Ooooooooooooooooh, good.

My question is who ACTUALLY uses the word dear instead of expensive or pricey, etc...? Talk about old timey....

If it's canned, you can't tell if it has turned pink till you've already bought it.

I bought frozen wild sockeye this morning.

Excerpt from From EatingWell.com:

"Fresh Salmon vs. Canned Salmon

Tuna isn't the only fish that comes in a can! Salmon does, too, but should you use it over fresh? The answer is, it depends. The pros of canned salmon are that it’s inexpensive ($2.50 for a can compared to $13 a pound for fresh), it has a long shelf life and it’s cooked and ready to use. The cons are that it’s higher in sodium than fresh and some cans come with skin and bones (some people find that off-putting). And you can’t substitute a can of salmon for a pretty fillet in a recipe. Stick with canned salmon if you want a quick sandwich filling or use it to top a salad. If it’s a fillet you’re after, stick with fresh."

But, but, but, you can pick those off if you want to. (I don't).

EdgarB, come back and tell us how your wild salmon turns out.

Then there's the debate about wild salmon versus farmed salmon.

For example, from CTV News:

The fresh wild salmon I've eaten is freaking delicious and I suppose quick frozen wild is good too.

There are a lot of problems though in salmon country in the northwest, re water distribution, and those need to get solved pronto for the health of salmon. Agriculture folks have competing needs.

I'm with you on that, Osso. Costco carries frozen wild Sockeye fillets.

Uh oh, a reason to rejoin Costco.

I get mine from Costco. Much better quality and value than normal supermarket stuff........and their scallops.....

Boy oh boy....