How To Cook a Perfect Piece of Salmon

Diane Johnson’s Salmon Cooked on Salt (from the Gourmet Cookbook)

This is just about the easiest way I know to perfectly cook salmon.  If you’re using wild Alaska salmon, you’ll end up with a piece of fish that’s tender, moist, incredibly delicious - and completely sustainable.

Get out your 10-inch cast iron skillet and fill it with 2 cups of Kosher or coarse sea salt.  Put it on the stove, over moderate heat, and  let it warm up for about 4 minutes, until the salt is hot when you touch it.  

Thoroughly dry a 1 1/4 pound center cut filet of salmon and season it with salt and pepper.  Put it, skin side down, on the salt, cover the pan (aluminum foil makes a perfectly adequate cover), and cook for about ten minutes without turning, until it’s almost cooked through.  Remove from the heat and let it stand for another minute.

Take it off the salt, leaving the skin behind; the skin will be too salty to eat, but the fish will be everything you wish a piece of salmon could be. 

Serves 4