Beer Goes with Everything.

It's crazy. 

I LOVE a light lager.  I SAVOR sublime salmon.  But together?  Who would have thought...

I know I've posted a fabulous salmon recipe recently and I stand by that post as being one of the best, healthiest and most flavorful ways to prepare a gorgeous pink fillet of fresh wild salmon.  I could not resist trying this recipe though recently and I have to say, not only is it delicious tasting, but it is probably one of the easiest salmon recipes I've ever made. 
Because it's so incredibly easy to make AND because it calls for a healthy dose of glowing amber ale, it is worth the experiment. 

PS~ don't be afraid of bacon.  A little bit goes a long way and is entirely worth it.

Salmon Poached in Beer
(a good strong wheat beer paired with wild salmon is ideal)

Ingredients:
2-3 slices of slab bacon cut into 1/4" bits

1 tbsp. butter
1 scallion (red onion is bolder)
4 oz. beer
8 oz. wild sockeye salmon filet.
liberal toss of sea salt

Preparation:

1. bring bacon, butter and scallion to temp at medium high in a sauté pan just browning the bacon before adding the butter. so long as the bacon is lean, it will leave some nice residue in the pan, the beer will deglaze this residue, that is a good thing...


2. Add the beer and allow it to just boil before reducing the heat to a strong simmer.


3.add the salmon (skin side down) to the just under boil beer-y goodness. toss some sea salt on there and cover the pan. after three minutes, the fish should just begin to firm, flip it so that it's skin up. three more minutes.
pull the cover off. enjoy the fragrant steam. let the liquid reduce a spell, if you like your fish on the med-rare side, pull it and cover it lightly and set aside while you reduce.

4. reduce the liquid to about half it's volume.

5. pour that goodness on the fish.

6. eat and let your eyes roll to the back of your head as you sigh with satisfaction.