Grilled salmon with herb butter
Salmon suits the grill because its fat bastes the flesh from inside while the surface takes on colour. A spoonful of soft herb butter melting over the top then carries dill and chives into every flake. Thick centre-cut fillets cook evenly where thin tail pieces dry out. Ask the counter for centre cuts with the skin on and we pin-bone them free.
The dish takes its cue from The Pioneer Woman, whose grilled salmon guide is published at The Pioneer Woman. She starts her fillets flesh side down on well oiled bars and lets a herb butter do the finishing. We follow the same order and sharpen the butter with lemon.
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets, about 180g each, centre cut, skin on and pin-boned (ask the counter, free)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for the bars
- 60g soft butter
- 1 tbsp finely chopped dill
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives or parsley
- finely grated zest of half a lemon, plus a squeeze of juice
- sea salt and black pepper
Method
- Beat the butter with the herbs, the lemon zest, a squeeze of juice and a pinch of salt until even. Set it aside at room temperature.
- Heat a griddle pan or barbecue until properly hot, then brush the bars with oil. A hot surface is what stops the fish sticking.
- Pat the fillets very dry, rub them with the oil and season both sides.
- Lay the fillets flesh side down at an angle to the bars. Leave them alone for 4 to 5 minutes. The fish releases cleanly when the surface has seared, so if it resists, give it another 30 seconds.
- Turn once onto the skin and cook 3 to 4 minutes more. The fillet is ready when the flakes at the thick end part under gentle pressure and the centre is still a shade deeper in colour than the edges.
- Rest the fillets for 2 minutes on warm plates, then cap each with a thick slice of the herb butter so it melts over the fish.
To serve: One fillet per plate, butter melting over the top, charred bar marks facing up. New potatoes and dressed leaves or grilled asparagus alongside. To drink, a chilled Beaujolais or a dry rosé.
Shop this recipe: salmon, Chalkstream trout and the salmon hub. Cut to order at the counter, pin-boning free.
