Once upon a wine pairing, my sister Heidi challenged me to make one dish to pair with both a chardonnay and a pinot noir; this Salmon with Lingonberry BBQ Butter turned out to be just the dish. I thought quite a bit about different proteins that I thought would be up to the task, and one of the most versatile proteins I know is salmon. Once I decided on Salmon, lingonberries started calling to me. In fact, it was the lingonberries that inspired a slightly Scandinavian meets California feel that runs throughout this menu of kale and potato salads with salmon. But plain lingonberry glaze would be way too sweet to put up next to these rich wines, so I started thinking about how to pair lingonberries with salmon in a more savory way. This led me to think of my time waiting tables in college. I was reminded me of a barbeque butter sauce we used to serve on a shrimp and rice appetizer at Davis Street Fish Market. It was rich and buttery, sweet and savory all at once and inspired me to head straight to the kitchen. This Salmon with Lingonberry BBQ Butter is the happy result of my sauce experiment. It was lovely with the salmon and delightful with both the chardonnay and the pinot noir, which was my real goal. So challenge accepted Heidi, and mission accomplished in this delicious Salmon with Lingonberry BBQ Butter.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons red wine
- 6 tablespoons lingonberry preserves
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 – 1 ½ pounds salmon; cut into 4 fillets and at room temperature
- Whisk all the barbeque butter ingredients together in a small saucepan on low to medium low. It should be thick, but if it’s too thick, you can thin with a little water and a little more red wine.
- Swipe a small amount of the butter over the salmon.
- Cook the salmon on the grill or in a grill pan or frying pan flesh side down first.
This prevents the skin from sticking to the pan and then later to the fish. Watch the side of the fish. - When you see that the meet has cooked about halfway through, flip the fish to the skin side. Cook another minute to three minutes until the flesh is resistant to pressure and springs back rather than sinking in. I serve my salmon medium rare to medium so the salmon is just cooked through but just warm in the center.
- Top with a little more barbeque butter. Serve with potato salad and kale salad. And from a practical standpoint, make sure both the salads are ready before you start cooking the fish.
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