Northwest Barbecue From Grilled Salmon To Fresh Asparagus To Colubia Basin Potatoes, This Meal Makes A Holiday Weekend Special

Here in the Northwest, Memorial Day weekend tends to sneak up on us. The rains abate and the time arrives to haul out the grill for the first backyard barbecue of the season.

The following menu focuses on regional ingredients - freshly caught salmon, locally grown asparagus and Columbia Basin potatoes.

Seattle seafood expert Jon Rowley recommends cooking salmon as slowly as possible, a technique he learned years ago from the Makah Indians at Neah Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula. They attach butterflied salmon fillets to cedar sticks and face them toward a slow-burning fire.

“It takes about an hour of cooking for the flavors of the salmon to develop and compound,” Rowley says. “It’s practically impossible to overcook the fish.”

Rowley adapts the Makah’s slow-cooking method to a kettle grill. Start with medium-low coals, thickly covered with gray ash. Place the salmon on a strip of aluminum foil to prevent the skin from sticking and cook, dabbing occasionally with basting sauce, until the fish is cooked through but still moist and succulent.

To accompany grilled salmon, Martina Castle of Sandcastle Farms in Sunnyside, Wash., recommends fresh asparagus. Fat spears or skinny? There’s no definitive answer, says Castle; that’s up to the cook. Either way, to experience the crisp texture and fantastic flavor of really fresh asparagus, search out the greenest stalks with tightly closed heads.

To preserve the fresh-picked flavor, Castle advises refrigerating asparagus, tips up and loosely covered, in a couple inches of water. Just before cooking, snap off the tough stems at their natural breaking point. To cook, Castle suggests steaming or microwaving for about 3 minutes. Any more time and the asparagus becomes mushy.

East of Sunnyside toward the Columbia Basin lies some of the best potato-growing soil in the nation, enriched over the years with volcanic ash. Washington produces about 90 million pounds of potatoes per year - golf-ball-size red potatoes, Yukon Golds, even blue potatoes. But the area is best known for its Burbank russets, whose high-solid content makes them extra fluffy when baked.

A simple dish of Scalloped Potatoes naturally complements grilled salmon. This homey potato dish combines slices of potatoes with just a sprinkle of really good cheese; choose a crumbly, Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano or perhaps Cougar Gold, a sharp white Cheddar made on the Washington State University campus at Pullman.

Grilled Whole Salmon Fillet

For this recipe, I combine Jon Rowley’s Makah Indian-inspired slow-cooking method with a basting sauce I discovered in Haines, Alaska, at the Chilkat Indian salmon bake at Fort Seward. A butterflied whole salmon or two fillets can be cooked using this same method.

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1-1/2 tablespoons oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 large (3- to 4-pound) salmon fillet, skin on

Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, oil and garlic and stir to mix.

Place salmon, skin side down, on 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Remove thin, white pin bones (probe gently with fingers on salmon flesh to locate rows of bones, then pluck them out with fishbone tweezers or pliers). Baste salmon with soy mixture and let stand while preparing fire.

Evenly arrange about 50 low-burning coals, coated with thick layer of gray ash, on barbecue grate. (Coals should be cool enough to hold your hand at grill level 13 to 14 seconds before heat becomes uncomfortable. If coals are too hot, bank them against sides of grate.)

Baste fish again and place foil and fish on grill rack. Cover grill with lid and open vents. Cook about 30 minutes, basting occasionally, until fish is opaque when tested at its thickest part and reaches 135 to 140 degrees on instant-read thermometer. Transfer to platter. Serve hot or cold.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Note: Salmon fillet can also be prepared, using slow-cooking method, in the oven. Position oven rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Place fillet, skin side down, on heavy-duty sheet of aluminum foil and brush generously with basting sauce. Place fillet and foil on ovenproof pan and cook 20 to 30 minutes, basting often, until internal temperature of 140 degrees is reached. When salmon is just about done, switch heat source to broil and brown salmon, watching carefully, for a few minutes.

Scalloped Potatoes

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil plus extra for oiling pan

6 large (about 4 pounds) russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or sharp white Cheddar cheese

Combine flour, salt, thyme, rosemary and black pepper in small dish.

Brush 13- by 9- by 2-inch (or 2-quart) baking dish with oil. Arrange one-third of potatoes and half of onions in baking dish. Sprinkle with half of flour mixture. Repeat with one-third of potatoes, remaining onion and remaining flour mixture. Arrange last of potatoes on top. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pour broth along sides of baking dish.

Cover dish with foil or lid. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. Uncover dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake, uncovered, 10 to 20 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

Yield: 8 servings.

Asparagus Salad Vinaigrette

Martina Castle recommends dressing asparagus in this basic vinaigrette from “Celebration,” by Kyle Fulwiler, the chef to Washington Gov. Mike Lowry.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 to 2 garlic cloves

2/3 cup olive oil

2 to 3 pounds fresh asparagus

8 cups torn salad greens

Process vinegar, mustard, pepper, salt and garlic in processor or blender on high speed until blended. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add olive oil. Set aside.

Break off and discard (or save for soup) tough ends of asparagus. Place asparagus on steamer rack over boiling water. Steam 3 minutes (less for pencil-thin asparagus) or until tender-crisp. Remove from pan and run under cold water to stop cooking. Drain and blot dry with paper towels.

Pour 1/2 cup dressing over asparagus and toss to coat. Chill if made ahead. To serve, arrange asparagus on bed of salad greens. Add additional dressing if desired.

Yield: 8 servings.

MEMO: Kathleen Desmond Stang, the author of “The Delectable Apple” and “A Little Northwest Cookbook” (Chronicle Books), lives in Seattle.