Another Bacon, Leek, Wild Rice Stuffed Salmon on the Campfire

What a long title! I never quite know what to call these posts.
Another favorite thing to cook over the fire.... salmon. I love the crab stuffed salmon but this bacon, leek, wild rice stuffing seems to be my current favorite.

I fry a few pieces of bacon, saute sliced leeks and garlic in the bacon drippings. (add butter too)
When tender, I add the wild rice blend and chicken stock. Let it cool while preparing the salmon.

This is a skin on salmon. I trimmed the tail and belly from the slab to even out the thickness of the fish for even cooking. Cut slits into the meat, not cutting through the skin.. added lemon slices and the cooled bacon, leek, wild rice stuffing..

I oil the fish well, especially on the skin side to keep it from sticking to the grate while cooking. Then sprinkled with my cold smoked salt, pepper, onion, garlic blend.

Onto the tractor rim...

I brought my home made "steam lid" that I use on the Blackstone griddle... it worked well to hold the heat and smoke in over the fish..

While the salmon smoked,  I made a skillet of edamame with scallions, onions and bacon. Also heated up the remaining wild rice stuffing.

just some more pics...

To cook the fish, I place two logs on either side of the fish, then place the edamame and rice stuffing directly over the fire..

I pull the fish off of the fire when I see juices rise to the top...

found a comfy seat on a log..

The salmon was flaky, tender, smoky and moist...

I just love salmon and this has to be one of my favorite ways to make it.  :)

The short camp out at the lake was nice. This is the little lake that has no campsites and no swimming allowed. Not many people go there. For these three nights, only one fisherman showed up. He caught a few crappie and stopped by to give them to me. He said he didn't have time to clean them. It was nice of him to do that!  I caught a few catfish, not many but enough to bring some home for the freezer.

Hope to go fishing again soon. Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Canadian and Peameal Bacon (again)

I love this stuff and it's been awhile since I've made any.  Bacon is one of the easiest things to make., You cure it for so many days and it's ready to smoke or cook. That's it. Kind of like putting a hunk of meat in a marinade and forgetting about it for 10 or so days. :)

I grabbed two pork loins (back loins, not tenderloin), trimmed some of the fat off and made a brine cure.  You can leave the fat on, it goes rancid faster than the meat while in the freezer, so I remove it for longer storage.

1 gallon of cool water
6 teaspoons pink salt (Prague Powder #1)
1 TBS juniper berries
1 TBS black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of whole cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pickling salt
This is enough to do one 5lb pork back loin.
Dissolve the sugar and salt in the brine, make sure the brine is cooled before adding the meat..

I just bagged the loins and placed in the fridge for 10 days..

The cured pork loins...

I decided to divide the loins and make one Canadian Peameal bacon and three American version Canadian bacons...

All the Canadian Peameal bacon needed was to be rolled in peameal (or cornmeal) and cooked. Actual Canadian bacon isn't smoked, just cooked.

I like to coat it in more cornmeal then fry in butter til golden...

It's SO tasty...

I've made several breakfasts with the Peameal bacon...

The American version of Canadian bacon.

I sprinkled with cracked black pepper and hung in the smokehouse for some cold smoke...

I used a mixture of wood, mostly hickory cause it's my favorite. :)

I let the bacon cold smoke for about 7 hours.... I keep the smoke temperature under 85F, which wasn't a problem. Wrapped two for the freezer and tore into the last one. :)

Cold smoked Canadian bacon isn't cooked, just smoked. I cubed some for kebobs for the grill..

Tender and juicy... :)

I took some with me camping last week. It was great for breakfast.

I'm set for awhile! 

The weather is starting to warm up here. Looks like a few 100F+ degree days in the near future.

I've been doing my outside work early in the morning and later into the evening. Trying to avoid some of the mid day heat. :)

Hope everyone stays cool! Thanks for stopping by. :)