COOKINGWITHCAMPICHE
The taste of treasures from home
A recipe for freshly-caught
Chinook salmon
Photos by David Campiche
LEFT: Salmon fillet prepared for the oven
with sea salt, pepper and mushroom dust.
The mushroom sauce finishes off the rich red
flesh. RIGHT: The lobster mushroom is both
firm and bright. It should be slow cooked.
BELOW: David Campiche’s brother with a
coveted Chinook salmon.
BY DAVID CAMPICHE
I’ve grown up in these parts, and except
for a few extended sojourns to Portland, a
year studying in France and New York and
a chef’s job in Alaska a couple of years ago,
I’ve stayed pretty close to home. I’ve hope-
fully begun to approach that coveted sta-
tus our third-generation Scandinavians call
“local.”
Recently, friends and I got turned around
at Leadbetter Point State Park on Wash-
ington’s Long Beach Peninsula and shuf-
fled about for about 8 miles, happily con-
fused. I also recently caught two silver-clad
salmon in the ocean off Seaview. The sea
was cresting at 6, 7 and 8 feet. We paid an
uncomfortable price crossing the Colum-
bia River Bar, but it is fair to say our male
obsession with the rich red flesh of a silver
salmon overcame our cautionary instincts.
Silly boys.
The same afternoon, after asking permis-
sion, I scrounged three lobster mushrooms
from a neighbor’s yard.
All this is to say how lucky we are, liv-
ing where we do, surrounded by local com-
forts of the rich bounty of delectables from
sea, river and ocean.
And good neighbors—don’t take them
for granted.
Baked Salmon with Mushroom
Cream Sauce
Ingredients for the sauce:
• 3 medium lobster mushrooms, roughly
chopped
• 1 and 1/2 half cups homemade chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon fine chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon fine chopped fennel (optional)
• 1 red chili, seeded and chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
Ingredients for the baked salmon:
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
• 4 pieces of 6 oz. fillets, skin on
• 3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste
• Cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of mushroom dust
• 2 tablespoons of butter, melted with equal
parts of olive oil
Preparation:
I sautéed the firm fungal flesh with garlic in
butter and olive oil. I then braised the mush-
rooms in homemade chicken stock. After a few
minutes, I added heavy cream and reduced the
sauce into a thick, luscious topping.
The salmon is wiped with a mix of melted butter
and olive oil. Further rub with the salt, pepper
and mushroom dust. Bake — skin-down — until
the white oil beads from the salmon rise to
the top of the fillets, about 10 minutes in a 350
degree oven. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs
after the salmon is removed from the oven.
The mushroom sauce is served over the baked
salmon fillets. I served the meal with garden
zucchini and a ripe orange squash.
The salmon can rest while you plate the vegeta-
bles. Orzo is a fine accompaniment. There can’t
be many food options better than fresh salmon
just off the boat.