Poor Man’s Lobster from Salmon Recipe

You spent a long but delightful day on the river netting many fresh salmon and exercising “catch and release” all day, but you finally land a dandy and decide to keep one for dinner. Here is my favorite salmon dish for me and my buddies when they come to my cottage along the Muskegon River.

There's something irresistible about regional food traditions, especially when they involve a big lake or stream, a bonfire, beer and lots of melted butter.

The food' is cooked with a flourish and crowds gather to see the fiery boil over that indicates the fish is ready. But it's a pretty simple meal of boiled fish, potatoes and onions and butter (yep, one of those Scandinavian-based food traditions), easily prepared and affordable enough you can feed a crowd.

1 stalk celery

Potatoes - peeled and cut in quarters

2 slices onion

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

5 peppercorns

3 qts. water

2 lbs. fresh salmon & cut in serving pieces

Butter, melted (not butter)

Lemon juice

Add first 5 ingredients to water in large kettle; bring to a boil. Add cod, again bring to a slow boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or fish is tender. Don't overcook. Drain. Serve with mixture of melted butter and lemon juice.

Makes approximately 4 servings.