Preheat grill or a grill pan to medium-high heat.

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub over skinless side of salmon. Brush both sides of salmon with oil. Grill 5 minutes on each side, or until desired degree of doneness.

Serves 4

1/4 cup coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 (1- to 1-1/4-pound) center-cut fresh wild salmon fillet, skin on

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl.

Place a large piece of plastic wrap in 10-inch (or other 2-quart) baking dish with enough extending over the sides of the dish to bring up and wrap over the salmon.

Cut a 4-foot piece of cheesecloth. Fold it into quarters to make a piece about 2 square feet. Lay the cheesecloth on a work surface.

Pat the salmon fillet dry with paper towels (so the salt mixture adheres to it). Rub about 1/3rd of the salt mixture over the skin side of the fillet. Lay fillet in the center of the cheesecloth. Rub the remaining salt mixture on the top and around the sides of the fillet. Wrap the cheesecloth over the fillet to cover the fish. Place it, skin side down, in the prepared dish. Bring the sides of the plastic wrap up to cover the fish.

Place a pie plate on top of the fish. Weigh it down with cans. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Remove fish from refrigerator. Unwrap the plastic and turn the cheesecloth-wrapped fish over. Replace plastic and pie dish with cans. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Remove from refrigerator. Unwrap the salmon and rinse it thoroughly under cold running water. Pat it dry with paper towels. Use a razor-sharp knife (a boning knife is good for this) to thinly slice the salmon.

Serves 6-8

3 tablespoons white wine or Champagne vinegar
1/2 shallot, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt, or more to taste, divided
1-1/4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
5 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 pound napa cabbage (about 1/4 medium head), cored and cut into 1/4-inch shreds (you should have about 3 cups)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
6 (6-ounce) firm white-fleshed fish fillets, such as halibut or sturgeon
6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split horizontally

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, whisking to dissolve the sugar and salt. Whisk in 3 tablespoons oil. Set aside. (You can prepare the dressing up to 3 days in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)

Combine the cabbage, cheese and mint in a large bowl. (You can prepare the undressed slaw up to 4 hours in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.) Add the dressing to the slaw mixture, gently tossing to combine. Taste, ideally with your wine, and add more vinegar, salt and/or pepper if you like. Set aside.

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Brush both sides of the fish with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Grill until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. During the last minute, place the buns , cut side down, on the grill to toast.

Place the fish fillets on the bottom halves of the buns. Top with the slaw and the top halves of the buns, and serve.

Serves 6

3 pounds clams, scrubbed
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup white wine
4 slices bacon, sliced crosswise into slivers
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Garlicky Spinach

1 pound spinach
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon

Wilt the spinach in a wide, covered sauté pan over medium heat, for about 4 minutes, and pour off liquid. Remove spinach from pan, turn up heat and let any remaining liquid burn off. Swirl in olive oil and add the garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes, until golden. Add spinach back to pan and sauté for another 2 minutes, until completely wilted. Turn into a serving bowl and squeeze lemon juice over top.

Wipe out the pan, reduce heat to medium and add the bacon and onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until bacon is well-browned, about 10-12 minutes. Turn heat to medium-high, add thyme and white wine and deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil and let wine reduce to about half, about 4 minutes.

Add clams and reduce heat once again to medium. Cover and let simmer for 6-8 minutes, until clams are opened. Drizzle 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle black pepper over top.

To serve, place a bed of spinach in each of four wide bowls. Top with clams and broth.

Serves 4

2 (2-by-4-inch) whole wheat crackers (such as Al-Mok)
1 (5-ounce) can sustainably caught albacore tuna (such as Wild Planet)
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, or more to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Soak the crackers in water for 15-20 minutes until soft; drain thoroughly.

Drain the tuna. If it’s packed in water, discard the water. If it’s packed in oil, reserve the oil to use in this recipe. Place the tuna in a small bowl, breaking it up with a fork. Add soaked crackers, olives and capers. Gently fold in oil, vinegar and salt to taste. Chill at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Serve sprinkled with parsley, if you like.

Serves 2

Adapted from La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy (Rizzoli).

1 tablespoon honey
2 cups stone fruit (I like to use nectarines and plums), cut into a 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 serrano chile, minced
2 tablespoon basil, minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 pound wild Alaska salmon

Heat honey in a small saucepan until it becomes liquid.

Mix together stone fruit, onion, chile, basil, oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and heat grill to medium-high.

Place salmon flesh-side down over direct heat and grill for 3-5 minutes, until it comes away from the grates clean. Flip, baste with honey, and grill for an additional 3-5 minutes, basting once more in the process.

Serve salmon with stone fruit salsa.

Serves 4

Wild-caught sablefish (a k a black cod, Alaska cod, butterfish) from Alaska is a fatty, mild-flavored fish with luscious, buttery texture. It’s an ideal candidate for smoking. If your fillet is long, cut in half so you can pull the thinner tail end, which will cook more quickly, off the grill when it’s done. If you can’t find sablefish, use wild Alaskan salmon instead. Your choice of wood will influence the taste. For more pronounced smoky flavor, use hickory; for subtle smokiness, use applewood. Serve atop crackers, flaked over a tossed green salad or with bagels and cream cheese (with capers, of course).

1 quart boiling water
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
18 whole juniper berries, crushed
Zest of 1 lemon
1 bay leaf
1 (1-pound) sablefish (black cod) fillet
2 cups wood chips (hickory or applewood)
Canola oil

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Cool to room temperature. Add fish to pan (if the fish bobs to the surface, weight it down with a small bowl). Cover, and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Soak wood chips for 20 minutes to an hour. Drain.

Preheat grill and set it up for indirect heat. For a charcoal grill, move ash-covered coals to one side of the grill, and add soaked, drained wood chips directly to the coals. For a gas grill, place the chips in a smoker box, or arrange chips on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap, and poke holes in top of foil. Place the smoker box or foil packet directly on the heated burner. Heat chips 5-10 minutes or until they start to smoke.

Remove fish from brine; discard the brine. Rinse fish thoroughly and pat dry. Brush skin side of fish with canola oil. Add fish, skin side down, to unheated side of grill. Cover, and smoke 10-15 minutes or until just firm and opaque. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fillet. Flake fish into bite-size pieces. Serve warm or cold. The smoked fish will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Yields about 1 pound smoked fish

This chowder is a delicious way to showcase sweet end-of-summer corn and a perfect not-too-heavy soup to enjoy as the evenings start to cool off. Trim away the kernels with a sharp knife, propping the cob on end in a large shallow bowl to catch the kernels. Simmering a whole, pierced chile in the broth infuses the chowder with subtle heat that doesn’t overpower the sweet corn. This recipe serves 6 as an appetizer or 4 as an entree.

2-1/2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 hot chile pepper (serrano, Thai bird or habanero, etc.)
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1/2 cup half-and-half
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to pan. Add onion; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in flour. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add stock, stirring with a whisk until smooth; bring to a boil. Stir in wine. Add potatoes. Pierce chile pepper several times with a sharp knife; add to pan. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

While soup simmers, toss shrimp with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and black pepper. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from heat, and set aside.

When potatoes are tender, add corn to pan. Stir in half-and-half. Season chowder to taste with salt and black pepper. Cook over medium heat until warm. Discard chile pepper. Ladle chowder into soup bowls. Top evenly with shrimp. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 4-6

Paul Greenberg’s Los Angeles

Arctic char:
1 quart boiling water
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
18 whole juniper berries, crushed
Zest of 1 lemon
1 bay leaf
1 (1-pound) Arctic char fillet
2 cups wood chips (hickory, applewood or cherrywood, etc.)
Canola oil

Remaining ingredients:
4 small golden beets
8 cups mixed salad greens
1/4 cup Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped

To prepare fish, combine first 8 ingredients in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Cool to room temperature. Add fish to pan (if the fish bobs to the surface, weight it down with a small bowl). Cover, and refrigerate 3 hours.

Soak wood chips for 1 hour. Drain.

Preheat grill and set it up for indirect heat. For a charcoal grill, move ash-covered coals to one side of the grill, and add soaked, drained wood chips directly to the coals. For a gas grill, place the chips in a smoker box, or arrange chips on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap, and poke holes in top of foil. Place the smoker box or foil packet directly on the heated burner. Heat chips 10 minutes or until they start to smoke.

Remove fish from brine; discard the brine. Rinse fish thoroughly. Pat fish dry. Brush skin side of fish with canola oil. Add fish, skin side down, to unheated side of grill. Cover, and smoke 10-15 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the filet. Flake fish into bite-size pieces.

While the fish is brining, cook the beets. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut tops off the beets, leaving 1 inch of the stem. Wash, pat dry and wrap each beet in foil. Bake at 400 F for 30-40 minutes or until done (beets will be tender when you pierce them with a thin, sharp knife). Let stand until cool enough to handle. Rub the skins off beets and trim away root ends. Cut each beet into 6 wedges.

Combine salad greens, beets and vinaigrette in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Divide evenly among 4 plates. Top evenly with smoked fish and chopped egg.

Serves 4

1-1/2 cups wheat berries
4 cups water
Sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 pound U.S. wild-caught or farm-raised shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups zucchini, cut into a small dice
5 cloves garlic, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise (optional)

Bring berries and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 60-90 minutes, until all the water is absorbed and wheat berries are tender. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Stir in salt.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and swirl in oil. Sauté shrimp and zucchini for 1-1/2 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Add garlic, lemon zest and chili flakes, and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Season with salt and scrape into a bowl.

Add wine to the pan and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Stir in wheat berries and sauté 2 minutes. Add shrimp mixture back to the pan and stir in lemon juice and parsley (and olives, if using). Garnish with additional parsley and lemon zest.

Serves 6