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From the food editor: Blueberries and salmon, in season now, pair in this recipe

 
Celebrate in-season seafood and fruit with Salmon With Blueberries.
Celebrate in-season seafood and fruit with Salmon With Blueberries.
Published May 23, 2016

Last week, my colleague Alli Knothe wrote in our Business section about what an odd year it has been for Florida blueberry growers.

For a couple of weeks every April, growers in the Tampa Bay area, "hundreds of small local farmers, churn out millions of pounds of blueberries for grocery stores around the country. They typically beat blueberries from other states to market and make the money they need to survive the year," she wrote.

This year, it was a different story.

Due to some unusual (warm) weather in December and the spring, our blueberry harvest was delayed and is only now flourishing. But at this point, we're competing with berries from Georgia, Mexico and California.

That's why you'll find blueberries on sale at the grocery store right now — it's their time of year. So we're working them into this week's recipe, which also makes good use of another food in season: salmon.

They are combined in this recipe along with wine, vinegar, thyme and butter.

If you're not that familiar with cooking salmon, here are some tips for perfecting the fish that seems to get easier every time I make it.

• First, run your hand over the pink flesh of the salmon to make sure there aren't any pin bones in it. Using a pair of sturdy tweezers can be effective at removing them.

• This recipe calls for roasting the fillets, which is one of the easiest ways to cook salmon. Go ahead and use a baking dish or even a sheet pan for this. If you're looking for crispier skin, try cooking the salmon in a cast iron skillet, on the stovetop first, then in the oven.

• Make sure you have a large spatula on hand for when it comes time to flip the fillets or transfer them from cooking vessel to plate. Salmon in particular can fall apart if the entire thing isn't well supported.

Contact Michelle Stark at mstark@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8829. Follow @mstark17.