Golden Anniversary Salmon and Raspberry Salmon: Two New Recipes

Golden Anniversary Salmon Shrimp Soup

On March 8th, 1971, “the first sunny day,” my parents were married on a snowy Kodiak beach. 50 years later, Tollef and I were able to join them for their golden anniversary (warm and indoors, but special nonetheless). To celebrate, we created a flavorful yet simple salmon and shrimp soup since harvesting seafood is such a rich part of their history together.

This is loosely inspired by bouillabaisse but is not nearly as complex or time-intensive. We are not purists at all, but enjoy creating our own recipes from what we have and what we love. To add depth and a perfect briny umami to the broth, we added a piece of seaweed (it’s ok to omit this if you can’t find any) and simmered the shrimp shells in a piece of cheesecloth, removing before serving. The soup is high-protein and filling without being heavy, which was just what we wanted because we had to save room for the cheesecake (a re-creation of what they had for wedding cake). We’d definitely make it again, but unfortunately in the glow of the moment we forgot to take a picture. Hopefully a few words here will suffice.

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, chopped

3 bay leaves

1/8 tsp. cayenne

¼ tsp. marjoram

½ tsp. thyme

2 T. dried parsley

1 two-inch piece kombu (seaweed) [optional – see note]*

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 quart water

1.5 cups dry white wine or sherry

Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. good shrimp (unshelled)

1 fillet or approximately 1.5 pounds wild Alaska salmon, skinned and cut into about 1” chunks

*We are farming seaweed this year and are in love with its benefits! Ours isn’t for sale yet, but you can find kombu and other seaweed products in a well-stocked health food aisle or through Blue Evolution, which makes kelp products from Kodiak!

You will need a soup pot and a piece of cheesecloth and kitchen string.

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in the soup pot and sauté the onion and garlic until soft.

2. Then add the tomato sauce, water, and herbs and spices including your seaweed. Bring to a very low simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, for a total of about 2 hours. As soon as you get it to a simmer, begin shelling the shrimp and put the shells in your cheesecloth, tie it up with string, and submerge it in the soup pot for the remainder of the 2 hours. (Do not add the shrimp until step 5).

3. Add the white wine or sherry and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off the pot.

4. Meanwhile, skin and chop your salmon. After the 10 minute wine-simmer, remove and discard the cheesecloth bag with shrimp shells and bay leaves.

5. Taste to see if you want to add any salt and pepper. Then add the shrimp and salmon, cooking for about 2-4 minutes or until done (it doesn’t take long).

6. Serve (in celebratory bowls) and enjoy!

And now for our second recipe: Raspberry Salmon!

The delicious raspberry sauce comes together so quickly and adds brightness and pizzaz to your plate!

When we only visit a grocery store every few months, our freezer is a big part of our cooking experience. This great recipe came into our lives when an assessment of the freezer’s contents led us to realize we were heavy on frozen raspberries and salmon, all the product of our own harvests. Salmon, of course, from our nets, and raspberries from the massive patch that grows behind our house. It’s so big we can never pick all the raspberries, and even have friends and neighbors take their fill. The patch is historic, having been there probably since the property was part of an old village, and nothing quite matches sitting in the patch, buried in raspberries, and picking to your heart’s content. What could be better than pairing this bounty with the bounty of the sea? We googled recipes using raspberries and salmon and ended up using modifications from this recipe for Raspberry Balsamic Glazed Salmon from The Real Food Dietitians. Here’s how we did it:

Ingredients:

approximately 1.5 pounds wild salmon (we used coho, cut in 2 pieces)

2 tsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic

2 dates

3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

Preheat Oven to 375.

Combine olive oil, garlic , vinegar, dates, and raspberries in high speed blender and blend until combined. Pour into saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened. Turn off heat and add thyme and salt.

Place salmon on baking sheet, cover each piece with sauce (make sure to save some). Bake about 18 minutes or til done (less time for smaller pieces). Spread additional sauce on salmon and serve.

You could easily disappear in our raspberry patch!