The recipe Corner
OUR FAVORITE RECIPES
Our wild Alaska salmon is our favorite food, and we derive great pleasure from sharing it! It's so easy to cook, so nutritious, and completely delicious. These recipes are ones we turn to regularly to feed our bodies and minds while working long, hard hours as commercial fishermen. Often we don't have a lot of time to cook or be fancy, and since we have no grocery stores, we tend to be creative and flexible with the ingredients we use. We've provided some of our go-to family recipes below, and we often post recipes on our blog. Follow these links to get to the recipes: Pickled salmon, salmon nicoise salad with olive vinaigrette, simple baked salmon with lemon and rosemary, Thai curry salmon with coconut milk and veggies, and Valentine Salmon Soup.
For professionally developed cooking ideas, we love the recipes and photos available from Alaska Seafood.org. They even have demonstration videos on cooking techniques to make your fish as moist and as delicious as can be. We just made the salmon burgers with rhubarb chutney - beautiful, fun, and tasty!
These are all for thawed fish, for one fillet. To thaw it, simply put the fillet (unopened) in your refrigerator the night before you plan to use it. If you would like to cook 2 fillets, simply double the ingredients but don't double the cooking time. You'll know when your sockeye fillet is done when it flakes with a fork and is just barely opaque in the center - no longer translucent. It will still be a gorgeous red color when fully cooked. Don't overcook it.
Pesto Salmon
Ingredients: One salmon fillet and 2 tablespoons of your favorite pesto.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Rinse your fillet in cold water and pat dry. Place skin side down in a baking dish large enough to hold it. Spread the pesto over the salmon evenly, place in oven, and cook for 22 minutes or until done.
Sockeye Salmon With Mustard and Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients: One salmon fillet, 1/3 cup white wine, 2 teaspoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (or just salt), 2 Tablespoons spicy brown mustard, 1/8 cup brown sugar.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse your fillet in cold water and pat dry. Place skin side down in a baking dish large enough to hold it. Boil wine, butter, and Old Bay seasoning or salt in a small saucepan for 3 minutes. Sprinkle salmon with pepper. Place salmon on a baking sheet and pour wine mixture over. Bake until fish is opaque in center - about 14 minutes. Remove from oven.
Preheat broiler. Mix mustard and sugar in small bowl and spread over salmon. Broil salmon until topping is brown and bubbling - about 3 minutes.
Tollef's Favorite Salmon Salad
Ingredients: One salmon fillet, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons butter, a dash of white wine or water, 1/3 cup mayonnaise (or you can mix in yogurt or sour cream), 1 tablespoon prepared mustard, 2 minced dill pickles, 1 teaspoon crushed rosemary, more salt and pepper to taste.
If you want to use our smoked salmon instead of a fillet, simply skip the baking of the fillet, since smoked salmon is already cooked. Mix in thawed smoked salmon with all the ingredients starting at mayonnaise. Keep refrigerated.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Rinse your fillet in cold water and pat dry. Place it skin side down in a baking dish. sprinkle salt and pepper over the fillet, dot with the 2 tablespoons butter, pour about 1/4 cup white wine or water around the fillet in the dish, and put it in the oven for 22 minutes. You can eat it as is or let it cool and make it into dip. To do that, flake cooled salmon into large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. It should be spreadable. If needed, add more mayonnaise. You can also add diced onions or chives if you like them. Eat this in wraps, on salads, in sandwiches, or dip into it with crackers or vegetable sticks.
Trap-Six Favorite Baked Salmon
Ingredients: One salmon fillet, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons molasses, 1 heaping Tablespoon prepared mustard, 2 cloves minced or crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons minced ginger, 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Rinse your fillet in cold water and pat dry. Place skin side down in a baking dish large enough to hold it. In a separate bowl, mix all of the other ingredients together and then pour over salmon. Let it marinate for 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Then place in oven and cook for 22 minutes or until done.
Adelia's Salmon Chowder with Coconut Milk
Ingredients: One salmon fillet, one and a half cans of full fat coconut milk, one large or two small yams (chopped), one onion (chopped), one stalk celery (chopped), one carrot (chopped), 2 cups chicken broth, 1/4 cup butter, 2-3 bay leaves, sat and pepper to taste.
In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt butter and then add all vegetables and a pinch or 2 of salt. Saute for 5-7 minutes or until they are softened slightly but not mushy. Add coconut milk, chicken broth, and bay leaves, bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until the vegetables are tender, approximately 10 minutes, depending on the size of your chunks. While it is cooking, remove the skin from your fillet and cut it into one inch cubes. Check for creaminess. If you'd like more of that texture, add more coconut milk. Add salt and pepper as desired. Add salmon chunks and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the salmon chunks are completely opaque.
Recipes for Smoked Salmon
Most often, we just eat smoked salmon plain so we can truly savor the flavor. It is delicious paired with crackers and maybe a bit of good cheese or cream cheese. It can be made into beautiful and delicious appetizers or hors d'oeuvers with little effort. It's also an exciting cooking ingredient. You can often use it as a healthier, more delicious option in place of ham - for example in omelettes, fritattas, quiches or homemade macaroni and cheese. Try it in fettucini dishes, in sandwiches, or as part of your favorite salad. It's also a wonderful pizza topping. At our fish sites, we have a tradition of Friday night "pizza nights", where we invite a couple of neighbors and enjoy a reason to get together. Since we don't have grocery stores, everything is homemade, from the dough to the sauces, and smoked salmon is a favorite ingredient.
A couple of our favorite recipes can be found below, and there are more on our blog. We encourage you to investigate them by following these links: smoked salmon eggs benedict, smoked salmon pizza, and smoked salmon fondue.
For professionally developed recipes, here's a link to a delicious collection that we love. We made the spring rolls just the other day! Delicious.
Please note that your smoked coho salmon is fully cooked. It must be kept frozen until you are ready to consume it. Then, all you need to do is put it in the refrigerator to thaw the night before you plan to use it, and it will be ready to eat right out of the packaging if you so desire.
Simple Favorite Smoked Salmon Dip
Ingredients: Equal amounts smoked coho salmon and cream cheese
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly in a bowl. Serve with crackers. It'll disappear quickly!
Chipotle Smoked Salmon Chowder
Ingredients: 1 package smoked coho salmon, 1 small or 1/2 large onion (chopped), one carrot (chopped), two stalks celery (chopped), one can of corn (or use fresh corn!), 2 medium potatoes (chopped), 2 cups half and half, 2 cups chicken broth, 2 tsp butter, 1 bay leaf, 1/8-1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or more to taste, salt.
In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium high heat, then add the vegetables except corn. Season with a dash of salt. Saute for about 5 minutes, until they are softened but not completely cooked. Add chicken broth and bay leaf and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer just until potatoes are soft. Add half and half, corn, flaked smoked salmon, and chipotle powder. Stir to combine and heat through, but make sure not to boil it. It's ready to enjoy when everything is heated through.