Wild-Caught Salmon Chowder with Smoked Bacon and Black Sea Salt
Loaded with protein, omega 3′s and life-giving amino acids, this hearty and delicious soup has just a few carefully selected ingredients. Perfect fare on a cold winter’s eve..
Peel and cut 1 medium Yukon gold potato into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a pot and barely cover with light chicken (or fish, vegetable) stock and bring to a low boil. Cook until the stock has thickened with potato starch and the potatoes are very nearly done. Turn off the heat and keep warm.
Cut a couple of thick slices of hardwood smoked bacon into 1-inch lengths and cook over medium-low heat until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp. Transfer the bacon to a side dish to drain, leaving the fat in the pan.
Add about 1 cup each of diced yellow onions, diced carrots and bias-cut celery to the pan with the bacon fat and cook without browning until al dente.
Meanwhile, remove the skin from 6 or 8 ounces of wild Alaskan salmon filets, tear into large chunks and set aside.
Add the potatoes and their cooking water to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the salmon and 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the pan, stir and simmer until the base has thickened and the salmon is just cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Add chopped fresh parsley and a squeeze of fresh Meyer lemon juice and stir to combine. Simmer for one last minute, then season to taste with freshly-ground black pepper.
Ladle soup into warm bowls, top with pieces of bacon and finish with a few flakes of black sea salt.
Related articles
- Chef Freddie Bitsoie Recommends a Cross-Cultural Celebration of Native Regional Winter Recipes (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
Dill Pollen Gravad Lax
Dating to the Middle Ages when Nordic fishermen salted and lightly fermented fresh-caught salmon by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line, Gravad Lax (gravlax) is prized to this day for its delicate, briny flavor. Quite expensive to purchase at retail, but dead simple to make at home using only 5 ingredients..
Dill Pollen Gravad Lax
Sustainable and among the safest remaining species in terms of mercury and PCBs, wild Alaskan salmon is a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Protein, Niacin, Vitamin B12 and Selenium. Think of it as gourmet grizzly bear food!
Gravad Lax
1 pound fresh, wild Alaskan salmon (skin on or off, pinbones removed)
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
2 tablespoons organic, pure cane sugar
1 tablespoon dill pollen (more flavorful than the traditionally-used fresh dill)
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Combine the salt, sugar, dill and pepper together in a bowl. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap on a flat surface, then place enough salt mixture down to match the size of the salmon at a depth of about 3/8 inch. Position the salmon on top, then spread the remainder of the salt on the exposed surfaces to a similar depth.
Tightly wrap the package as it is, then wrap the entire bundle one more time. Place the wrapped salmon on a dish or inside of a plastic bag to catch the juices, then refrigerate for 48-72 hours, turning once half way through.
Unwrap the salmon, rinse away the salt under cold, running water and blot lightly. To use, simply slice the salmon thinly on a bias and serve on top of a bagel with cream cheese, or in a French omelet, perhaps.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Related articles
- Preserving Salmon Three Ways (lostartskitchen.wordpress.com)
Grilled Salmon Tacos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Wild Alaskan salmon, fresh roasted tomatillo salsa, shredded cabbage, grilled green onions, crèma Mexicana, homemade tortillas and plenty of hot sauce..
Marinate salmon filets in olive oil with a pinch of sea salt, chipotle powder and parsley. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Make salsa verde from finely chopped roasted tomatillos, garlic, Serrano peppers, S&P, fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Prep masa for tortillas, shred cabbage, slice onions, heat your comal, etc.
Sear salmon with a tablespoon or two of its marinade in a heavy skillet. Add green onions to the same pan and cook until the edges begin to brown.
Meanwhile, cook tortillas in a comal or another heavy skillet. Keep warm.
To serve, mound cabbage on warm tortillas. Place salmon on top, dress with salsa and garnish crèma Mexicana and grilled onions. Serve with hot sauce and a wedge of lime.
Rating ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
“Politics of the Plate”
As it was last year, the commercial salmon fishery south of the Canadian border will be closed in 2009. The cause is not over-fishing, but the failure of young salmon to survive long enough to leave their natal streams and enter the ocean.
“At the very least, there was something fishy about Alaska Governor (and Vice Presidential hopeful) Sarah Palin’s decision to speak out publicly against the state’s Clean Water Initiative late last month. There may also be something blatantly illegal about her advocacy for defeating the ballot initiative, which ultimately failed to pass when 57 percent of Alaskans voted against it.
A bit of background. The Clean Water Initiative (aka Ballot Measure 4) was put in place to restrict the amount of arsenic and other toxic pollutants that new, large-scale mines could dump into the state’s waterways. Its stated goal was to protect human health and safeguard salmon that use the rivers and streams to spawn. More specifically, it was aimed at a massive gold and copper operation called Pebble Mine located directly upstream of Bristol Bay, site of one of the world’s largest and most sustainable wild salmon fisheries, which produced 31 million pounds of king, sockeye, and chum salmon in 2007.
Seafood Bisque
My Cagefree Family called from the Georgia coast this afternoon to ask if the shrimp coming in off the local boats is safe for babies and mamas (it is), which of course made me think about dinner. I didn’t have any fresh shrimp, but I did have a bit of Alaskan salmon, cod and crab..
Make a stock of filtered water, celery, onions, bay leaf, white peppercorns, lemon slices, thyme and white wine.
Put filets of salmon and cod (or whatever sort of fish you have) into a wire basket and place that in the simmering stock to poach until just barely done. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, strain and reduce the poaching liquid until flavorful, about 30 minutes.
Finely chop fennel bulb, celery, leeks, carrots, tomatoes and garlic. Sauté in whole butter until softened, about 3 minutes.
Mince the cooled fish, reserving some larger pieces for garnish.
Whisk tomato paste and cream into stock. Thicken with a little roux. Add cooked vegetables and poached fish and simmer 15 minutes. Add sherry, saffron, paprika, S&P and dill. You may purée the soup with an immersion blender or leave it coarse according to your preference.
At this point, I’m sure you’re asking yourself where’s the HFCS? It’s just not a meal without the natural goodness of High Fructose Corn Syrup! Resist, I tell you.
To serve, ladle soup into a bowl, drizzle with sherry and hot sauce (optional) and garnish with reserved fish, seasoned croutons and fennel.
Rating ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ +
Gravlax
Gravlax is a Scandinavian dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill.
During the Middle Ages, gravlax was made by fishermen who salted the salmon and lightly fermented it by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. The word gravlax comes from the Scandinavian word grav, which means literally “grave” or “hole in the ground”, and lax (or laks), which means “salmon”, thus gravlax is “salmon dug into the ground”.
If smoked salmon is more to your liking, we cover that here.
Make a mixture of sea salt, non-refined sugar, dill and pepper (optional). I use a salt to sugar ratio of about 3:1, but you can adjust this to your taste (don’t worry, there will be very little salt or sugar in the finished product).
Thoroughly pack salmon filets with the salt mixture and either bury it in the salt bowl or double bag it as I have done here. Refrigerate for at least 2 days, checking occasionally to see if additional salt mixture is needed.
Once cured, rinse the salmon in lots of cold fresh water, pat dry and slice very thin. Serve as an appetizer garnished with crème fraîche and caviar, or in scrambled eggs.
Rating ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
