Eating Alaskan.
It’s our passion and our goal to create fresh food from the last frontier. We find our inspiration in recipes from sourdough cookbooks and family tried and tested menus. We use fresh ingredients from the garden, forests, and waters to showcase great food in “the Great Land”.
Camarones al Mojo de Ajo
When I was a child my family would make the annual Alaskan pilgrimage to a warmer climate for a few weeks. Our usual destination was Zihuatanejo, Mexico and while we were there we’d often take day trips to the little fishing village of Barra de Potosí. I’ve heard that the beautifully expansive beach of Playa Blanca is beginning to be developed now but back in the 90s there were only one or two little beach bars right on the water. After an arduous journey that involved a tightly packed Volkswagen bus and a bumpy ride in the back of a pickup truck, we’d arrive at the tranquil locale. We’d settle in at an enramada where each of us would claim a hammock and relax in the warm ocean breeze. Besides plenty of cervezas, Frescas and fresh coconut water we’d order their specialty Camarones al Mojo de Ajo. If you do it right the garlic in this recipe will take on a sweet toasted flavor and it’s fun to leave the shell on as you cook them so that you can suck the garlic sauce off of your fingers later.
¡Buen apetito!
Classic Rhubarb Crisp
Rhubarb is in season in Alaska! It is one of my favorite vegetables since it is high in vitamin K (like Kale and Spinach) which helps develop and strengthen bones, many other vitamins including vitamin C, anti-oxidants, and many important minerals.
Health aside, its great in dessert. Rhubarb is one of the least calorie dense foods. We like to fix that issue with some butter and sugar.
This recipe is from my aunt Jeanette who resides in Palmer farm country and has made it for the past 30 years. I’ve added a few personal touches such as nuts, oats, and cinnamon into the ‘notes’.
Caribou Osso Buco
A caribou shank isn’t the most profitable part of the animal for filleting meat as it dries quickly and is generally tough. Osso buco or “bone with a hole” is a great way to use the often tossed front shank. The best approach to cutting the shanks for Osso Buco is to slice the frozen shanks with a band saw- a common tool in the dog yard! If you lack high powered cutlery you could attempt this with a bone saw or simply go boneless (call it stew if you must) utilizing those tougher cuts of meat.
Crispy Lemon Baked Salmon
Rhubarb Shrub
When I was little and my mom was harvesting rhubarb she’d cut off all of the leaves and I’d take them and use them as doll-sized umbrellas, or make a little house for mice or fairies using the wide leaves for the roof. My mom’s rhubarb patch is over twenty years old and produces both mammoth stalks and prodigious yield. We’d happily eat rhubarb multiple times a week as most of the time it was fed to us in cobbler or pie form. In fact now that I think about it, rhubarb is one of the first things I can remember being allowed to dice up myself.
Rhubarb is a prolific Alaskan garden plant that can be grown in most northern climates. It needs plenty of rain and temperatures that consistently fall below 40°F in the winter. My mom’s secret to an impressive patch is to bury a couple of large starfish or sunstars (hopefully that you found already dead) about a foot and a half under the dirt beside the plants. This will provide fertilization for years to come. To start your own patch you will need root divisions taken from the crown of somebody else’s plant. Put them in the ground in early spring just after the ground becomes dig-able again. Once you have planted your starts, patience will be the name of the game. Don’t pick it for at least the first year (but waiting two-three years is better)!
After waiting so long harvesting can be a rewarding experience. Pull your chosen stalk away from the others and using a sharp knife cut at the base of the stalk. The ones you harvest should be between twelve and eighteen inches long and about an inch in diameter. If your stalks are thin you may not have enough nutrients in the soil. There isn’t much difference in taste between a green stalks and a ruby ones, but most people prefer red stalks for the bright pink color they add to baked goods. Remember to only take a few stalks at a time from each plant so that it will continue to grow.
It is extremely important when harvesting to know that the leaves are poisonous and should never be consumed! Among other things the leaves contain oxalic acid which is a nephrotoxin which can cause vomiting, breathing trouble, kidney failure, or a coma. One source even says to flush the area with water if it comes in contact with bare skin (it’s a wonder I survived childhood at all)!
One of my current obsessions are fruit shrubs. I have been using these for making salad dressings (which are delicious and putting them into cocktails! You can even use them simply as drinking vinegar and make refreshing drinks by adding 2 parts shrub to about 8 parts sparkling water. My favorite flavor so far is rhubarb shrub, although they can be made with just about any fruit. I have found that there are two main ways to make rhubarb shrub: the fast way and the slow way.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Gimlet
More Resources:
A newsletter from the UAF Cooperative Extension.
A Source to Rhubarb Producers, Buyers and Users in and around the State of Alaska.
An article with more recipes from the Fairbanks Newsminer.
Fiesta Rockfish Tacos: Guest Blog by Debbie Hemenway
These rockfish tacos are perfect for a festive dinner at home with friends and family.
Over the past thirty four years of living in Southeast Alaska I’ve caught more rockfish then I care to remember. Most of the time it was done in the pouring rain, but every now and then the sun was shining. Many different types of rockfish are found in the waters around Elfin Cove and it’s versatility lends itself to many different dishes. It has always been a weekly staple at our dinner table, and finding new ways to prepare it is always a fun challenge.
Here is a recipe that was hard for me to write down since so much of my cooking is off the cuff. I’ve done my best to approximate the measurements, but I’ve always found that the best dishes come from tasting and testing as you go along.
Steven Hemenway holding a yelloweye rockfish.
Fresh Salmon Cakes
Whip up these salmon cakes made with fresh or frozen raw salmon-not from a can!
Every year we journey to Kenai to dipnet for Red Salmon. Since our household limit is 35 reds we limit out pretty quickly and are usually on our way back to Anchorage within the same day. The journey doesn’t end there.
The next step is to process the fish.
Every season it seems like I have to relearn how to filet salmon. Needless to say, the first filet of the year is a bit sad looking. To make the best of a fishy situation, I like to use this sacrificial learning filet in ways where it can be admired for its flavor rather than the later crafted barbecue ready filets.
Our dogs love it when we make salmon for dinner. Nothing is wasted with these guys around!
First rhubarb of the season!
I‘ve been watching the rhubarb carefully the past few weeks to check stalk length and leaf size.
It’s time.
Let the first harvest of the season begin! I picked the largest stalks that were either drooping towards the ground or were starting to block light to the newest incoming stalks.
Rhubarb makes a delightful salsa/slaw introduced to me through my friend Steve Jordan. His recipe includes a root, a hoot and a shoot. In this case the root is a turnip, the hoot are jalapeno peppers and the shoot is the rhubarb. It’s great on many things not the least of which is chips. Superb on grilled chicken or pork or wherever you need some zip to balance out the bland!
Smoked Salmon Dip
Give this Alaskan staple a kick with Sambal Chili Garlic paste
Every spring I start to take inventory of our freezer space, seeking out the forgotten and buried. The same items seem to be hoarded every winter because they have been saved for a “special” occasion or to serve to someone visiting from the lower 48.
This year’s stash included plenty of smoked salmon (including a few whole fillets I will need to make an occasion for) and precious frozen berries.
Below is a recipe that uses up those sometimes less than fresh looking food saver bags of smoked salmon. Wipe the frost off and give it a try before your next book club meeting.
Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai
Pad Thai so good you wont need to live near a restaurant!
I have a love-hate relationship with pad thai. I feel like I’m a pretty good cook, but this dish has never turned out the way I wanted it to. Well I guess what they say is true, practice makes perfect. Finally I have found a process that works and a flavor that I love!
Ingredients:
- 2.5 Tbsp tamarind paste or tamarind concentrate
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 4 Tbsp dark muscovado sugar
- 3/4 Tbsp Sambal Oelek chili paste
- 1/4 cup water
- 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 ounces dried rice stick noodles , ( I like the smaller width ones, think linguine)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 Tbsp of garlic, minced
- 2 medium sized carrots, julienned
- 1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 TB)
- 6 Tbsp chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
- 2 cups of bean sprouts
- 2 medium scallions (or sugar pea pods) cut diagonally for garnish
- Lime wedges for serving
Instructions:
First things first you’ll want to heat up about a gallon of water on the stove top. Once bubbles being to form on the bottom (but it’s not boiling) remove the water from the heat. Pour it over your noodles that you have spread out on the bottom of a cake pan. 8 ounces is usually half of a package. Allow the noodles to soak according to the package directs which should be for about 30-45 minutes. Do this ahead of time!
After that you’ll want to dice up your chicken breast into small cubes, julienne your carrots, chop your peanuts, and have your shallot and garlic all ready to go. Next put your minced shallot with about a tablespoon of oil in a very large pan (enough to hold all of the noodles). Once the shallots are are starting to brown add the minced garlic and stir continuously so that the garlic doesn’t burn. After about a minute add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add all of your chicken and stir to get the chicken coated with the oil, onions, and garlic.
In a separate bowl you’ll want to add your brown sugar, tamarind, lime, sambal oelek, ketchup, fish sauce, rice vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and about a 1/4 cup of water. Stir and have that read to go when you need it.
In a separate smaller frying pan I cooked all of my peeled and deveined shrimp with a little salt in about a tablespoon of oil. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. When the shrimp are done remove them from the pan and add the two eggs that you have already scrambled with a little pinch of salt. Cooking them in the same pan lets them get a little of that shrimp flavor. Once the egg is done cooking set that aside as well.
When the chicken is cooked through, add your julienned carrots and give them about 3-4 minutes to soften up a bit. This next part is the tricky part and you’ll have to work quickly. Drain your noodles that you have been soaking. Then add your sauce into the the chicken pan. As soon as you add the sauce, also add the noodles and using a pair of large tongs begin tossing the noodles in the sauce. Keep stirring the noodles because they have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan very easily. The noodle will begin to absorb the sauce and start to look less stiff. If all of the liquid gets absorbed quickly you may need to add about a half a cup of water to keep the moist. It’s hard to describe how the noodles look when they are done so I would suggest to just keep tasting them until they are the doneness you desire. The will be soft and limp.
As soon as the noodles are done, toss in the bean sprouts and the scrambled egg and then remove from the heat onto a serving platter. Garnish with the chopped peanuts and either sliced green scallions or sliced sugar snap pea pods (or both).
Serves with the lime wedges so people can add a little extra tang to their pad thai. I saved the shrimp for last to garnish my pad thai with so that they wouldn’t get over cooked and everyone can have the same number of shrimp.
Happy eating!
Emily & Nina
We are both born and raised in Alaska, land of the midnight sun and fishing at 2am. We love to find new ways to use fresh ingredients or put a modern spin on an old Alaskan classic. We hope you will enjoy tasting Alaska.