Tag: salmon

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Pacific Northwest Salmon

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest it would seem that a love of salmon would be in my DNA, but unfortunately I didn’t fall for the Omega-3-filled fish until adulthood. Now I look forward to its bright pink flesh and eagerly hope that an appreciation for our region’s mascot will become engrained in my children.

Why? Well, because first (and this is always my priority when it comes to food) it’s delicious, delicate in flavor, far less “fishy” tasting than other fish, and lends itself to a wide variety of ingredients (like my Thai take on Salmon Chowder in this issue’s recipe). Also, it’s incredibly nutritious, particularly if you enjoy wild salmon, which is lower in fat and calories than farmed salmon and is higher in iron, potassium, and zinc.rowing up in the Pacific Northwest it would seem that a love of salmon would be in my DNA, but unfortunately I didn’t fall for the Omega-3-filled fish until adulthood. Now I look forward to its bright pink flesh and eagerly hope that an appreciation for our region’s mascot will become engrained in my children.

In the summertime, when the grill is always at the ready, I love to slather my salmon with mayonnaise, brown sugar, salt, and a good bit of lemon. Now, I realize that that sort of treatment may negate all the health benefits of salmon, but those concerns melt away as the sugar caramelizes, the lemon brightens and the mayonnaise creates a rich sauce, coating the perfectly flaked salmon. This time of the year salmon makes a healthful addition to a hearty and warming soup.

Chowder isn’t often thought of as health food, but this version uses coconut milk as its base instead of cream and is scented with lemongrass, ginger, and lime leaves (lime zest works in a pinch if lime leaves are too hard to find). To put this soup over the top, we finish with a piece of salmon skin crisped in a hot skillet and seasoned with salt. The perfect crunch to this satisfying soup.

No matter the season, salmon is a great place to start for a simple, healthful, and delicious weeknight meal.

by Ashley Rodriquez
Chef, food blogger, & full-time mom

notwithoutsalt.com

 

THAI-STYLE SALMON CHOWDER WITH CRISPY SALMON SKIN

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 tomato, roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, large dice

2 stalks lemongrass, outer layer removed and cut into 3-inch pieces

10 kaffir lime leaves

1 quart chicken stock

1 can ( 13.5 ounces) coconut milk

8 ounces salmon, skin removed (but save for later), cut in 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup lime juice

For serving: Cilantro Lime wedges Crisped salmon skin

Directions:

Set a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add the oil and heat until it starts to shimmer.

Sauté the mushrooms until deeply bronzed, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant.

Stir in the tomato, bell pepper, lime leaves and lemongrass. Cook until the tomatoes soften and release their juice and the bell peppers start to wilt.

Add the chicken stock and coconut milk and bring the whole pot to a simmer. Reduce the heat to keep a steady simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the salmon, fish sauce and lime juice and cook for just a minute or two, until the salmon is just cooked. It will continue to cook with the residual heat so be mindful of that.

Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. I tend to like the soup very bright and sour so you may want to start with a bit less fish sauce and fresh lime juice.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges. To crisp up the salmon skin add a small splash of oil to a large cast iron pan or skillet. Add the salmon skin to the pan set over medium high heat and cook until the sizzling steadies and decreases. Flip and do the same to the other side, about 3 minutes per side. Add a small pinch of salt to the skin. Cook until crisp.

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Wild, Farmed, and GM

salmon-safe-logo 250x297In a far away land, there lived a fisherman who fished and fished and fished. The salmon he caught were sold at the marketplace. He was an early rising and hard working fisherman who had learned the habits of the fish. He understood their cycles and seasons, like when they would return to spawn. He respected the gift of the fish and so only fished in such a way as to not hurt the future of the fish or its ability to continue to feed not only people, but all living things within the watershed (bears, eagles, earthworms, grasses, trees).

As the years marched on, the fisherman noticed that the fish he was catching were a little smaller and less plentiful as they once were. He still sold his fish at the marketplace, but now he had competition from a farmer selling “farmed” fish. The farmer was raising salmon in a pen. The cost of raising the fish was cheaper and the marketplace got a bargain.

Eventually, word spread that the farmer’s fish didn’t have the richness, color, or the revered Omega 3s found in the wild salmon populations. The farmer soon discovered, however, that if he took the food of the wild salmon, like sardines and herring, and made it into fishmeal and fish oil to feed his farmed salmon, they tasted better. Unfortunately, there was a lot of bycatch (incidental or unwanted fish and other marine species) in the process and, as to be expected, a lot less fish for the wild salmon to eat.

The marketplace was growing weary and leery of farmed salmon, and for good reason. The farmer realized that the customers were becoming educated and were voicing their opinion about the overharvesting of sardines and all the bycatch. To make matters worse, word was getting out that his farmed fish were “getting out.”

After some thought, the farmer contacted another farmer and started to buy genetically modified (GM) soybeans to supplement the fish meal and fish oil, to help his farmed salmon grow bigger sooner. He reasoned that if his fish grew quickly, not only would they be ready for market sooner on less feed, but they would spend less time in the pen, meaning less chance for escapement. All of this would mean more profit.

Later, when a scientist discovered that a growth hormone could be injected into the salmon egg, causing the fish to grow twice as fast and twice as big, the farmer embraced the scientist. The marketplace, however, embraced neither, but instead let the farmer know that they would not eat his farmed, GM-fed, or GM-altered fish.

Thankfully, the fisherman was still fishing and bringing his nutrient-rich, Omega 3 laden wild salmon to  the marketplace, where he was greeted by excited customers who valued the fish and the fisherman for helping them live better and eat better.

Always organic, always GMO free.

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Salmon Safe Certification 2014

We’ve renewed our Salmon-Safe Certification!

Salmon Safe Certification_web

This means that Klesick is:

  • Maintaining a buffer of trees and vegetation along the stream banks
  • Controlling erosion by cover cropping bare soil
  • Improving the passage for migrating fish
  • Applying natural methods to control weeds and farm pests
  • Using efficient and non-wasteful irrigation practices
  • Protecting wetlands, woodlands, and other natural areas
  • Promoting on-farm plant and wildlife diversity

Learn more about Salmon-Safe on Stewardship Partner’s website.