Some Like It Hot

At my house, we eat meat.  My husband would contest that it is not a meal without meat.  Like most Alaskans, that meat is frequently salmon. When we first moved here, we ate LOTS of salmon.  Baked, grilled, poached, smoked.  Salmon, salmon, salmon.  I went from a salmon craving North Dakotan who ordered it any chance I got to utter disappointment that I had to eat salmon . . . again. 

I have since reached a place of salmon homeostasis.  About once a week we pull out a fillet and serve it up.  My go-to recipe, baked or grilled salmon with dill, EVOO, and S&P.  Add a dollop of greek yogurt and voila!  Hot or cold, this is delicious.  However, the key, as with any food, is to mix it up.  Salmon and sriracha, yes please!

Here is what you will need: red salmon fillet, sriracha (has to have the rooster on it!), paprika, cayenne pepper, jalapeno tabasco, and S&P.  I am serving my salmon with a acorn squash puree but I'll address that later. 

**WARNING**  This recipe is for people who like it hot.  If you are a weany when it comes to spicy, go with the dill combo mentioned above.  Not sure?  Taste a little sriracha.  If you can't handle a pea-sized amount, walk away!   This is lip burning, nose running spicy.

Start with a clean red salmon fillet.  You can use other types of salmon but I am a snobby Alaskan and I only eat reds :)  Lightly dry the fillet with a paper towel.  Leave the skin on the fillet.  If it comes without the skin, make sure to oil the side that will be touching the pan with a generous amount of EVOO.  Place the fillet in your baking dish.  I use tin foil to avoid cleaning but you can put it directly in an oiled dish.  Squeeze a generous amount of sriracha on the fish and spread to cover the entire fillet.  Sprinkle with paprika and cayenne powder to taste.  Add S&P and then dab jalapeno tabasco over the fillet.  I like the flavor of the jalapeno tabasco but you could use regular tabasco.  The end product should look like this.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  If you have a thinner fillet, cut the cooking time down to 15 minutes and then check the fish.  It should be cooked through at the thickest point in the fillet.  Don't cook the fish too long or you will end up with a dry product.  It should look similar to this.  Set the fish off to the side.

Now for our acorn squash puree.  Squash is big in the fall and is always a delicious side for any course.  I chose acorn squash but you could also use butternut, buttercup, carnival squash or pumpkin.  Put the squash on a paper towel in the microwave and cook for 5 minutes at a time, rotating until soft on all sides (about 20-25 minutes total).  Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and then scoop the squash meat into a bowl.  Discard the skin and seeds.  Add butter, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper to squash.  There is no particular amount.  Just remember, you can always add more later if needed but once it is in there, there is no going back!  The cayenne pepper is optional for those who don't want it spicy. 

At this point, you can stir and serve or use a immersion (or regular) blender on the mixture to achieve a creamier texture.  Squeeze a little lemon over the salmon and serve it on a bed of squash puree.  Mmmm mmmm good!

Add some spice to your plate tonight!

Alaska Fun Facts: Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.

Bye Bye Birdie

I am no great hunter.  That title is held by the resident Mountain Man.  I do, however, enjoy a good grouse hunt.  Campers Companion slung over my shoulder, the smell of fall in the air, Sniper searching for the scent of the prey.  It is exhilarating!  It all culminates in the moment that you spot that little feathered body or hear the beat of wings after the flush.  In that moment, it is you and the bird.  Let the games begin! 

Now, grouse probably need not apply for the bird Mensa Society.  Though highly camouflaged in a tree, this does not apply to the trails/roads that they often hang around.  However, they operate on this idea of invisibility even in plain site.  This allows hunters such as myself to actually have a chance to make a shot.  Now if said hunter misses the first shot, she is saved by the fact that grouse are not known for their long distance flights.  Locate the nearest spruce tree in the direction of the birds flight and begin the game of hide and seek.  This is an added challenge but so much fun.  These birds know how to hide!  Sometimes after climbing through the brush and analyzing every spruce tree in sight, you are left singing "Bye Bye Birdie." Sometimes you get a second chance.  Like most second chances, this is where the rubber meets the road.  (Begin slow motion).  Your heart is racing, you raise the gun to your shoulder, the bead meets the bird, you squeeze the trigger . . . BAM! 

What happens next is usually one of three things.  1) The bird drops and is retrieved by your trusty hunting dog.  Hello Dinner!  2) A second shot sounds from the back-up shooter and then refer back to number 1.  3) Bye Bye Birdie.  On Friday, we did a lot of singing :)  Grouse: 4, Jason and Summer: 3.  However, we missed one of those birds with a sling shot.  Hitting anything with a sling shot is super hard so I consider this a small victory.  Tacha also flushed a bird which is a win for Miniature Schnauzers everywhere! 

Despite Sniper's painful encounter with a very pokey porcupine, it was a great outing with my little family.  We returned home with some tired legs and meat for the freezer.  I can't wait to do it all over again (minus one porcupine!).

Alaska Fun Fact: In late August, spruce grouse begin frequenting stream sides, lakeshores and roads in early morning to secure grit for the coming winter months. The sharp, hard particles of rock are apparently essential for grinding the fibrous spruce needles that are their main source of nourishment in winter.