Our Bountiful Harvest

Our fishing trip yielded us a freezer filled with lots of beautiful salmon fillets, ready for winter dinners. But what to do with the salmon besides eat fillets? I'm thinking about how to use more of the salmon than just fillets, I set out to use more of the fish.

No, I did not make fish head soup, I was forced to try some at a Potlatch when I was young and it was not good, not good at all. I did make a huge batch of broth from the fillet trimmings, that is now tucked away in the freezer for winter chowder. Then gave the leftover bits to the chickens, they LOVE salmon.

I also tried my hand at caviar and I have 10 little packets of caviar in the freezer. All the recipes I found insisted you can't freeze caviar, but I did. I'm a rebel like that, until of course frozen caviar sucks then I won't feel so smug. I don't have a recipe for caviar, I simply soaked the egg skeins in warm water then picked the eggs out, rinsed them and soaked them for an hour in a salt water brine.

I also made what my family calls squaw candy. Yes, it is politically incorrect to call it that, but that's what we call it. Can you think of a better name for smoked salmon carcass? Drop me a comment if you can, meanwhile check these beauties out.

Smoked in our vintage smoker/locker they turned out as good as the squaw candy my mama made when I was a little girl. I used the smoker for regular smoked salmon too.

I made gravlax too! I now have 3 full fillets cured and in the freezer ready for winter bagel making. Don't forget if you do have salmon fillets in your freezer you can make gravlax/lox from frozen salmon. Here is my recipe for gravlax:
Gravlax
***needs to cure for 2-3 days also need 2 9x13 non reactive pans***
2-3 pound salmon fillets
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 crushed peppercorns
1 cup chopped dill-I had to use 3 TBSP dried dill because my dill went on strike this year
2/3 cup of citrus vodka, divided

make sure all the bones are removed from the salmon fillet, use pliers if needed
lay the fillets skin side down in a 9X13 cut to fit if needed, save the scraps for another use
mix the sugar, salt, and peppercorns
spread liberally over each fillet
pour 1/3 of cup of vodka over each fillet being careful not to wash off the cure
sprinkle the dill on one fillet and flip the other fillet meat side down on top of it, so both meat sides of the fillets are together
wrap entire pan in plastic wrap
set another 9X13 pan on top with 10 pounds of weight in it
refrigerate
turn after 8 hours keep refrigerating and turning for up to 3 days
take small slices and taste them for doneness

And here is the feast we had yesterday for Lammas, bagels, gravlax and cream cheese!

Lammas or Loaf Mass is the August 1st cross quarter day which marks 6 weeks from solstice and 6 weeks to equinox.

This is my bagel recipe:


Bagels
4 1/2 cups flour
1 packet yeast
1/4 cup of sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups warm water

add two cups of flour to the bowl of a stand mixer
add yeast, 3 Tbsp. sugar and salt
give it a whirl to mix
then pour in the water
pulse to mix and occasionally scrape down the sides
when the flour is completely incorporated let it mix for 2 minutes
add flour a 1/2 cup at a time until it won't hold anymore, don't add too much, you probably won't need the entire amount, I only used about 3 3/4 cup
let the machine knead it for 6 minutes
let the dough rest for 10 minutes covered, I left it right in the bowl
meanwhile turn on the oven to broil and adjust a rack to 5 inches below the element
then prepare a dutch oven full of water with the 1 Tablespoon of sugar and set it to boil
when the dough has rested quickly divide it into 12 pieces
form each into a circle, poke a hole in the center and stretch it out about 2 inches don't worry they shrink back up
from the time you form the first bagel start the timer for 20 minutes
you should be done forming the bagels in about five
cover them with a damp towel until the timer goes off
broil them for 4 minutes, turning after 2, don't let them brown
remove from the oven and and put 4-5 bagels in the boiling water
cook for 8 minutes turning after 4
reduce oven heat to 375˚
remove after 8 minutes, shake off the water place on a greased baking sheet
sprinkle with kosher sea salt
bake for 12-15 minutes
repeat with remaining bagels
I added bagels to the pan in the oven as they came out of the boiling water so we could get them done faster I'm sure you could wait and cook them all at the same time
Do not drain them on paper napkins or paper towels as our directions said to, they stuck and we ended up peeling shredded napkins off the hot bagels, we did lay them momentarily on the damp towel while putting more bagels in, they didn't stick to that

We hosted a sushi party where we inhaled sushi made with raw kenai reds and caviar. The results were delicious and beautiful.

I gave many trimmings to some very happy chickens.  And the last stubborn eggs in the skeins. The geese wanted to be upset with me for not sharing the yummy treats, but then turned up their beaks at salmon bits. Silly geese!

So those are the ways we used our fish, hopefully to it's highest and best use! The only thing we didn't use were in fact the fish heads. Perhaps I was just too traumatized as a child to think of a good use for fish heads or maybe I should just get over it and make soup...what do you think?

Peace and Love-


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