Recipes

I have been brain storming for new ideas and I really think it would be great if any readers or visitors of my blog have any seafood recipes, these can include shellfish and any fresh water or saltwater fish recipes. If you have any recipes feel free to send them to me and I will place your recipe on my blog for others to see. I myself have a wonderful recipe for Teriyaki Beef but it also goes well with fish, here is the recipe:

1 tablespoon fresh ginger or 1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 cloves mashed garlic

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl and place into plastic bag with meat and place into fridge for at least 2-3 hours before cooking as desired. Enjoy!

Bad year for fishing

Well, this year hasn't been very good for salmon fishing for me. I have been fishing about two dozen times and have come home empty handed every time. A few days ago I took my oldest daughter fishing at Kennedy Creek here in Washington and didn't see any fish, it didn't help the matter that there were three seals chasing the fish either. However, up the road about 6 miles in the saltwater they were catching fish left and right, but this year I decided not to purchase my saltwater tag, so therefore, I cannot fish the saltwater.

The next few years may not be too good either with the flooding we have had in the past few years and with the rains and the snow. The floods wash away most, if not all of the eggs that are laid in the river by the fish when they spawn.

I will try to fish for Steelhead this year and maybe I will have better luck with them; but these fish are very smart and the numbers of them are not as plentiful as salmon.

Great Shopping Sites

This site: The Outdoors Alaska Store is an amazing site; they offer a lot of diiferent items and really neat cookbooks for wild game and fish. If I was shopping here I'd buy the book about Putting Fish By which shows you how to can salmon, and if you've ever had canned salmon it is very tasty and delicious and can last on the shelf of your home for months; but if you're like me it will be eaten within a few months; I highly recommend this book by Hazel Felton found in the cookbook category.

Smoked Salmon

I just love the taste of smoked salmon; it is a treat to me and my family during the fishing season. I usually use chum salmon (also called Keta salmon in the stores) for smoking due to the fact that this kind of salmon is very oily and usually isn't good for table fare and I certainly wouldn't serve it to guests for dinner, but it does well for smoking if the fish isn't too dark in color (the skin). This is a favorite dry brine of mine to smoke these fish and has decent flavor.

1 box brown sugar (16oz.)
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 Tblsp. black pepper
1 Tblsp. dry mustard
1 Tblsp. onion salt
1 Tblsp. garlic salt
1 Tblsp. onion salt
....add more brown sugar for a sweeter taste

Mix all ingreidents and rub into salmon meat side and then place into gallon size bags and place in fridge for at least 24 hours; turning bags every so often. The brine will turn to liquid but this is ok. After brining place in warm smoker with alder chips and smoke until done. Also remember to keep adding wood chips and smoke until done to desired taste. I usually smoke for 14-16 hours until it is flaky and not too wet as I like a more drier smoked salmon; I then let the fish cool on cooling racks and then cut into 3"-5" pieces and place into plastic bags and place in fridge for snaking later.

I always try new recipes and see what each one has to offer for flavor; personally I prefer a sweeter piece of salmon as opposed to a bland or too spicy piece of salmon. Remember some other good flavors to try are: Yoshida's sauce, soy sauce (this is good but must be accomp. by some sugar due to the saltiness of soy sauce) and there are also many wet brines which yield excellent flavor; just have an open mind and do some twisting of different flavors.