Grilled Lingcod on a Bed of Pancetta Morel Udon
With a beautiful sunny day in the Kluane National Park and a generous fire grate, I decided to go all out for dinner. Here is a recipe based on some lingcod that we found from a guy from the Queen Charlotte Islands (across from Prince Rupert, B.C.) who was selling fantastic quality seafood out of his rig in a Whitehorse, Yukon parking lot.
2 lbs Lingcod
3 servings udon (based on usually portion wrapped in the bag)
4 oz pancetta
1 oz local morels, fresh or if dried, soaked then chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 small potatoes, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
2 TBS Bragg liquid amino
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
4 TBS olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 dried chili
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1-2 tsp salt
1. Wash and dry the cod, then rub with olive and salt, then set on a grate to cook over the fire.
2. Warm olive oil in the cast iron skillet over the fire. Add the carrots, potatoes, pancetta, garlic, paprika, oregano, chili and fry for five minutes. Add 1 cup water plus any mushroom soaking water and cook until vegetables are tender.
3. Meanwhile boil enough water to cook the udon, then drain and set in a pan with cold water to cool the noodles.
4. When the vegetables are tender, add the mushrooms, 1 tsp salt and Braggs to the skillet.
5. A few minutes before the cod is done, add the drained udon to the skillet and toss to coat.
6. Divide the fish into portions and top the noodles with cilantro to serve.
We ate the lingcod and noodles with Yukon Brewing’s Discovery ESB which is brewed with local fireweed honey.
Curried Saffron Coconut Milk Salmon Stew with Couscous
This is a recipe based on canned salmon that cooks up quick for a camping or backpacking meal.
3 TBS olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 small potatoes, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp gram masala
1 tsp tumeric
1 pinch saffron
1 tsp soy sauce (or Bragg)
1 can of salmon, we used local B.C. Sockeye
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup cilantro
2-3 dried chilies to taste
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cups couscous
1 1/2 cups water
1. Boil the 1 1/2 cups water (reserve 2 TBS) and add to the couscous in a pan. Cover and wrap in a towel to keep warm. Meanwhile, take the 2 reserved TBS of the warm water and soak the saffron while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Warm the olive oil, add vegetables and garlic. Saute 5-10 min until tender. Add the gram masala, tumeric, saffron (and water) and salt. Cook another 5 min.
3. When the potatoes are tender, add the salmon and the coconut milk. Warm just to boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
4. Fluff the couscous and add salt, olive oil and or spices to taste. (We put oregano in this one.)
5. Serve by pouring the stew over the couscous. Add cracked dried chilies to taste.
Seared Sockeye Salmon on an Open Fire
Fresh fish, fire, a cast iron pan–this is a very intuitive recipe.
1-2 lb sockeye salmon fillet
2 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsps salt to taste
1. Get a good fire going. Any wood with leaves will make coals! We used downed poplar that was plentiful in this B.C. campsite.
2. Wash and dry the fish. Rub with the olive and salt and toss in the garlic.
3. Let the pan heat up over the fire until its VERY hot. I tested it this time by letting a dab olive oil go to the smoking point.
4. Add the rest of the olive oil to the heated pan and add the salmon non-skin side down. Cook for 5-8 min. Turn the fish carefully then cook another 5-8 or until the fish flakes off with a fork.
We ate this with some fire grilled asparagus and potatoes.
Wayside Lunch with Smoked Salmon and Canada Goat Brie
1 round Canadian goat brie
1 tomato
1 8 oz piece of locally smoked salmon (this one was coated in black pepper)
Carr sesame water crackers
We ate this lunch on a nice rock that was on a pull off on the Haines Highway. Accompany with beer….
We just completed 2 days of driving through Minnesota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Alberta. Some 1300 miles in all.
Andy navigated us through a minor Bison snag today in Elk Island National Park.
On the eating end of things, we had a fantastic lunch in the car yesterday while we drove through Lloydminster, a town on the border of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
I knew we had sourdough rolls, a tomato, a salametti, and some homemade mozzarella I was saving for something special. Then it dawned on me…salad stuffed bread!!
Salametti, Tomato, Mozzarella Stuffed Rolls
1 tomato
1 salametti
8 oz fresh mozzarella
4 sourdough rolls
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp fresh diced fennel bulb, optional (we had it, so I threw it in)
1 tsp Spanish paprika
1. Chop the tomato, salametti and mozzarella. Add salt, olive oil, oregano, paprika and diced fennel.
2. Scoop out and chop the bread centers of the rolls, add to salad.
3. Toss everything well and spoon the salad into the middle of the each side of the roll.
We ate these with salt and pepper kettle chips and some fresh sliced cucumber.
Today we sliced into the Michigan raised ham that we have been curing in our basement since November 1! To my utter surprise it was ruby red and delicious. This was our first attempt at salt cured air dried prosciutto-style ham and I just assumed by how tricky it is to make prosciutto that we would probably end up throwing out the ham by the end. I guess we got some serious beginner’s luck.
On another local food note, we went fishing southeast of Grand Rapids a few weeks ago at the Cold Water River. I got schooled, but our friend and fishing mate David McGowan caught two lovely brown trout that we feasted on with one of Andy’s famous greens/herb pies.
P.S. If you want to make any cured meat…get this book by Brian Polcyn.
This month our home cooking was featured in Solace Magazine for an article on good food movements in Grand Rapids. Author Kristin Tennant and photographer Ryan Pavlovich captured the intersection of our cooking, travel, and music to a tee.
“Between music, food, and marriage, Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron have enough projects to keep them happily occupied for a lifetime.”
Read the full article here
(View Spring and Summer 2011, then Turn to Page 52!)
This winter break Andy and I traveled on Amtrak from Grand Rapids, MI to Glacier National Park. The 36 hour train ride follows highway 2 through North Dakota and Montana, a highway with which Andy and I have developed a fascination. It is an easy going two lane road that can be driven all the way from Seattle to the Mackinac Bridge and it is route we have taken home from the West many times.
We spent our first few days skiing around Glacier National Park and then we played a new year’s eve gig in West Glacier at an old railroad hotel from 1910 called the Belton Chalet.
We have been cross country skiing around 10 miles a day on mostly un-groomed trails.
Yesterday was the coldest day starting at -13 F and
topping out around 4 F.
With all of the practicing and skiing, we’ve been eating and cooking some crazy Montana size food in our little cabin on Highway 2.
Here is one recipe from tonight for a crazy pie that Andy made.
Mean Green Montana Pie
2 TBS butter
3 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, 3 TBS each, chopped
1 lb each lacinato kale, rainbow chard, collards, chopped and blanched (de-stemmed if preferred)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup grated mizithra cheese
2 cups roasted chicken breast, chopped (we roasted a whole chicken a few nights back!)
salt and pepper to taste
Double crust yeasted tart dough:
1 cup water
2 packets of yeast
2 eggs
8 TBS of butter
4 cups local Montana whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1. To make the dough mix the water and yeast with the salt. Then mix in eggs and 1 cup flour. Add butter and the remaining flour. Kneed 5 min and let rise in a covered oiled bowl.
2. Blanch the greens and set aside in a colander to drain out all the water.
3. Heat the 2 TBS of butter with the onions, herbs, and garlic over low heat for 20 min.
4. When the onions are soft, take off the heat and mix with the greens, chopped chicken, cheese, yogurt, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half separately, one for the bottom and one for the top of the pie.
6. Bake the pie for 50 min and then let cool 10 min.