Author Archives: Jack & Barbra Donachy

Unknown's avatar

About Jack & Barbra Donachy

Writers, photographers, food lovers, anglers, travelers and students of poetry

Alaska Silver Salmon Pizza

Posted on by
1

Wild Alaskan Silver Salmon Pizza: The second of nine salmon recipes

With a fairly large tub of salmon fillets in the freezer and us on the downward slope of the school year, Barbra has challenged me to come up with nine new salmon recipes. The first creation was Salmon Burgers & Caesar Slaw. Here’s the second: Silver Salmon Pizza.

Put a pizza stone on the center rack of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Ingredients

  • pizza crust
  • tomato sauce (see recipe below)
  • shredded mozzarella
  • shredded cheddar (about 1/2 as much as the mozzarella)
  • Kalamata olives, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1/2 pound salmon, grilled or broiled and cut into smaller pieces
  • 2 strips thick bacon, cooked, drained and cut into small pieces
  • 1/3 cup sweet onion, chopped coarse
  • several cloves of garlic, chopped coarse
  • sun-dried tomatoes, chopped coarse
  • 1 sheet of nori (dried seaweed) cut into thin strips

The crust: We usually pre-bake our crusts for about 10 minutes and then freeze them. Later, we thaw the crusts and add the pizza toppings and bake for 8 to 12 minutes. The crust does not have to be completely thawed.

The sauce:

  • 6-ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 tin of anchovies chopped fine (about 1 tablespoon)
  • generous amount of Italian herbs
  • garlic powder (or fresh garlic chopped fine and briefly sautéed)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • a few grinds of black pepper
  • approximately 3 ounces of water–you want the sauce to be thick

Mix these ingredients together with a wooden spoon in a glass bowl and let stand for at least 20 minutes.

The salmon: Grill or broil. I rubbed the salmon for this pizza with a fiery Southwestern rub from Penzeys. For best results, cut or pull apart the salmon with its natural grain.

Other toppings: heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the olives, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Don’t overcook. Onions should be just translucent and still have some crunch.

Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza crust. Add the mozzarella. Add the cheddar. Spoon on the mixture of onion, garlic, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle on the bacon. Top with salmon.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes, until crust is golden brown on edges and underneath.

Sprinkle nori strips on the pizza after it is done baking. Set out a bottle of Cholula sauce on the table, and pour out glasses of a good amber ale!

Running North of the Arctic Circle

Posted on by
1

7 Mile Road pictured above is one of our Arctic “rave runs.” Our other choice is running along the frozen shore of the Arctic Ocean. Brrr!

Before moving to Alaska, Jack and I took part in about three “destination” half marathons each year. These runs took us to places such as California’s wine country, San Diego and vicinity, and the coastal redwood forests of northern California. But it’s now been two-and-a-half years since our last half marathon–the Salmon Festival Half Marathon in Cordova, Alaska in the summer of 2009. After that first visit to Alaska, our life became consumed with moving up here. Then, when we moved to Shishmaref, we managed to sit on our rear ends for the majority of the school year. We were painfully reminded of our lack of exercise during an embarrassing mile-and-a-half walk from the Nome airport into Nome last spring which was way more taxing than it should have been.

Fast forward to the present.

We both really enjoy the challenge of half marathons, a race just long enough to be physically challenging and mentally rewarding without being so long that the preparation consumes our lives or we’re left feeling overly whipped after the event. Aside from running halfs, our secondary goal has always been to stay fit enough that we are able to run five miles at the drop of a hat, or take off on a reasonably strenuous hike. With those goals in mind, we vowed to make changes in our fitness regimen when we moved to Point Hope.

Prior to the start of the school year, we managed to get in a couple of runs outside. But our options in a town paved in unforgivingly hard concrete and situated on a point of land carpeted in small rocks proved to be quite limited. And then there’s the weather… Luckily our school has a decent weight room equipped with two treadmills and an elliptical trainer.

Jack used his years of running experience to draw up a running schedule for us–one that would get us back in shape quickly without risking injury. I’ve always liked having a goal event to shoot for–a road race of some kind–but our summer schedule is still up in the air, and there aren’t a lot of races up here. The event we’re most likely to take part in is the Mayor’s Marathon and Half Marathon in Anchorage on the summer solstice. Otherwise, we might get out our maps and GPS, measure off our own course, give it a name and reward ourselves with the traditional beers and t-shirts once we’ve run it!

Even with goals set and schedules printed, honestly, running on the treadmill is BORING! We’ve loaded our iPod with podcasts and music, and one of our colleagues positioned the treadmills so people can run side-by-side and talk (just like the old days when Jack and I used to run the trails along the American River in Sacramento!). I also have audio books ready to upload to help combat my new nemesis. The other challenge (and this one is kind of ironic) is that I’ve always hated to run in the heat; our weight room, kept at a constant, breezeless temperature of 70 degrees means minimum running attire and lots of water. Ugh! The tiny fans on the treadmills put out a barely perceptible stream of air.

All that being said, it’s time to pack my workout bag, make sure my iPod has my latest running playlist and get ready to pretend I’m running on a cool morning in Maui!

Polar Numbing Stinging Cold

Posted on by
6

It’s cold in Point Hope.

Better words for cold according to the thesaurus –Siberian, algid, arctic, below freezing, below zero, benumbing, biting, bitter, blasting, bleak, boreal, brisk, brumal, chill, chilled, cool, crisp, cutting, frigid, frore, frosty, frozen, gelid, glacial, having goose bumps, hawkish, hiemal, hyperborean, icebox, iced, icy, inclement,intense, keen, nipping, nippy, numbed, numbing, one-dog night, penetrating, piercing, polar, raw, rimy, severe, sharp, shivery, sleety, snappy, snowy, stinging, two-dog night, wintry

We were warned when we left Shishmaref – “It’s cold up there.” We thought a few degrees colder would not make too much of a difference. Hmmmm…. I’ve been comparing Shishmaref to Point Hope. It’s true, it is only a few degrees colder here. But this week the “real feel” temperatures have been hovering around minus 40! When the high says 4 degrees, it’s likely that we may hit the high at 3 o’clock in the morning, not mid-day as you might guess. The sun does peek over the horizon, but not enough to warm anything yet. So, we are relying on wind currents to bring us some warmer air flows.

Last year, Jack bought a wolf ruff for my parka. One of our Shishmaref friends finished it and attached it to my coat. It makes a huge difference in blocking the wind. I have polar fleece pants with a wind-blocker lining. I have thick neoprene “muck” boots. I often wear two hats–one with a face blocker. For me, all these are necessities, even for the relatively short walks to school, the post office, or to the store.  One of my students walked home from the school last Saturday without a hat and got frostbite on her ear!

I can feel every crack in my armor.  If my mitten exposes my wrist, it hurts. The slit between my hat and the face blocker stings with cold.

The words in the thesaurus don’t do justice to the cold up here.

Way-Better-Than-Pecan-Pie Bars

Posted on by
5

When I was first introduced to pecan pie, I didn’t like it. I love sweets, but pecan pie was too gloppy. I was disappointed that it had more “goo” than pecans. The idea of pecan pie is a good one, but I’ve always thought it could be improved. Jack says I’ve just never had good pecan pie. I bet he’s right. 😉

Today, I found a blog that had a recipe which seem to do the trick. Amy at Elephant Eats took all the flavors of pecan pie (plus chocolate) and converted it to a cookie bar.

I did make a few changes. First of all, I halved the recipe. Although we have visitors to help us eat our confections, there is no need to have too many sweets around…they are too tempting. I also increased the pecans to avoid the disappointment of “too much goo and not enough pecans.” They came out terrific. And they are way better than pecan pie!

One last piece of advice – no matter how much your husband begs you, don’t cut into these bars until they are cool. They will fall apart!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup dark Caro syrup
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Grease bottom and sides of a 7 1/2″ x 11″ pyrex glass pan.

3. In bowl, mix flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, butter, and salt until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press into bottom of pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. In a pot, using low heat, stir corn syrup and chocolate until it’s melted and well blended. Remove from heat. Stir in the rest of the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until blended. Stir in pecans.

5. Pour filling over hot crust. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm around edges, but slightly soft in center. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Spicy Chicken Farfalle Soup

Posted on by
Reply

A hot bowl of spicy chicken and bow tie soup is just the thing on a cold January day.

We’re both fans of Southwestern style rubs. Penzey Spices makes a good one, as does Dean & Deluca. I’m sure there are others. I whipped up this wonderfully spicy chicken noodle soup using leftover chicken thighs I’d rubbed and broiled for last night’s dinner. Vary your ingredients according to how much chicken you have on hand and what’s in your pantry. By the way, if you haven’t tried Better Than Bouillon brand, it really is–better than bouillon. Much better. In addition to plain chicken and beef, they make 42 other styles of soup base including a lobster base that is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

  • skinless, boneless chicken thighs rubbed with Southwestern-style seasoning and broiled
  • sweet onions, chopped coarse
  • carrots, chopped coarse
  • celery, chopped coarse
  • sweet corn
  • garlic, chopped coarse
  • Kalamata olives, chopped coarse
  • sun-dried tomatoes, chopped coarse
  • mushrooms, chopped coarse
  • fresh bow tie (or other) pasta
  • Cholula sauce
  • Better Than Bouillon, chicken flavor
  • olive oil
  • Italian herbs (fresh or dried)
  • smoked sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • (If I had fresh, hot red peppers, I would have used them)

1. Cut chicken into small pieces and set aside.

2. Place enough water in a pot to cover the ingredients. Add bouillon and bring to a boil.

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add chopped vegetables, starting with the carrots and onions as they require more cooking time. Add Italian herbs and stir in well. After two or three minutes, add celery, olives, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are just turning translucent and carrots and celery are just barely crunchy.

4. Add sautéed vegetables to boiling water. Add chicken, Cholula sauce to taste, a few grinds of pepper and the smoked sea salt.

5. Add fresh pasta and continue boiling till just done. (If using store-bought pasta, it is better to add it to the boiling water before adding the other ingredients to cook it to desired tenderness without overcooking the vegetables.)

6. Serve piping hot.

Arctic School Bus

Posted on by
Reply

When I heard that Point Hope had a school bus, my first thought was that a bus seemed extravagant in a village that stretches barely over 1/2 mile  from tip to tip. Not only do we have a school bus, but it’s a shiny, brand-new school bus that just came off the barge this summer. Wow, I thought, our school district is rich!

Once winter set in, my perspective changed. These days, walking the scant 150 feet from the front door of our house to the school is no small enterprise. Bundled up from toe to nose and nearly getting blown off my feet by icy blasts of wind, I totally get the school bus. Within minutes, any skin exposed to this wind begins to hurt! Who would walk to school in those conditions? There are days I wish I could take the school bus.

Salmon Burgers with Caesar Slaw

Posted on by
Reply

Fried mashed potatoes (made with golds, russets and purple Peruvian potatoes) accompanies a serving of Caesar slaw & salmon burger.

We’re about halfway through the school year. That means it’s time to assess where we are on groceries in order to tweak our list for next year. It also means our menus from here to the end of the year need to include food based on quantities and expiration dates. Recently I reorganized our freezers and was surprised (and pleased!) to see how much salmon we have left. Vacuum-sealed, it will keep through the summer and welcome us into the next school year. Even so, the abundance of salmon inspired us to find some new recipes to try with one of our favorite fish. Jack is famous for his “shio-yaki” style fish. This is fish broiled with a simple seasoning of salt and pepper–easy and one of the best ways to showcase the flavor of good fish. But I figured it was time we gave our culinary skills a stretch. So…

Salmon Burgers alone are not an earth-shattering idea, but serving the burgers atop a Caesar-syle slaw made for a truly noteworthy entrée. Enhanced by the color of the purple cabbage and of the salmon burgers themselves, every bite was wonderful–from the initial crunch to the flavor of the medley of salty anchovies, freshly cracked pepper, lemon, and dijon mustard.

To make the salmon burgers, start with 3/4 pound of salmon prepared shio-yaki style.

Shio-yaki salmon (shio = salt; yaki = broiled or char-broiled)

  • 3/4 lb fresh salmon fillet, skin on
  • sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper
  • olive oil

Place pan under broiler and preheat. Place salmon skin-side down on a cutting board and rub in sea salt and pepper. Let stand for a few minutes. When broiler pan is hot, spray or brush with olive oil and place salmon fillet skin-side down. Salmon should sizzle when it hits the pan. Cook approximately 10 minutes per inch, or until white fat can be seen coming out of the salmon. Avoid overcooking.

Salmon Burgers: (Makes 5 burgers)

  • 3/4 pound cooked or canned salmon, flaked. Include chopped skin, if desired. (See above for cooking suggestion)
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • sea salt (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
  • 2 cups Saltine cracker crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
  • egg whites from 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Place flaked salmon, ground pepper, salt, lemon juice, garlic, basil, tarragon, cracker crumbs, and egg whites in a glass mixing bowl. Mix together and make patties to the size desired. (Makes five nice-sized burgers.)

Add about three tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet and heat on medium high. Cook the salmon burgers about 3 minutes on each side.

Caesar Slaw: (Makes enough slaw for 2+ servings)

  • 3 cups chopped purple cabbage
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 anchovies (about 3/4 tablespoon–about 1/2 of a tin) finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

In a glass bowl, add pepper, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, dijon mustard and olive oil. Mix together using a whisk or spoon. Add the cabbage and mix thoroughly, until all is coated.

Place a serving of Caesar slaw on a plate, then the salmon burger atop the slaw. Try it with a favorite lager!

Stay tuned for our next salmon adventures. Yum!

Bringing in 2012

Posted on by
4

On the final evening of 2011, Eskimo dancing and storytelling were featured in the school gym before Point Hope ushered in the new year with a display of fireworks over the frozen sea. We braved the -20 degree walk to school to see the activities in the school gym. The return walk home, with the wind in our faces, convinced us to try to watch the fireworks through the windows of our cozy, warm home while enjoying snacks and a hot beverage.

In our lower 48 life, we would have torn open a package of instant hot cocoa and pepped it up with peppermint schnapps. Necessity is the mother of invention up here: 4 1/2 tablespoons of Ghirardelli cocoa powder, 3 cups of vanilla soy milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 6 leftover candy canes crushed to powder with a meat mallet, all placed in a small pot and heated while whisking the ingredients and Voila! Three Arctic hot chocolate “dry” Snugglers – creamy and sweet with a lovely hint of mint.

And for a crunchy snack to go with our drinks: 2 cups of almonds, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, cooked in a pot on medium high heat until the water was evaporated (about 15 minutes). Cool on a waxed-paper covered baking sheet. The cinnamon almonds were reminiscent of the nuts one might have purchased from a street vendor during a Victorian Christmas in years past.

Best wishes to all for a terrific 2012!

Züpfe – Delicious Swiss Bread

Posted on by
5

The bread loaves are nestled in kitchen towels to hide the fact that we ate half of one of the loaves before I could take a photo!

Two similar breads came to mind for my next baking adventure. Swiss Zopf, which is known as Züpfe in the Bernese region of Switzerland, and Challah, a traditional sabbath bread in the Jewish tradition. I was lucky enough to enjoy both when I was young. They are similar in texture and in their beautiful braided presentation.

Yesterday’s decision to create loaves of Züpfe was based on my being able to adapt the dough to my bread machine. The temperature in our house doesn’t seem conducive to bread rising. The same problem exists when I try to let bread rise in the oven. To modify Victoria’s recipe for my Zojirushi bread machine, I mixed all the wet ingredients and placed them at the bottom of the pan. I layered on the bread flour and the yeast. Per many suggestions by recipe users, I also added one teaspoon of salt. After the bread dough processed in the machine, I braided the dough using a four-strand braid and let it rise on a parchment covered baking sheet for about an hour in a barely heated oven before finally baking it. It doubled in size!

Honestly, when I was finished braiding the bread, I had one of those I-am-so-impressed-with-myself moments. At these moments, I totally get the end zone celebration dance. Then it came out of the oven – wow! I proudly paraded the baked beauties through the house so that Jack and Maia would be impressed. The final victory? Hot slices of deliciously soft bread slathered in butter.

Thank you to Victoria Marler and her recipe at  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zopf. Her recipe follows for the traditional baking of Swiss Zopf bread loaves.

Ingredients

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
  • 1 1/3 cups warm milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon water

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the egg yolk, butter and 2 cups of bread flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  2. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece into a 14 inch long cylinder. Braid the pieces together and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  3. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and water. Brush risen loaf with egg wash and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25, until golden.

Sunshine Muffins

Posted on by
2

Some mornings just seem to call for fresh baked muffins. In just 45 minutes, we were enjoying steaming cups of coffee with these muffins which are chock full of grated carrots and pears, nuts and raisins. We love these muffins smeared with cream cheese. All the healthy ingredients make me feel like I’ve had a dose of sunshine–a great feeling on a morning when it’s negative 9 degrees outside and we still have eleven days to go until we see the sunrise. The recipe below can be easily modified based on what’s in the kitchen.

Sunshine Muffins:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 pear – peeled, cored and shredded
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrot, raisins, nuts, and shredded pear.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce, mashed banana, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Yields 12 muffins.