Tag Archives: Alaska

Hearty Bean, Roasted Squash and Sausage Soup

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Hunks of crusty, toasted baguette and parmesan cheese accompany one of our favorite wintertime soups.

We don’t get many fresh vegetables up here in Arctic Alaska. Squash really shines. It ships well and keeps for months, so every August we fill a tub with an assortment of acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash, put in in the mail, and use them in pies, soups and entrées over the following months. Puréed butternut squash is a terrific way to thicken hearty soups. I do a version of bean and sausage soup every winter in my big soup kettle. This year’s was our favorite to date, and although ingredients on hand will always necessitate minor changes, we’ve now got a base recipe that’s a keeper.

Although ingredients can be freely substituted, the combination of smoked chipotle peppers and star anise is especially nice. Make this dish even tastier by roasting the squash and the tomatoes on a charcoal grill.

Hearty Bean, Roasted Squash and Sausage Soup

Ingredients:  Makes about 2 gallons. If you do not have whole peppers, substitute powdered cayenne or similar pepper, or use a good chili or Thai blend.

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • 1o cups black and pinto beans (or use all black beans), soaked, tender and ready for cooking
  • 3 stars of star anise
  • 8 cloves garlic, chopped coarse or sliced
  • 3 smoked chipotle peppers, ground fine (use a food processor)
  • 1 ancho pepper, ground fine
  • 1 tbs oregano
  • 1/2 tbs thyme
  • 1 bay leave
  • two sweet onions, chopped coarse
  • several grinds black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds sweet corn
  • 1 pound sausage, sliced (I used chicken sausage.)
  • olive oil
  • chicken broth – enough to cover beans plus some additional broth to use when puréeing the squash. (I use Better Than Bouillon to make the broth.)
  • 2 pounds diced tomatoes, canned or fresh, seeds removed
  • smoked sea salt, to taste

Directions:

  1. Place a cooking sheet in an oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
  2. Squash: Cut away the stem and slice into discs approximately one inch thick. Quarter these slices. Remove seeds and stringy flesh. Leave the skin on.
  3. Place the squash in a large pan, add olive oil, and toss till all pieces are well coated.
  4. Lightly oil the heated baking sheet in the oven and place the oiled squash pieces on the pan. Roast until thoroughly cooked through and soft – about 20 minutes.
  5. Place cooked squash on a large cutting board. When cool enough to work with, use a knife to remove the skin.
  6. Use a stick blender or food processor to purée the squash a few chunks at a time. Keep the mixture fairly thick.
  7. When all the squash has been puréed, place in a container and set aside.
  8. Meanwhile, in a large soup kettle combine the beans, star anise, garlic, chipotles, anchos, oregano, thyme, black pepper, bay leave, enough chicken broth to cover all the ingredients, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and continue cooking on a low simmer for about 20 minutes.
  9. Stir in the puréed squash.
  10. Add the tomatoes, corn and sausage. Add smoked sea salt, if needed.
  11. The soup is ready to serve, but will be even better if it rests for an hour or more.

Serve with freshly baked French baguettes. 

A Ghost Town, Grizzlies, and the Best Fish and Chips Anywhere

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Patrolling Hyder, Alaska’s Fish Creek like she owns it, 600-pound Monica fattens up on a freshly subdued chum salmon.

With a population of fewer than 100 residents, Hyder, Alaska, bills itself as “The Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska.” The town is one of those gems that is far enough off the beaten path to still be something of a secret, known mainly to the relatively few people who travel the Cassiar Highway in western British Columbia. Many of these travelers are on their way to or from Alaska, and not even all of these travelers are aware of what Hyder offers.

A prize for any grizzly, this beautifully marked chum salmon makes its way up the air-clear water of Fish Creek. 

In addition to rare opportunities to watch and photograph grizzlies up close from a safe vantage point (an elevated viewing deck runs along a short portion of Fish Creek), Hyder boasts what is surely one of the world’s most unusual destination restaurants. We’ve written about the Seafood Express in a previous post. Established in 1998, the school bus Jim and Diana Simpson converted into a restaurant continues to turn out the very best fish and chips we’ve ever had. Even when the salmon and bears aren’t in, the restaurant alone makes taking the turnoff to Hyder worthwhile. Jim, a fisherman by trade, supplies the fresh salmon, halibut, shrimp and prawns Diana magically transforms into perfectly crispy, golden-brown, airily light creations that seem to disappear in one’s mouth. Complimented by a bottle of Alaskan Amber Ale, lingering over a meal there is the perfect way to relax after a morning of nature watching while Rufous Hummingbirds trill musically from the nearby spruce and fir forest.

A female common merganser (Mergus merganser) leads her brood of chicks (next photo) down Fish Creek’s crystalline currents.

Merganser chicks scurry to keep up with their mother. This type of duck typically nests in tree cavities near water. They feed on small fish, insects and (I’m guessing) salmon eggs when they can find them.

Since 1998, the Seafood Express has been serving up gourmet-quality fish and chips. 

The viewing platform on Fish Creek provides one of the very few places in North America where people can routinely and safely view wild grizzlies from a fairly close distance. The platform is manned by knowledgable U. S. Forest Service Rangers. The best viewing is from late July through September.

A trip to Alaska through British Columbia by car, camper or motorhome is a trip of a lifetime. If your route takes you along the Cassiar Highway, Hyder should be a “must visit” destination!

For more, click here to see our iReport on CNN.

White Chocolate Chip Cherry Pecan Chunk Cookies

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Cookies bursting with chewy cherry chunks, white chocolate chips and delicious pecans are so good straight from the oven and even better a couple of days later… if they make it that long! 

It was a cold, overcast afternoon 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. After two late nights of work in a row, we  were rewarded with a two-hour head start on our weekend. All we needed was a cup of hot tea and some warm cookies to go with. What? No cookies? A quick perusal of the pantry revealed a bag of white chocolate chips, dried cherries, and pecan halves. Don’t worry, Jack, fresh warm cookies are on the way!

White Chocolate Chip Cherry Pecan Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

  • 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars.
  3. Mix in eggs, one at a time.
  4. Mix in vanilla.
  5. Mix in milk.
  6. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
  7. Stir flour into butter mixture until just combined.
  8. Use same bowl as flour to mix together nuts, cherries, and chocolate chips.
  9. Stir nut mixture into dough, until just combined.
  10. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment-covered baking sheets.
  11. Bake for 11 minutes.
  12. Let cool on wire racks.

Recipe adapted from food network.com.

Moose and Spinach Cannelloni with Homemade Ricotta and Homemade Pasta

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New Traditions. Smothered in mozzarella and parmesan and topped with Kalamata olives, 10 individual cannelloni pastas stuffed with homemade ricotta cheese, ground moose, and spinach await dinner guests.

Cooking in bush Alaska requires a certain amount of ingenuity and flexibility. Last year when I made a couple of pans of moose lasagna, with no ricotta cheese on hand I substituted mozzarella and called it lasagna anyway. It was excellent. The hot, stringy mozzarella was reminiscent of a deep dish Margherita pizza.

When a friend gave me a few pounds of moose again this year, Barbra said, “I’ll make you ricotta cheese for your lasagna.” She also made the pasta – 20 five-inch-by five-inch squares, ready to be rolled around ricotta cheese, spinach, sautéed  moose burger and tomato sauce. This is not traditional cannelloni, but, like last year’s lasagna, has twin roots in Italy and Alaska.

A serving of two moose, spinach and ricotta cannelloni fresh out of the oven. Each cannelloni (literal translation, “big reed”) is a five-inch-long cylinder of fresh pasta wrapped around ricotta cheese and other ingredients. 

Moose and Spinach Cannelloni

Ingredients for one 13 x 9 inch baking dish:

  • 1/2 pound ground moose, sautéed in olive oil till browned
  • pasta to make ten 5 x 5 inch tubes (cannelloni). (Or substitute store-bought manicotti.)
  • three 6-oz. cans tomato paste with enough water to thin the sauce to the thickness of marinara sauce
  • fresh spinach, cut so that the leaves will easily fit into cannelloni tubes (or substitute frozen spinach)
  • 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 pound mozzarella cheese grated (about 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated fine
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian herbs, separated into 2 equal parts
  • 1 tsp ground fennel (optional)
  • 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • several grinds of black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt (optional)
  • additional mozzarella and parmesan cheese to top cannelloni before baking (optional)
  • Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place tomato paste, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, half the Italian herbs, fennel (and salt, if desired) in a nonreactive bowl and mix together, adding water to thin till sauce is just pourable.
  3. Cover a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with a layer of tomato sauce. Set aside remaining sauce.
  4. Place ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan into a large bowl. Add remaining Italian seasoning, a few grinds of pepper and mix together well by hand.
  5. Shape a piece of ricotta blend so that it lays end-to-end across one of the pasta squares. Position a few pieces of spinach leaves next to the ricotta. Use a spoon to lay down a thin bed of tomato sauce Add moose meat. Roll the pasta into a tube, pinch/press closed and position the tube seam side down atop the tomato sauce in the baking dish.
  6. Repeat till all the pasta squares have been filled and placed in the baking dish. Cover the cannelloni with the remaining sauce.
  7. (Optional). If desired, sprinkle grated mozzarella and parmesan atop the sauce-covered cannelloni. Top with Kalamata olives.
  8. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place on center rack of oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
  9. Remove foil and finish baking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes – to melt and lightly brown the cheese.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake – for Breakfast or Dessert

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Persimmon slices add a splash of fall orange to a breakfast that will get you ready for weekend chores. 

For most of the year, we rely on the fresh fruits and vegetables that make their way up to Point Hope by way of  the school and the Native Store. This means most of the fresh fruit we get is of the type that travels well – apples, pears and occasionally kiwis. This week, purple plums arrived. They were a bit on the hard side, so instead of gobbling up our coveted fresh fruit right away, Jack and I set them aside to ripen with thoughts of baking something interesting.

The result was this scrumptious upside down plum cake featuring ample amounts of brown sugar and butter. A friend returning to Point Hope from the big city (Anchorage) brought back fresh persimmons, Jack fried eggs seasoned with his special blend of Italian herbs, and breakfast was on. This cake went equally well with homemade extra rich vanilla ice cream for an after dinner dessert.

Brown Sugar and Butter Plum Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

  • 12 tbsp softened unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 5 medium plums, pitted and sliced
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 eggs
  • 1  1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1  1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place 4 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch square cake pan and heat in oven until butter is melted.
  3. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle brown sugar evenly on bottom of pan.
  4. Arrange plum slices on top of brown sugar and set aside.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, cream remaining butter with sugar and lemon juice. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
  6. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
  7. Add about 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture along with about 1/3 of the milk. Mix together. Repeat with second 1/3 and third 1/3 of flour and milk.
  8. Pour cake batter over plums. Spread evenly.
  9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
  10. Let cool 10 minutes.
  11. Invert onto serving dish. Let cool slightly before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Cake Duchess.

Sunrise, Point Hope, Alaska

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A mid-morning sunrise backlights the village of Point Hope, Alaska.

Two days after this serene morning dawned on Point Hope, the weather turned more extreme. As I write this, our home is shaking as winds out of the South East gust to 60 miles an hour – the “violent storm” category on the Beaufort scale, just below hurricane force winds.

But our home is snug. Steel cut oats for breakfast, perhaps moose stroganoff for dinner. A good day to get some reading and writing accomplished.

October 21st, 2012: Sunrise: 10:35 AM          Sunset 7:08 PM

We’re losing about nine minutes of daylight each day.

The Darker the Syrup… Part 1: Maple-Glazed Salmon or Trout

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Maple-glazed salmon and salmon spuds (home-fried Yukon golds and sweet potatoes) harken back to American culinary traditions predating recorded history. After several goes at a recipe worthy of this syrup, we came up with one that combined a little fire with the sweet for a taste that struck us as just right.

Maple syrup has been part of Northeastern American cooking since before recorded history. There are reports of Native Americans cooking venison in maple sap. Although these days it is perhaps best known as a topping for pancakes, waffles and French toast, its unique flavor is used to enhance smoked and cured meats and to sweeten a variety of desserts. Both maple syrup and maple sugar are the base for a number of tasty candies.

Gathered in early spring, about 40 quarts of maple sap is needed to produce just one quart of syrup, so it’s not surprising that this amber liquid is rather expensive; a bottle of quality, grade A syrup costs as much as decent bottle of bourbon. But once you’ve tasted authentic maple syrup, it’s awfully hard to go back to cheaper, corn-syrup based, artificially-flavored imitations.

Maple syrup from Yeany’s Farm near Marionville, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from where I grew up. Located in Forest County, the Allegheny Mountains there are laced with the small trout streams I cut my teeth on as a young angler, and where, as the bottle suggests, I kicked out many a ruffed grouse on hikes through the woods. Much thanks to our friend and fellow Pennsylvanian Jack Williams for the thoughtful gift of this excellent syrup.

Maple-Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

  • 2 salmon, charr or trout fillets, 6 ounces each, skin on
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 2 cloves minced garlic (or use powdered garlic)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
  • Penzeys Northwoods Fire Seasoning (or make your own blend in a food processor from ingredients such as salt, chipotle pepper, smoked paprika, Tellicherry pepper, garlic powder, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, cayenne, etc.)
  • olive oil

Directions:

  1. Mix together soy sauce, water, sea salt, ginger and garlic in a glass baking dish just large enough to hold both fillets side-by-side.
  2. Place fillets in marinade, skin side up. Marinate for 30 minutes or slightly longer.
  3. Meanwhile, place a broiling pan in the oven and preheat on high. (Pan should be positioned near the top of the oven – near the broiling element.)
  4. Place maple syrup in a small pan such as a small frying pan and heat over low heat until the syrup simmers and bubbles. Cook down until syrup is thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. After 30 minutes, remove fillets from from marinade. Pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with Northwoods Fire Seasoning.
  6. Coat broiling pan with olive oil. When sizzling hot, place fillets skin side down on pan. Broil for approximately 7 minutes.
  7. Spoon maple syrup on top of fillets. (You may have to reheat the syrup if it cools and hardens.) Broil for 3 more minutes. Serve hot.

The heat from the seasoning goes perfectly with the sweetness of the Maple syrup. These fillets are excellent with home-fried potatoes seasoned with soy sauce, Cholula sauce, and a couple shakes of Penzeys Southwest Seasoning or a similar mildly fiery seasoning. Enjoy the meal with a fine bourbon.

Click here for a delicious Maple Walnut Fudge recipe.

Road to the Chukchi: a short poem & letter

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The first thing you have to learn

when you come up here

is how to get up early

when the mercury is stuck

and the land is locked in ice

and not think too much about it…

A friend in another part of Alaska writes:

We just got back from Florida. Eighty-seven degrees and sunshine. Here, it’s 32 and dark. Am I crazy to prefer this?

Point Hope, Alaska. Three views of the Chukchi Sea, October 13, 2012

Dutched Hot Cocoa

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Rich, creamy and with a wicked cocoa flavor you can almost sink your teeth into, Dutched cocoa and homemade marshmallows make the perfect after dinner or home movie hot beverage.

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows

Every great food has “secret ingredients.” Here, they are Dutch process high fat cocoa and homemade marshmallows. Also known as “Dutched” cocoa, this cocoa is made from the richest grade of cocoa available and is processed for an especially smooth flavor. As for the marshmallows… As sticky and messy as these are to make from scratch, having experienced how flavorful and wonderfully gooey a melted marshmallow can be, it’s going to be hard to go back to store-bought.

Ingredients (2 cups)

  • 2 cups milk or soy milk
  • 1 tbs Dutch Process High Fat Cocoa (available from Penzeys Spices)
  • 1 1/2 tbs sugar
  • dash of cinnamon
  • dash of vanilla
  • a couple of homemade marshmallows cut into chunks

Directions: Heat milk, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a heavy pot (to prevent scorching) over medium low heat. A whisk works well for mixing in the cocoa. Do not boil. When steam develops and liquid is hot to the touch, pour into mugs and top with marshmallows.

Baked Lingcod with Lobster Sauce: Celebrating The Rough, Tough King of Northern Pacific Reefs

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Seasoned breadcrumbs, lobster sauce with Alaskan shrimp, and a couple dabs of lumpfish roe are fitting accompaniment for one of the sea’s most prized fish – lingcod. This fillet is served on a bed of couscous and is surrounded by thin slices of Coho salmon sashimi. Recipes can be found at the end of this article.

Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus – long tooth) are a special fish. Their leopard-like spotting marks them for what they are: aggressive predators that, save for other, bigger lingcod, are at the top of the food chain among the fish with which they share rocky Northern Pacific reefs. They lie in ambush, waiting for unsuspecting greenling, rockfish, octopuses or whatever else might happen by, and then spring into action with massive jaws encircling 18 needle-sharp teeth. In the heart of their range – from British Columbia through Southcentral Alaska – 20 to 40-pound lingcod are common, with fish over 50 pounds showing up each year. The all-tackle IGFA record stands at 82 lb 9 0z and came from the Gulf of Alaska. Larger fish have been reported in commercial catches.

Welcoming a nice ling aboard our C-Dory 22 Angler. Note the two-pound rockfish hanging from the lower end of the metal jig.

A few of the usual customers you can expect to run into dropping a metal jig off a deep, rocky point in Alaska: salmon, rockfish, and a lingcod. 

Lings thump a jig like few other fish, and although pound-for-pound the smaller eight to 20-pounders seem to fight harder than the big cows, all lings generally give a good account of themselves, typically peeling line from reels as they dive for the rocks after being hooked. Many an angler has hooked a two or three pound

A 10″ twister tail grub on a 1 pound jighead is dwarfed in the maw of a 40-pounder. Root beer is a favorite color among lingcod fishermen. Here the color is paired with a glow-in-the-dark jig.

rockfish and while reeling in the catch had it violently intercepted by a lingcod. Frequently in these cases, the ling isn’t even hooked, but will hang onto its catch as tenaciously as a bulldog, fighting all the way to the boat where, if the angler is quick-witted enough, it can be gaffed or scooped up in a net. A moment’s hesitation, slack line, or lifting of the hitch-hiking ling’s head above water, however, can cause the predator to release its prey and nonchalantly swim back to the bottom.

If I had just one type of lure to fish rocky reefs, there’d be no contest as to what I’d choose: metal jigs in the right hands are deadly. 

On the table, it is our view that lingcod is unsurpassed among white-meated fish. It compares favorably with grouper, halibut, snapper, and similar fish whether baked, broiled, pan-fried or deep-fried. Interestingly, the meat of fresh lingcod is sometimes blue. This does not affect the flavor or texture at all, and when cooked, the meat comes out in big, white, flakey chunks.

Lingcod are susceptible to overfishing. Most of the ones we catch go back to keep growing and to sustain the population.

Baked Lingcod with Breadcrumbs

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 24 ounce lingcod fillet cut into 4 separate pieces, skin removed
  • 1/2 cup olive oil, placed in a bowl
  • 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs (We make our own breadcrumbs and season them with an Italian seasoning blend of our own making, but any good commercial blend is fine.)
  • salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • Additional olive oil for baking

Directions

  1. Place a baking sheet on the center rack of an oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
  2. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl and season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Then transfer 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs to a plate where you will roll the fillets, and spread the remaining 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs on a cutting board where you will rest the fillets once they’re coated with breadcrumbs.
  3. Dip fillets one at a time in olive oil and completely cover with oil. Then roll the fillet in the breadcrumbs, covering all sides. Place atop breadcrumbs on cutting board.
  4. Coat baking sheet with olive oil. When oil is sizzling hot, place fillets on baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes (for fillets that are 1 inch thick). Breadcrumbs should be golden brown when fillet is done.
  5. Remove fillets from oven and place on a bed of couscous, rice or farfalle pasta.
  6. Spoon lobster sauce on fillets. Garnish with caviar, lumpfish roe or ikura (cured salmon eggs) and serve piping hot.

Lobster Sauce with Alaskan Shrimp

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon lobster base or similar lobster base
  • 1/4 pound peeled shrimp. Small shrimp are preferable; larger shrimp can but cut into smaller pieces.
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons rice flour (or substitute all-purpouse flour), as a thickener
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Salt, if needed

Directions

  1. In a small pot over medium-low heat, place olive oil and onions. Stir occasionally till onions begin to turn translucent.
  2. Lower heat and add water and lobster bouillon, stirring until mixed together.
  3. Add rice flour, tarragon, pepper, paprika and butter, stirring constantly until flour is completely mixed in and mixture begins to thicken. Cover and lower heat (use a flame tamer if necessary).
  4. Add cream a little at a time, stirring constantly, until desired consistency is achieved.
  5. Add shrimp. Continue to stir until shrimp is cooked through (about 2 to 3 minutes).
  6. Remove pan from heat, but keep warm until sauce is needed.