Tag Archives: travel

Chawan Mushi – Enjoying Our Local Seafood

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One of the most delightful things about this savory, silky custard-like soup is the surprise at the bottom. This version of a favorite soup lured you in with toppings of sweet spot shrimp fished from nearby waters and salmon roe ikura. Once you spooned your way through all that deliciousness, you would have been surprised by a nice bite of smoked salmon at the bottom of the bowl. In order to make this first course easy to transport to a Thanksgiving potluck, we made them in four-ounce canning jars. They were cooked bain marie, instead of the traditional steaming, which worked quite well.

Here’s the link to the original post and recipe: https://cutterlight.com/2012/03/17/scallop-and-shrimp-chawan-mushi-with-smoked-quail-eggs/

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Just a Taste – Pumpkin Pie Brûlée Bites

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These little custards were baked in two-ounce canning jars and are awaiting the finishing touch of a caramelized top. They are the perfect size for a dessert bite at a potluck.

Tis the season for pumpkin pie. Ten years ago (wow, 10 years!!), we posted a recipe after making a fall pumpkin pie and found ourselves with leftover filling. You know the problem, not enough filling to make a whole second pie, but the idea of tossing the extra unthinkable. We decided to bain-marie the remainder. When the little custards came out of the hot water bath, they seemed to want a bit of crunch. Out came the kitchen torch and a little sugar for a satisfying brûlée finish. And so, a new recipe for our repertoire was born.

Here is the link to the original recipe and post: https://cutterlight.com/2015/11/15/maple-pumpkin-pie-brulee-or-what-to-do-with-leftover-pie-filling/

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Drums, Voices, Dancing and an Incredible Culminating Feast: The 30th Annual Sobriety Celebration Potlatch

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Volunteers steam up copious batches of sumptuous Dungeness and King Crab in the icy night air of November.

Each year in Cordova, Alaska, the Native Village of Eyak sponsors a two-day celebration in honor of Elders and Sobriety. The culminating feast which typically features crab, deepwater shrimp, moose, chicken adobo, halibut, salmon, pasta, all kinds of desserts and other tasty fare is the culinary highlight of the year. Native groups from throughout southern coastal Alaska fly in to join local groups in events that include traditional dances, honoring elders, arts and craft sales and displays, keynote speakers sharing testimonies about the power of sobriety, and special recognition of military veterans. In the tradition of generosity that is part of Native potlatches, the entire community is invited and when, for example, veterans are honored, all veterans present are recognized with appreciation and gifts.

Human voices, drums, dances passed down from generation to generation. Note the Navy ribbons this Vietnam veteran is wearing. Most events took place in the Cordova High gym – a challenging place to make an interesting photo. I made a few double-exposures, some of which worked fairly well.
Participants came from several communities, including Juneau, Kodiak, Yakutat and Tatitlek as well as Cordova.

A Pickled Fiddlehead Inspiration

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One of the first foraged finds of our “summer” is fiddleheads. You can see by the canning date, these were harvested in May. They are tender and delicious and best served just-picked and lightly sautéed. Up here in the Upper 1 (as opposed to the lower 48), we love to figure out ways to preserve our summer finds so we can enjoy them all throughout the year. Freezing, drying, and pickling are all very popular methods.

During this past summer, we cracked into our winter pantry and sampled one of these jars. The first savory sour bite flashed me straight back to an all-time favorite meal – Raclette. This flavorful and delightfully fatty cheese originated in Switzerland. It is traditionally served by heating the cheese over a flame and scraping the melted cheese atop boiled potatoes and pickles. There is no better meal to warm you up at the end of a chilly day!

Wanting to put an Alaskan twist on this Swiss favorite, we’ve been trying to figure out how to acquire this specialty cheese in our fairly remote part of the world. After failed attempts of getting an Anchorage cheese shop to mail us some or having visiting friends hand carry us a couple of pounds, we gave up.

For weeks now, I’ve been grabbing things from our walk-in pantry. Every time I enter, I am met with those jars of pickled fiddleheads. Any normal person would just eat them in some other recipe. But I can be stubborn tenacious. Last weekend, I decided to try Amazon. Darn it all if there weren’t options for ordering Raclette cheese! Not deterred by the extra shipping cost, we decided to go for it. The cheese shipped out from the seller on October 29 and arrived today! It was well packed and arrived perfectly. Tonight’s menu is set. Melty raclette cheese served with boiled potatoes (traditional), pickled fiddleheads, pickled fireweed shoots, Alaskan reindeer sausage, and homemade sourdough bread. A nice bottle of Willamette Pinot Noir should be a perfect accompaniment. Cheers to tenacity!

#raclette #fiddleheads #pickledfiddleheads #foragingrecipe #wildalaska #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #baking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Oh So Wild Mushroom Quiche

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Fall forest walks are full of fantastic foraging. At the end of a lovely walk, we came home with a basket of hedgehog and yellowfoot chanterelle mushrooms – perfect for a wild mushroom quiche. We added in a few sulphur shelf mushrooms from the freezer to make an extra wild recipe. The mushrooms were mixed with sautéed leeks and shallots, and the usual cream and eggs. The filling was baked in a smoked gouda pastry crust. It could be a perfect centerpiece to a champagne brunch, or a decadent dinner aside a wild foraged salad. Bon appetit!


#wildmushrooms #foraging #wildmushroomrecipe #foragingrecipe #wildalaska #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #baking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

The Cali Girl is No Longer

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I dreamed about living in the forest.

A place where the mountains meet the sea.

Where quiet paths allow for reflective solitude.

The dream is reality.

The Cali girl is no longer.

On Wings of Angels

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We’ve been studying and learning about foraging for choice edible mushrooms for the better part of six years now. A seasoned mushroom forager’s instruction helped us move from interested and nervous mushroomers to confident and knowledgable mushroomers. In the forests we currently traverse, we focus on finding four types of choice mushrooms that are culinary beauties. Today’s hike ended with a basket of Angel Wings, Yellow Foot Chanterelles, and Hedgehogs. I can’t wait to see Jack create a bowl of Udon featuring these delicious and beautiful mushrooms.


#wildmushrooms #mushroom foraging #wild gourmet mushrooms #wildalaska #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #foodphotography #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Quite Unnerving

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It was a lovely hike. Blueberries and watermelon berries lined the trail. Birds were singing. Sounds of rushing water running downstream from a glacial lake. All was quiet and peaceful until I saw this. A Very Big reminder that we are picking berries in Bear Country. (We never did meet up with the maker of this pile.)


#wildalaska #brownbear #chefdonachy #alaskacooking #food #eatingwelloffthebeatenpath #alaskafood #alaskabush #fooddestination

Fuel Oil Drums at The Pad

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Fuel Oil Drums at The Pad
Chignik River Barge Landing, May 16, 2019

Barbra has an eye for moody images such as this early morning landscape of diesel oil drums at the barge landing on Chignik River. The scene is the terminus of the three-mile road that travels from the airstrip, winds through the village of Chignik Lake (population 50 something), and then follows the river along steep hillsides till it ends here at the landing. These drums are barged to this point, about six miles upriver from the salt water lagoon, on high tides of about 10 feet or more. On lesser tides, the river is too shallow for the barges to run. From here, the fuel is loaded onto a truck and carried to the diesel generators that provide the village’s electricity. Gasoline, too, along with any sort of large stuff such as vehicles and building material is brought into the village in this fashion.

Such are some of the logistical consideration in a wilderness village.

Ol’ Half-a-Horn

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Ol’ Half-a-Horn

I almost wasn’t going to show this photo. Despite my nicknaming him Ol’, he’s probably a fully mature but young bull – perhaps in his fourth year. He’s missing his right paddle, and the remaining antler isn’t impressive. In fact, since to be legally taken during Alaska’s moose hunting season the tip to tip, antler to antler spread has to span at least 50 inches (127 cm), he probably wouldn’t have passed muster. So, no Boone and Crockett award here.

But this is easily the closest I’ve ever been to a moose, and when he suddenly emerged -seemingly to simply materialize from a thick tangle of willows, alders and salmonberries, he took our breath away. I had mere seconds to set up and make the shot has he strolled by, appearing unconcerned, barely glancing our way – our own hearts meanwhile racing like mad. Even a young bull such as this weighs close to half-a-ton and although the big ungulates are generally peaceful, mind-your-own-business types, each year here in Alaska more people are injured by moose than by bears. In fact, an Alaska man was stomped to death by a cow protecting her calf less than two weeks ago. So anytime one finds oneself this close to an animal of this size, the thrill involves wildly mixed feelings.

As I mentioned, the moment lasted mere seconds. And then, more miraculously than its sudden appearance, this fellow simply vanished. There was no departing view of dark rump disappearing into the vegetation, no hint of willows and alders shaking as he brushed by them. He crossed before us, I made 12 quick captures, the last of which featuring mainly an eyeball, part of the rack, an ear and his nape… and then he was gone, swallowed without a sound into a thicket of alders. Had we not been exactly where we were during those few seconds, we would never have guessed a moose was nearby.

Chignik Lake, October 4, 2018 – JD