Salmon - 4

OF ALL the different foods
I prepare, salmon is one of
my favorites.

Jeff
Smith

THE FRUGAL GOURMET

Fortunately, I tive in
Washington state near the great
Puget Sound where seafood is
plentiful and affordable.

Years ago, Indians in the
Pacific Northwest lived on
wonderful salmon, clams and
oysters, which were simply
gathered on the beaches.

Old-timers claim they can
remember days in which the
*‘waters were silver’? with salmon
during the spawning period.
Salmon was so plentiful that its
name simply meant ‘‘fish’’ in sev-
eral indian dialects.

And the fish was treated with
respect. When the first one of the
season was caught it was greeted
with a profound ceremony in
which everyone was reminded
again that life among the tribes
was dependent to a large extent
upon the salmon. It is still the
rnost popular fish in the Pacific
Northwest.

The Pacific Northwest tribes
taught us ta eat from the sea and
truly enjoy it.

Whenever I prepare a salmon
dish | remember the prayer of
thanksgiving to the Great One. It
is a prayer in which you address
the salmon and thank him for
coming to your table and then
thank the Great One for offering
such wonders.

PICKLED SALMON
(Serves 12 as an appetizer)

This method of preservation is
popular throughout the Pacific
Northwest area.

One thing to remember: The fat
in saimon is found in the skin and
next to the bones. Because it is fat
that gives a rancid flavor to the
fish, you must be careful to

Wednesday, Sept

EE Reed

ember 11, 1991 - North Shore News — 51

est Coast staple

NEWS photo Terry Peters

YOU’VE CAUGHT yourself a good-sized salmon and now you have to cook it - or perhaps you can't

wait...

remove both the fat and the bones
if you are to have a truly sweet-
tasting pickled salmon.

2 tbs. fresh salmon fillet, skinless
and boneless

3 tbsp. salt

3 c. white vinegar

1 tbsp. brown sugar

4 thsp. mixed pickling spices

6 thin lemon slices

Y2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
thin

Sprinkle the salmon on both
sides with the salt. Rub it in a bit.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Wash the salt from the salmon
and place in a solution of vinegar
and brown sugar. Cover and
refrigerate for three days.

Uncover, add the remaining in-
gredients, then cover and return to
the refrigerator for an additional
three days. Slice salmon thin,
across the grain, before serving.

This is great as a first course or
appetizer served on thin-sliced
dark bread or on rye crackers.

SALMON BARBECUE
(Serves 8)

1 love to have people from the
Midwest come to my house for
dinner. Generally they have had
little salmon in their time, and
very little that was truly fresh.
Peopie who have never tasted such
a fish are always startled by its
wonderful flavor and texture.

f whole fresh salmon, about 6

pounds, cleaned

Jc. alive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 bunches parsley, washed
Alder-wood chips or sawdust for
barbecuing

Pat the salmon dry with paper
towels. Mix the olive oil and garlic
together and brush the outside
and inside of the fish with the oil.

Place the parsley in the stomach
cavity of the fish: and set it on a
large piece of heavy-duty alumi-
num foil. Roll up the sides of the
foil so that you have a very
shallow pan around the fish.

Have your barbecue fire ready.
I prefer to do this in a Kamado
smoker or a covered cooker.

Have the fire at about 375°F
and place wood chips on the
coals. Soak them first so they will
just smoke rather than ignite.

If using sawdust put it in an old
pie pan or aluminum-foil pan and
set it on the coals.

Place the fish in the cooker and
close the lid. Watch the
temperature carefully and in 25
minutes test the fish. The meat
should just begin to flake, but still
be moist.

Remove to a platter and pull
the skin off the top side.

You will need no sauce to go
with this because the fish is
wonderfully flavored by the
smoke and parsley and garlic.

Honey right down to the

inquisitive

ANNE
GARDINER

WINNIE THE Pooh didn't
stop to worry about
whether the honey he con-
sumed was pasteurized.

We don't need to either, Yet as
consumers of honey, the termi-
nology we face is confusing.

We most often associate the
term ‘‘pasteurized’’ with = milk.
Pasteurizing milk means microor-
ganisms that produce disease are
killed. This isn’t so when talking
about honey, since honey is pas-
teurized for convenience, not for
safety.

Pasteurized honey is heated to
(70°F (77°C), then cooled quickly
to below 80°F (27°C). This delays
crystallization and also kills yeasts
whick may cause the honey to

ferment during storage.

Most types of honey crystallize
during storage. This is a natural
process due io honey’s high sugar
concentration, not a sign” of
spoilage. How quickly this hap-
pens varies with the type of honey
and how it's handled.

Fireweed honey can stay liquid
for up te three years. Canola and
dandelion honey granulate very
quickly.

Crystallization can be delayed
by heating and filtering. But each
time honey is treated, flaver is
reduced.

“Raw” honey has been exposed
to fittl or no heat. though most
honey is warmed so it will flow
from the comb through strainers.
Crystals, pollen and even air bub-

— eee

SMOKED SALMON TARTARE
(Serves 6-8)

This is a wonderful snack or
cocktail-party dish, but you must
understand that by smoked salm-
on I do not mean that dry stuff,
which is nothing but grainy str-
ings.

The salmon [ use for this dish is
almost cold-smoked; in the East
you would probably call it lox.

I Ib. light smoked salmon, raw
salmon or combination of both

Ya can (2 02.) flat anchovies (from
Portugal or Jtaly)

l egg, raw

1 tasp. Dijon-style mustard

Dash of ‘Yorcestershire sauce or
to taste
3 tbsp.
onion
Va tsp. freshly ground black pepper
I tbsp. chopped capers

2 tbsp. otive oil

Thin rye crackers

Be sure the salmon is skinless
and boneless. I like a mixture of
two kinds, raw and light-smoked.

Chop the salmon and anchovies
in a medium-sized food processor
for just a few seconds. We don’t
want a paste, but a coarse chop.

Place the mixture in a bowl.
Mix all other ingredients together
and blend with the fish.

Chill before serving.

Spread on thin rye crackers as a
first course.

finely chopped yellow

CLAMS AND WHITE-WI?
SAUCE
(Serves 4-5 as an appetizer:
2-3 as a main course)

This dish is simple and rich.
The resulting sauce is better than
the clams themselves.

4 Ibs. fresh clams

MY c. olive off

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
thin

2 green onions, chopped

v2 ¢. chopped celery tops

3 tbsp. chopped parsley

2c, dry white wine

V/16 (sp. freshly ground black
pepper, or (o taste

2 thsp. each buiter and flour,
cooked together to form a roux

Be sure the clams are all tightly
closed when you buy them.

Wash the clams and soak them
in fresh water for about 1! hour.
Drain.

Heat a 12-quart kettle and add
the olive oil. Saute the garlic and
green onions for just a few mo-
ments.

Put the drained clams in the pot
along with the remaining ingre-
dients except the roux. Cover and
cook at medium-high heat until
the shells are all opened wide.
Discard those that do not open.

Remove the clams from the pot,
leaving the nectar behind. Using a
wire whip, stir the roux into the
nectar and continue to stir until
the sauce thickens.

Pour the sauce over the clams
and serve.

SHRIMP CHOWED WITH
GARLIC
(Serves 6 as part of a larger meal)

You can cook this Chinese reci-
pe in a frying pan or in a wok.

1% Ibs. large shrimp, peeled and
de-veined

3 tbsp. peanut oil

I tsp. salt

5 cloves garlic, peeled and sticed
thin

3 green onions, chopped

2 tsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. dry sherry

Have everything prepared be-
fore you start this dish. Clean the
shrimp and pat dry on paper
towels.

Heat a wok or large heavy fry-
ing pan over highest heat. Add the
oi!, salt and garlic and toss for
just a few seconds. The garlic
should change color right away.

Add the shrimp and tass con-
stantly until they all change to a
bright orange color. Throw in the
green onions and the sesame oil
and toss for a few seconds. Add
the sherry and cover the pan.

Turn off the heat and serve
immediately,

bottom of the jar

bies left in the honey promote
crystallization. Large honey
crystals are melted so the honey
stays liquid longer.

tn contrast, creamed honey is
seeded with crystals so it becomes
uniformly granular as it sets.

There are three grades of honey
in Canada (i, 2 and 3) determined
according to moisture content and
the quantity of foreign substances.

Honey does not go bad. Its fla-
vor diminishes with time, but it
will keep for decades. It may,
however, ferment if stored at high
temperatures and feft unsealed so
if attracts moisture and yeasts
from the atmosphere.

But even fermented honey is
harmiess. Given the right: yeists,
its the basis of fustaric mead

where honey sugars are fermented
into alcohol.

Store honey well-sealed in’ a
moisture-proof container. Room
temperature is best since
crystallization is more likely to
occur in the refrigerator. If the
honey does crystallize, simply
remelt it by placing the honey pot
in hot water.

“Honey colored” is a favorite
description of a soft rich brown,
but honey varies in celor from
almost clear to very dark.

Buckwheat, goldenrod and
sunflower yield dark honey while
honey from clover, aifalfa,
fireweed and canola is fight. Dark
honey most often has &  pro-
pounced flavor. Light honey is
uspatly, but nat always, ald,

i