RECIPES

RECIPES FROM QUATSINO

 

 

LEMON GRASS PRAWN SKEWERS

serves 6 - 8
peeled prawns (about 30 - 40)
12 stalks lemongrass
marinade
2 tbsp dried chili flakes
4 tbsp oyster sauce
8 tbsp braggs aminos or soy sauce (preferably thicker soy)
4 tbsp lime juice fresh squeezed
2 tbsp sesame oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp sugar

** You can chop up a lemon grass stalk and add to this marinade if you wish

Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Put the prawns in the smallest bowl they will fit in and still allow sauce to cover. Dump the marinade over top. Stir well. Make sure prawns are covered. Wrap in saran and stick into the fridge.

*** best to do this in the morning so there is plenty of time to steep but try for a
minimum of 3 hours.

When ready to cook, skewer the prawns with the lemon grass. Put as many on as you prefer. I like 4 per skewer. Then heat and spray a flat griddle pan. When hot fry 2 minutes on each side or till they look done (may be less). Serve on a platter.
YUM!

BAKED SALMON SALSA

QUATSINO ASIAN ROCKFISH

BLONDYʼS SMOKED SALMON PATE

SMOKED SALMON PINWHEELS

TROPICAL CRAB SALAD

WALTER'S MAYONNAISE SALMON

BLONDY’S MAYO SALMON

BLONDY’S MAPLE FETA CHEESE SALMON

DILL AND HORSERADISH SAUCE (for baked Salmon)

Preheat the oven to 325-350 degrees.

3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise (not miracle whip)
2 tsp chopped fresh dill
2 tsp dijon mustard
to taste - salt and freshly cracked pepper, lemon juice

Mix the ingredients together and coat the salmon.

Bake until done - approximately 10 minutes / inch.

BAKING SALMON (TIP)

OK. You folks give us tips and here is one for you! I have found that it is pretty hard to overcook baked salmon of any kind (plain, dressed, mayoʼd etc...) if you simply have the time to cook it slow. 300 degrees F believe it or not makes it pretty much impossible to overcook your salmon fillets. If Chinook, it is usually longer than Coho of course. Pink would be less time. We donʼt cook Sockeye but if you HAVE to then even less time than Coho. It is Soooo dry. Avoid Sockeye Salmon if you can!

HALIBUT PAN FRY

Super best way to do halibut. It is simple and always works.  Cut the halibut into the serving portions you want. Take 6 eggs (or whatever it looks like is needed to cover) and whisk with lots of salt and pepper. Then in a bowl place the halibut and the egg mix turning halibut to coat.

Leave the halibut in the egg mix for around 6 hours turning whenever you remember to keep it coated.

When ready to eat, simply melt butter (a good frying pan is really an asset for halibut) and fry the halibut on one side till it is looking 3/4
cooked through. Then flip and turn off the heat. It is done in seconds after that.

TRY: Using up leftover chips. Grind them up and roll the eggy halibut in them before frying. Really tasty. We like to use the Avocado chips.

CANNED SALMON

Canning salmon is really easy. Make sure you skin your salmon, and I prefer it de-boned. Sterilize either ½ pint jars or pint jars (larger jars are not really safe) by washing thoroughly in hot water and heating to dry in the oven. Cut the salmon into pieces that will fit into the jars and stuff the jars full, but be sure to leave at least ½ inch of space at the top. Clean the sealing surface (the top) of the jar with a clean damp cloth. Add ½ tsp salt for each ½ pint. After sterilizing the lids and rings in boiling water, place on the jars and turn rings tight, then loosen them ½ turn. Seal in a pressure canner for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.  You do not need to add anything else to your salmon. All the extra things that people add spoil the finished product and there is enough oil in the fish to provide plenty of juice in the cooking process.

HALIBUT WITH A HINT OF CURRY

My favourite halibut recipe goes something like this: Fry at least one large onion in lots of butter, till it is translucent. Add one bayleaf, ¼ tsp thyme, and at least 2 tsps of curry powder. Heat up and stir for about 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of flour and blend in. Then pour 1 cup of milk (I use soy) and stir over a medium heat until thickened. Add about ¼ cup of whipping cream (this is optional but you might add a bit more milk if needed). Add about 1 tsp salt and a good dash of pepper.

Lay the fillets on a greased (and possibly lined with aluminum foil) baking tray or glassware dish. Pour the curry sauce over the fillets. Bake at 450°F for 15 - 20 minutes. It tastes great with hot rice.

SMOKED SALMON QUICHE

This is an invention of Walter's Mom and it is EXCELLENT!

1 cup of Miracle Whip
4 beaten eggs
16 oz Kraft Mozzerella grated
1 cup chopped green onions
4 tbsp flour (or less)
16 oz smoked salmon (about 1 large package or you could use a few cans)
1 unbaked pieshell

Combine all the ingredients and place in the pie shell. Bake 40-45 minutes and this yummy dish can be eaten warm or cold.

SUPER SALMON SANDWICHES

This will use up baked salmon leftovers of any kind. You can also scrape the trimmings off the backbone of each salmon and keep in the freezer till you need sandwich meat. Then simply place on a cookie sheet...salt, and bake at 300 degrees F for 15 minute max.

Again amounts depend on what you have to use up!

Next...

Dice in fine pieces red onion
Peppers (red, green, orange, or yellow)
Parsley (or if you are brave ... cilantro)
Fresh dill if you have it and if you like it. Dry dill works too but again ... only if you think it adds something to the mix.
Mayonnaise (please not Miracle Whip ... yuck!)
S&P (salt & pepper)

Mix everything together and put onto your sandwich, bunwich pita pocket etc... Remember to add either sprouts,lettuce, or arugula to the sandwich or even the mix itself just to enhance things.

HOW TO USE UP HALIBUT LEFTOVERS

The best halibut sandwich ever includes the following. Use common sense when adding amounts as everyone’s leftovers will be more or less. Really folks... it is just tarter sauce ingredients without making the tartar sauce. Yum!

Left over halibut
Mayonnaise
Sweet and Sour Pickles chopped up (or gherkins)
Chopped Capers
Chopped green onion or chopped chives
Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper
Parsley chopped fine

Mash everything together and make sure you taste it and that the flavours are in amounts to your liking. Then put thickly onto a slice of bread and top with a second slice. DO NOT USE BUTTER OR MAYO ON THE BREAD! Extra fat and calories for nothing. This sandwich does not need it. Super yummy.

HOW TO PREPARE PRAWNS

Never shell your prawns before eating them. Let the person doing the eating do the shelling!

There are a couple of options here. Easiest is just blanch them (60 seconds is all) in either seawater or well salted water. (use coarse salt, not iodized) (shells still on)

Walt likes to stir fry them (shells still on). He uses butter, garlic, ginger and white wine. Again ... 60 seconds and at most maybe 90 seconds. Pour into a bowl and serve.  Remember the bone bowls for the bits.

HOW TO PREPARE CRAB

Now for those of you crab afficionados out there who fancy you know crab did you know that Quatsino crab is much sweeter than the store bought crab you might experience. In fact it has such a great flavour and texture that we always recommend no butter. Sometimes though that habit is hard to break and some of us just really like butter. But definitely no butter in the water and no garlic.

In fact if you can get fresh sea water you just kill the crab (never cook one that is already dead!!!) and then throw it into a pot of boiling water. If you have no sea water you should heavily salt tap water (ugh, chlorine) and go with that. When the crab hits the water the water stops boiling. Once it returns to a full boil it is ready to eat.
Should be red legged. No need to boil it for a long time provided it returns to a boil.

For entertainment I have included a link to a youtube video of a Russian gentleman demoing how to kill a crab... just in case you haven't done it before. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t5GQxxeZyA

HOW TO SMOKE SALMON (and How Not To)

Folks never ever add water to your salmon when brining. The brine itself will suck the moisture out of the salmon and cure it. Water is just plain bad for smoked salmon. In fact ... donʼt add anything extra. You simply do not need to enjoy superb and delicious smoked salmon.

The basic mix is 1 part rock salt to 3 parts demerrara or demerara style brown sugar. No light, no golden, and PLEASE no white sugar. Get the
good stuff. It is worth it.

In a large bowl mix these two ingredients together. Then add garlic powder till you can taste it at the back of your throat. (I am not a good measurer.  All is done by feel, by smell, and by taste!!!)

The really important part is how you pack things. Take a cooler. We use those blue and white lunch coolers. I do not put sugar on the bottom of the cooler. Put the fish on the bottom SKIN SIDE DOWN... not flesh side down. Leave a very small space between each piece. These should not touch because you will be trying to get the mix between each piece. Heavily cover the salmon with the brine. Make sure you can see NO meat
and that every crack is fully filled in.

Next layer, place the meat side down. This maximizes the use of the sugar mix. Again ... no pieces should touch. Fill in ALL cracks. Be sure the fish does NOT touch the side of the cooler. Fill all with salt/sugar mix.

Next layer is skin side down. Repeat process. Then meat side. And so it goes. .....

Make sure the final layer is fully covered with the mix.

NOW!!! Not more than 24 hours in the brine AND if you have Coho or something other than Chinook, remember that there is less fat and they are not as thick so they take less time to cure.

CURED FISH feels firm. You donʼt want it TOOOOO firm though. Tail pieces tend to get over cured. I try not to leave anything in brine more
than 24 hours and I start checking after 22 hours for “firmness”.

Then you will need to place on smoking racks but BE SURE to scrape the brine off before leaving in the smoker. Sooooooo salty if you leave the
brine on. TAke two fingers and run down the meat and skin side of each piece. Donʼt leave crystals on the meat as it is simply too strong.

We just run out and cut a smallish alder tree down at this point. The we make 1” rounds using the chainsaw. And then (you wonʼt believe this) we plug in a small 1 element stove and put the rounds of wood directly on the burner on high. This smokes our fish. 8 - 12 hours is all that is needed.

You can buy alder chips though and this recipe works just fine with a little Chief Smoker. Good luck.

BLONDY'S CRAB SALAD

Base of greens - spinach?
Layer over this:

• Thinly sliced red onion
• Finely chopped homemade pickled ginger
• Parsley
• Green onion
• Thinly sliced muchrooms
• Fresh sea asparagus - just the tips, not the stalk, chopped
• Cooked and shelled crab

Drizzle over the top homemade seafood sauce: horseradish & ketsup