Welcome to Seasoned Cooking and to Phil's International Flair!
Well, my trip to Alaska in July was a fruitful one as well as one of the most enjoyable trips to date. The adventure was shared with my cousin Bill, his wife Rollene and my daughter Jennifer. Rollene, who hadn't fished a day in her life, had beginners luck and caught the largest salmon. In fact it was so big that we had to release it per regulation, to spawn and propagate future generations of giant Kenai king salmon. I managed to catch the largest salmon of my life however, a Kenai king salmon that weighed about 46 lbs.
The weather was unusually warm this year in Alaska, and I managed to get a sunburn on top of my sunburn. The temperature ranged between 80 and 90 degrees almost every day. We didn't expect Alaska to be so hot! The highlight of our trip was a marine tour of the Kenai Fjords where we were able to see orca playing in their native environment. In fact, these killer whales were so interested in our tour boat, that they came over to see what we were all about and even swam right under our boat. I managed to get a pretty good picture of one as it surfaced right where I happened to be standing. I must say, this was a once in a lifetime event.
Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the sockeye salmon didn't enter the river as early as expected. As fate would have it, the sockeye finally came into the river in full swing the night before our departure. So, at 11 pm we started fishing for sockeye from the bank and by 2 am, 4 of us had limits of 3 each to bring home, over 20 lbs. of fresh salmon fillets. And, this brings me to the subject of this month's recipe made from sockeye salmon, gravlox.
Before that however, I would just like to say that I look forward to my September trip to Alaska for silver salmon and steelhead fishing with Mark Glassmaker. I would also like to thank Mark for helping me catch the largest salmon of my life, and I hope to get a bigger one next year.
This month I have included a bonus recipe from Gwin's Lodge in Alaska for Smoked Salmon Chowder! Gwin's Lodge is well known to the locals for having some of the best food on the Kenai Peninsula. The atmosphere is very quaint and definitely has that "Alaskan feeling." Gwin's offers some great desserts including home made pies with local berries in season. If you ever happen to be in Cooper Landing, be sure to stop at Gwin's to sample the food.
Now, on to the recipes! Be well, and good eating!
Well, my trip to Alaska in July was a fruitful one as well as one of the most enjoyable trips to date. The adventure was shared with my cousin Bill, his wife Rollene and my daughter Jennifer. Rollene, who hadn't fished a day in her life, had beginners luck and caught the largest salmon. In fact it was so big that we had to release it per regulation, to spawn and propagate future generations of giant Kenai king salmon. I managed to catch the largest salmon of my life however, a Kenai king salmon that weighed about 46 lbs.
The weather was unusually warm this year in Alaska, and I managed to get a sunburn on top of my sunburn. The temperature ranged between 80 and 90 degrees almost every day. We didn't expect Alaska to be so hot! The highlight of our trip was a marine tour of the Kenai Fjords where we were able to see orca playing in their native environment. In fact, these killer whales were so interested in our tour boat, that they came over to see what we were all about and even swam right under our boat. I managed to get a pretty good picture of one as it surfaced right where I happened to be standing. I must say, this was a once in a lifetime event.
Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the sockeye salmon didn't enter the river as early as expected. As fate would have it, the sockeye finally came into the river in full swing the night before our departure. So, at 11 pm we started fishing for sockeye from the bank and by 2 am, 4 of us had limits of 3 each to bring home, over 20 lbs. of fresh salmon fillets. And, this brings me to the subject of this month's recipe made from sockeye salmon, gravlox.
Before that however, I would just like to say that I look forward to my September trip to Alaska for silver salmon and steelhead fishing with