MOUTH WATERING SMOKED SALMON

Last year was my first year salmon fishing in the river so I call it my year of figuring things out: how to fish, how to fillet, and how to smoke it! I'm still learning things this year such as pay $3 and have some professionals fillet the salmon for you because it takes so much time and it's a bloody mess. This time around there was some of my own blood mixed as I gave myself a nice cut not the finger.

Last season I tried out several marinade/cure recipes as well as a few different rubs and they were all good but this year I nailed it on the head with a very simple one. After again doing some reading on blogs and other web resources I came to realize there is nothing that is going to make the fish meat better tasting then 2 ingredients Kosher Salt and Light Brown Sugar. It seemed too simple at first to the point where I almost added a couple more ingredients but last minute decided to stick to the original plan. 

This is my own recipe with a couple suggestions on technique taken from other sources.

STEP ONE: Cut your salmon fillets into 2 inch pieces. Place a baking sheet and line it with plastic wrap. Place the salmon on the sheets with enough room in between for the cure mixture. 

STEP TWO: For 2 salmon fillets you will need 1/3 cup Kosher salt and -------- Brown Sugar. The ratio needs to be 2:1 salt:sugar unless you like your fish sweeter. Cover the pieces evenly with the mix. This part of the process is called the curing part. Cover up the salmon with more plastic wrap. Place into refrigerator for 4 hrs. If your pieces are more than 2 inches thick then the curing process should be 8 hrs. 

STEP THREE: Remove from the refrigerator. During the curing process some fish juice will seep out onto baking sheet. Carefully drain all the juices from the pan. Gently pat down the fish with a paper towel. And allow the fish to stand at room temperature for about 1 hr. This drying period allows for the fish to develop a dry outer coat which will absorb all the smoke. The dryer the outer surface of fillets that better the smoke will adhere to the fish.

STEP FOUR: I like to get my smoker started about 30-45 minutes prior to setting the meat inside. I make sure that the water in the basin and wood chips are all warm and ready. Ideally the smoking temperature for salmon is 155-160 degrees F. I get the smoker to at least 200 degrees F before I put the meat in because you loose a lot of heat by opening the door and then the cool fillets will also bring the temperature down as well. 

STEP FIVE: Salmon meat is a very delicate meat and therefore the temperature has to be watched every carefully. Having a meat temperature probe is the best idea. Except this time my probe broke and I couldn't get it to work. Another mistake that I made was leave the meat for 45 minutes to run an errand at the store. Normally it would take about 3-4 hrs for the inside temperature of the meat to reach 140 degrees F. Then remove from the smoker and let it sit on the baking sheet for 30 min. Then take a piece of paper towel and gently pat down the fillets from any remaining oils and moisture. Allow it to stay in room temperature for another 1-2 hrs. The dryer it will be the longer you will be able to store it. 

STEP SIX: If you make plenty of fish, don't forget to share with friends and family. But make sure you sit down and enjoy some yourself. It can stay in the refrigerator up to one week but 2 wks would be okay as well. We had only two pieces from the fish below that lasted more than 3 days. Freezing it is also an option.

MY BROTHERS HUNT

This year I feel like my brother and I established some outdoor hobby roles. For the past 3 years in a row I decided not to hunt due to lack of time and proper practice. On the other hand it's been my third year successfully fishing salmon in the fall. For the my brother it's his third successful year of hunting. First year it was a nice trophy 8-point buck, second year a large doe, and this year a nice size doe. Not so much fishing, with the exception of their private pond.

So now my freezer is slowly filling up with chicken (butchered 12 in July), venison, and now salmon. This also means there will be a lot of mean smoking as the fishing and hunting seasons come to a close in the near future. Although we don't solely depend on this food as a means of survival, it does remind me of one of my favorite shows, ALASKA: The Last Frontier or Yukon Men. It's been an exciting  fall so far. 

Some great recipes and photos coming in the near future. 

MAKING HOMEMADE CAVIAR! (Recipe #1)

It all started last year, when I brought home some river Salmon and there was 2 out of three that had a ton of roe. Both my wife and I love cavier and so I decided to research on how to prepare it yourself. I used several internet resources and a friend from church who makes it all the time. So I compiled all the suggestions and recipes making some really delicious cavier. I had both sides of the family try it out and sure enough it was a hit. So this year when I brought home a female with roe there was no excuse not to make some for us and to share.

This is a compilation of recipes from multiple resources so I'm calling it my own SAMMIE CAVIAR RECIPE.

STEP ONE: During the gutting process the roe will be in a sac (clear but tough membrane holding eggs in place). Remove, set aside in a sieve and give them a nice rinse with cold water without breaking apart the sac too much. 

STEP TWO: Dissolve 1/3 cup of Kosher salt in 4 cups of cold water. Soak the roe sacs in the water in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

STEP THREE: Get the faucet to run hot water, as hot as it will go (roughly 100-120 degrees). Place roe sacs into a sieve and run it under hot water, gently moving the sac around so that the hot water reach all areas of the sac. The membrane sac will contract and the eggs will fall out into the sieve on their own. Take your time and be gentle. Repeat with other skein. (Notice contracted sac in second photo)

STEP FOUR: Prepare a bowl with ice and water. With all the eggs in the sieve, place the eggs with sieve into the ice water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Pour the water out and let them sit in the sieve as the water drains out.

STEP FIVE: This is probably the most trickiest step of the process. Fill a pot full of water, double the amount of roe that you have. Place a slice of a potato the size of small marble into the water. Being heating the water and mixing in Kosher salt. The indicator that the water has enough salt is when the piece of potato floats near the top of the solution. The water shouldn't boil. Cool the water so that it's lukewarm or close to room temperature. Then pour in the roe. At first the eggs will sink to the bottom. Small egg particles will float to the top, use a fine sieve to collect the particles and other debris. Gently stir the eggs from time to time. In 20-25 minutes the eggs should rise to the top or float. Drain the water.

STEP 6: I like to prepare ahead the mason jars that I will use to store the eggs. I usually give away 3/4 of the eggs because it's a large quantity. The eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. However, it's very unusual if they last a week in my house. 

STEP 7: The step of completeness! Prepare some crackers and Greek Cream Cheese and place some caviar on top garnished with some onions and you have a delicious snack or a meal. 

SAMMIE SEASON!

A hobby I picked up a couple years ago when my friends took my salmon fishing on Lake Ontario. The adrenaline rush of reeling in a 30 pounder salmon got me hooked as well. Since then I started to go to the river also with the same friends. The river is a different beast in itself but fun never-the-less.

My friends introduced me to there secret fishing holes which have only brought great catches and fun time to me and my family. This year, however, the river levels have been lower than usual and our secret spots have not seen salmon yet but the Big River (Salmon River) in Pulaski has proved to be good old faithful. The pattern of fish hitting the rivers this year has been unusual because of the warm water temperatures so they have been trickling in over the past month. But they are still going strong in Lake Ontario at 200 ft. 

This past weekend my friends and I tried all of our favorite spots with not success, so we decided to head to the crowded Mama River. It was a new experience for me and I was eager to check it out. Crowded it was but there was plenty of fish to go around. Within 5 minutes of stepping into the rushing water, one of our guys had a fish on! I brought my fish net so I ended up being the guy who helps everyone reel in the fish as opposed to getting some fishing done myself. But I did pick up on some tricks and tips to use at a later trip. We stayed 3 hrs and between the 4 of us we had 5 good looking fish. Three of us actually kept the fish because we either bake or smoke and it's some good eating. 

ADK EXPLORER SEPT/OCT 2013 Issue

Since singing up for the magazine in the beginning of the year, this current issue is by far the most interesting reading with great articles on kayak trips, hiking trips, and just simply good ol' Adirondack news.

Raquette River looks like a nice 2-3 day trip with the family or some friends. Camping on the shore, fishing, and just relaxing after paddle all day. 

Our family really enjoys camping at Rollins Pond not too far all of the mountains that are seen above. The info below really looks like some of them could easily be done when the kids get older. 

Over the past 10 years the ADK PARK has been working on attracting more mountain bikers, hikers, and snowmobilers. Parallel to this time there has been a debate whether or not to keep open a rail for the train traveling from Old Forge to Lake Placid. The cost of maintaining an open rail that has not brought any revenue over the past few years has steadily increased and it was in need of a solution. These two ideas merged and a very attractive solution has arisen. Hopefully the debating is over now and things can start moving in getting the rail removed to create the 90-mile trail. 

I was never interested in the Appalachian Trail because I would never be able to get 4-6 months time to take the trail. Although interesting but not doable. A more appealing trail is the Northville-Lake Placid trail which is 122 miles but definitely doable with friends or even family when my kids get older.