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Iliamna Salmon Share Has Arrived

Back in June I wrote that I had joined a wild-caught salmon CSA, run by the Iliamna Fish Company.  This weekend, I picked up my fish!

Pickup was at The Brooklyn Kitchen, right by the front door.  I hadn’t been to TBK since they’d moved to their new space on Frost Street, so I was also very curious to see the place.  Wow, it is awesome!  Lots of space, connection to The Meat Hook (a wonderful butcher that stocks local meat), and plenty of drool-worthy products.  I plan to buy my Harsch crock there this fall.

I must say, it smells amazing there.  They make a variety of sausages, and they smell delicious.

the package

The Iliamna representative – one of the family members – met me at the front of the store, keeping watch over a giant chest freezer.  It was probably 6 feet long, and full of vacuum packed, frozen fish.  My share was all wrapped up in two layers of butcher paper, and fit perfectly in my Hellgate CSA tote bag.  There was no risk of the fish defrosting, the way it was insulated.

Inside the package were 8 fillets.

frozen fish

I was able to fit them all in my freezer, thank goodness!  I was a little concerned that they’d be too big, but they fit just fine.

I put a couple of the fillets in the fridge to defrost, as friends were coming over to check out the salmon.  I thought that each fillet might feed three people – boy was I wrong.  One fillet fed 5 of us, with fish to spare!  So, I have a whole fillet ready to cook, which I’ll do tonight.  I plan to make salmon burgers with the cooked fish and freeze them for a later date.

This salmon is really gorgeous.

filet

I cooked it very simply – olive oil, fleur de sel, and lemon juice to season it.  Baked in parchment at 350 degrees.  Parchment is my favorite way to cook fish, apart from grilling.  It took about 20 minutes to cook the entire fillet, though I would be happy with cooking it for 15 minutes.

in parchment

The fish had amazing flavor – very clean and salmony.  I loved it, as did my guests.  I’m really happy I have this fish.  I look forward to eating it throughout the fall and winter, too!

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Iliamna Fish Company CSA

iliamnaThis weekend, while perusing Chowhound, I came across a post entitled Where should I buy wild salmon? It mentioned a wild salmon CSA, and as a lover of wild caught salmon, it certainly caught my eye.

The salmon is caught by the Iliamna Fish Company, a third-generation family-owned cooperative based in Alaska. They follow the natural spawning season of the salmon, and catch the fish in late June and early July in Bristol Bay.  Members of the CSA will receive 12 pounds of flash-frozen sockeye salmon in late August, at a pickup location in Brooklyn.

Wild Sockeye is deep red in color and has the highest levels of omega-3 in the salmon family.  It’s high in protein, has plenty of good fat, and minerals.  It’s also delicious!

So how sustainable is are the methods for catching this fish?  According to their website, “Iliamna Fish Company sockeye salmon are Marine Stewardship Council certified-signifying the ocean, rivers and lake where our wild sockeye grow are part of a healthy and pure marine ecosystem.”  As far as the way they are caught, the fish are caught by small boats (4 feet deep and 20 feet long)  in set nets:

The process of set netting might be compared to tying a sheet to a clothesline in the wind. Nets are “set,” or anchored, perpendicular to the shore, usually in 25-fathom increments. The top of the net, floated by white synthetic corks, is tied to a line running between fixed anchors at both ends. The bottom of the net is a heavy, weighted line that sinks below the surface of the water.

Between the floating line and the weighted line, the webbing of the net billows with the strong current of the tide. As fish move up and downstream with the tide, they are caught in the billowing, curved “basket” formed by the tide and net. Fish are either ensnared at their heads, by catching their gills in the webbing, or they are caught lying broadside, ungilled-held in the “basket” of the net by the tidal current.

More about Iliamna’s set nets can be found here.

They also work with the biologists that monitor the streams in the area, and only after they determine there is enough fish does the Iliamna crew head in for the catch.  This ensures there is no overfishing and that salmon will be here for years to come.  They also support the work of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Marine Stewardship Council, Ecotrust, and Salmon Nation.

So, come August I should have 12 pounds of sustainably-fished, wild-caught sockeye in my freezer!  I’ll be enjoying salmon throughout the fall and winter, I expect.  I’m really excited about this!  I will certainly report back on the quality of the fish this fall.

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Fish and Pasta – Penne in Guazzetto

finished dish

The other day the daily edition of TastingTable arrived in my inbox, which promised an article about Roman food. I love food from Italy – from all regions – so I opened it right away.

Then I saw Danny Meyer’s name, and felt the need to read on. Turns out the email was about his new trattoria, Maialino, in the Grammercy Park neighborhood, and included a recipe. I’m a big fan of Danny Meyer’s ventures, so I took a closer look at the recipe and it seemed very doable for a weekday, post-work meal.

bread and garlic

It also looked delicious.  Simple, real ingredients – basically fish, olive oil, pasta, tomatoes, and herbs – and simple preparation.  It looked like the clean flavors of the dish would really come through.

I did find that cooking the fish in the oil was not as neat as I anticipated it to be.  The fish sort of stuck to my pan, but it was easy enough to release it once I added the tomatoes (their juice essentially deglazed it, lifting up any caramelized bits).  It all cooked very fast, too.

Additionally, I am not big fan of long pastas – spaghetti, linguini, fettuccine.  I much prefer smaller pasta shapes, like penne, rigatoni, and oricchete.  I am a big fan of rustichella d’abruzzo pasta, so I used their penne for this dish.  They prepare their pasta with  more traditional techniques, from their special bronze molds, to long and low drying times, which preserves more of the nutrition in the pasta. Since I did use this pasta, I’ve changed the name of the recipe to reflect that.

The dish was extremely well-received in my household.  Our resident picky eater loved it and asked that it be made again.  I am sure we will make it semi-regularly for the foreseeable future.  It also made a lot of food – we got two dinners each out of it, and figured we spent about $12 total for the ingredients, so it’s an economical dish as well.

fish in three stages

Penne in Guazzetto
Adapted from Nick Anderer, Maialino, New York

6 ounces skinless cod fillet, cut into 3-inch-wide strips (preferably line-caught Pacific cod)
sea salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (I used Aleppo pepper)
One 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, preferably organic, crushed by hand

1/2 pound penne pasta
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped (about ½ cup)
12 basil leaves, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs, toasted in olive oil until golden brown

Generously cover each piece of fish with salt and let stand for 12 minutes to firm the flesh. Rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry.

In a deep saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to ripple, add the fish and cook until the cod turns opaque and starts to lightly brown, about 3 minutes; turn the fish over and cook for 1 minute longer.

Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the cod begins to flake easily when pierced with the tip of a knife, 5 to 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente, then drain and add to the tomato sauce, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Stir the pasta water into the sauce until emulsified, then add the parsley and basil and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper and divide among plates. Sprinkle each plate with bread crumbs and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve immediately.  Serves 4 to 6.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.