Monday, June 15, 2015

Salmon: 2 ways


Unless you are, or are friends with, a fisherman, good salmon is really hard to find. Especially outside of the Pacific Northwest. I count myself as very fortunate as sometimes being the very blessed recipient of a friend's end of the day catch. There are so very few things better in this world than salmon caught that day. But most of us don't ever get that.

In my humble opinion a very close second to fresh caught salmon, and light years beyond what you'll find at the store, is Zaycon Fresh's Wild Sockey Salmon filets. I've ordered 3 cases (25 lbs each) in the last year. This allows me to cook salmon almost weekly and on a budget!

"Wild" seafood is also somewhat of a hot topic right now. I'm always researching my food to make
sure that I am, at the very least, aware of what is the quality of the food I purchase. The price of Zaycon Fresh's salmon can't be beat, and I was initially a little wary about it. I bought my first case,
fell in love with my first filet and started to do a little bit of digging on it. Was it really what it's advertised to be? I contacted the fishery, using the clearly marked label on my case that I received, and was able to track down where my salmon had been caught and when. Isn't that pretty awesome that in this day and age we can find that information?

What is Zaycon Fresh? It's super easy. You sign up, enter in your zip code and it will populate "events" near you. Each event will bring fresh or frozen meets to an agreed upon place and time. You place your order for what you'd like and then on the day of the event you bring your order slip and they put your case of bulk meats in the trunk of your car for you. You don't even have to get out of the car! Throughout the year they will offer different products; such as delicious bacon, fresh ground beef, fresh chicken breasts, frozen breaded chicken fritters (I like to make this), select steaks, even turkey and ham around the holidays! They are constantly adding more.

When you sign up, they'll send you non-spammy newsletters letting you know what they're adding, great recipe ideas and you can refer friends to get credit for your next purchase. Truly, I haven't bought meat any other way for a long time now.

And now, on to my two favorite ways to prepare salmon these days. YUM! When you thaw a filet, cut it in half and reserve one half for the second recipe below. Now you can have salmon twice in one week!

Honey Lemon Baked Salmon
This is my favorite go-to. It's easy, I have all of the ingredients on hand and it goes with most sides.
  • Half a salmon filet, thawed.
  • 3T cup of honey
  • 1T minced garlic
  • 1T lemon pepper seasoning
  • juice from 1/4 of a fresh lemon
1. Warm the honey briefly in the microwave (about 10 seconds should be enough). Mix in garlic, lemon pepper and lemon juice. 
2. Line a baking dish with tin foil. Place the fish, skin down, in the baking dish. Pour the honey mixture over top. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes, up to 24 hours in the fridge. Prior to baking, spoon the marinate back over top of the salmon again.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Bake the salmon until it flakes easily with a fork, about 8 minutes. Most recommend about 4-6 minutes per 1/2 inch of thickness. 


Thai Inspired Salmon
This recipe is adapted from ifood real. I went out on a limb and thought that spicey salmon might be tasty. We gave it a shot for my birthday dinner and it was a hit. The marinade is great for chicken too!

  • Half a salmon filet, thawed
  • 1/2 cup Thai sauce, recipe below
To prepare Thai sauce:
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup (the real kind, if you can get it)
  • 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce (I use Sun Luck brand)
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 T cornstarch
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 
Mix all of the ingredients until combined. Add to a small saucepan and cook until boiling. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before pouring onto fresh meat. Refrigerate leftovers.

To prepare the salmon:
1. Pour 1/2 cup of the cooled Thai sauce over the uncooked salmon. Allow to marinate for at least two hours. 
2. Before cooking, coat the meat again with the marinade sauce.

3. Broil or grill until the meat flakes easily with a fork. My favorite is to grill it!

Honorable mention: Cilantro Salmon burgers by Alaska from Scratch. Oh lawd, it's changed my opinion on burgers.

So are you ready to order some salmon?  If you're interested in learning more about how to determine if your salmon is truly wild, sustainably caught and basically not messing around, here are some resources:

  • http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/groups/salmon?q=salmon&type=sockeye
  • http://www.thehealthyeatingguide.com/farm-raised-salmon-vs-wild-caught-salmon/

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Signing up for a Zaycon Fresh account is free, but you'll be amazed at the quality of all the different kinds of meats and products you can find through them. If you loved this post and want to learn more about Zaycon Fresh - feel free to sign up using my referral code. I'll get a tiny kickback and you'll get a ton of delicious meat to stock your freezer!

9 comments:

  1. These sound so good! Can't wait to try them. I keep hearing about Zaycon foods and I might be interested, but I don't have a lot of freezer space to store a lot of extra food. Can the meats only be purchased in bulk? Or do you get to choose how much you buy?

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    Replies
    1. Keara, the meats only come in bulk but I've split my cases with friends and family! For instance, the bacon comes in 36 lb cases, so I split it between 3 families! Same with their breaded chicken fritters. I don't split my salmon cases because we love it so much, but there are a few other products that make sense to split up if there is interest from others. Hope that helps!

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  2. I think this post has convinced me to take the plunge and order from Zaycon.

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  3. Sigh- I do miss the Pacific Northwest. These recipes look scrumptious!

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  4. This looks so good...I don't have a freezer either but splitting with friends an order from Zaycon sounds like a neat idea.

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  5. love salmon and always looking for new ways to fix it....... thanks

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  6. We are having salmon tonight and these recipes caught my eye. Can't decide which to make.

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  7. This Wild Alaskan Salmon Recipe sounds so healthy and delicious as well. I so appreciate having such healthy and tasty recipes posted for us. Thank you so much.

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  8. These both look like great recipes to try for Fish Friday!

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