If you want to know about an interesting life , please ignore the stars and non-stars tweeting their lives around the world from Hollywood and concentrate on the stars of Alaska. I refer not to Alaska’s ex-gov, but to the stars of Alaska’s wild frontier who explore the high seas of the Pacific Ocean only to return again from whence he and she have come, to mate and to die. God, that is romantic not to mention flexible. Salmon swim from fresh water to salt water and back again. Crazy. Or crazy good. Tasting.
Salmon, from our own 49th state, is arguably a contender for the title of “fillet mignon of the sea” with its rich flavor and its tremendous nutritional value as a source of protein, Omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamin D. For all of its value in flavor and potential health benefits, salmon comes with a cost. It’s not cheap so you need to do right by it.
You are probably wondering where salmon, it’s life story and the price you need to pay for it comes into my usual rant about eating locally, but there is a local connection to this story about salmon and salmon balls in particular.
The connection is Seafood Landing in Highlands Square at the corner of 32nd and Lowell.
I found this place last year when searching the city for dry packed scallops. This guy sells the freshest seafood in town. He, Bruce Johnson, knows everything about seafood, and will special order anything you want. Check out these reviews on Yelp about Seafood Landing. I went in to buy salmon and got the Seafood Landing recipe for salmon balls from Bruce.
Here it is:
2 lbs fresh salmon, finely diced
2 T capers, chopped
3 scallions chopped, include both green and white
1 T fresh dill, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 egg beaten
1 slice of bread, torn and soaked in 1/4 c milk
1T mayonnaise
Mix all of the above ingredients and roll into balls (@ 2T each). Roll around in breadcrumbs and fry in oil. You may like olive oil and you may like veggie oil. You may like oil with a little butter, but I’ll tell you what I love.
After frying the balls – really lightly – if you fry them too hard that’s what they will be, hard. And dry. After you fry them lightly with love, remove from heat onto a paper towel. Put a quarter stick of butter into a clean pan and brown it. Be careful if you have never done this because you don’t want to burn it. Watch the butter melt and start to foam. Shake the pan a little bit and when the foam turns slightly brown, remove it from the heat and you’ve got golden nectar from the gods. Drizzle this brown butter over your balls and enjoy. Your guests won’t know exactly what the flavor is, but you will get rave reviews.
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