Alaska: Alaskan Salmon (2 Ways) with Potatoes with Garlic Butter and Green Beans

The Story

We’ve never been to Alaska, but dream of going there when the kids are older, on a cruise, and we would be sipping on hot coffee or wine (depending on the time of the day) by the glaciers while our kids are independently behaving themselves and enjoying everything Alaska has to offer. Whenever that will be. Right now, we will be having a heart attack trying to watch both kids on a ship while they scream to watch Elmo when they have the most beautiful nature right in front of them that they could ever imagine seeing. (See story from our Iceland trip here.)

Until then, we get to experience Alaska from our dining room. I got the Alaskan Salmon recipe from a girl on Facebook.

I was also told by the same person that “there aren’t many vegetables in Alaska, so lots of us make akutaq, which is sugar and crisco whipped into a fluff, then we fold in salmonberries, blueberries, and cranberries we picked on the tundra. It’s also called Eskimo ice cream! It was originally made with seal oil instead of crisco. (I was born in Alaska and lived there until I was five. I remember my mom telling me about Eskimo ice cream made out of whale blubber.)”

Awesome! But I’m not good at desserts, and it’s also not very good for my mission – lose the baby weight. So I found a recipe online for a side dish. It may not be traditionally Alaskan, but it was presented by someone from Alaska. 🙂

Alaskan Salmon Recipe by Girl on Facebook (Alaskan Native)

1 fillet, with skin on.
Place skin side down on double layers of aluminum foil.
Cover, in this order, with:
Mayo OR BBQ sauce OR brown sugar OR spices of your choice
Onions
Lemons
Wrap with foil slightly tented.
BBQ around 30 minutes.

Salmon – I got 2 different types of Alaskan salmon (Sockeye and Coho) – one with brown sugar, and the other with mayo. Both I’ve never used with salmon so wanted to try it out.

I used this recipe by Alaska From Scratch for baby red potatoes with garlic butter and green beans.

 

Utensils and Ingredients We Didn’t Have

 

• Have time to BBQ – We have a BBQ in the backyard, but I didn’t feel like leaving the kids upstairs while I tended to the BBQ all by myself, so baked in the oven for 25 min at 450 degrees.
• Baby red potatoes – Got purple potatoes instead

Reviews

Emily – The Chef

[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] Alaska, I did you a disservice. Total Pinterest fail. I over boiled the potatoes so it became mush. I should’ve BBQ’d the salmon. It was good, but I think it could’ve been better. [/custom_blockquote]

Tony – Really Nice Taste Tester aka Husband of the Year

[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] It’s ‘fresh’ and really good. No need to put it in a tortilla and make it a wrap (as Emily suggested I could do). I also thought about putting hot sauce on it because I always do, but no hot sauce needed, it’s good! [/custom_blockquote]

Henry – Skeptical Taste Tester

[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] I didn’t take a single bite. My dad even tried saying that “bears eat salmon! Do you want to eat it like a bear?!” Nope. I am just going to eat a sliver of avocado and a bite or two of pepper jack cheese and melon for dinner. No way I’m eating this purple goo with green beans poking out of it. [/custom_blockquote]

Chippy – The Greatful Taste Tester

[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] I love Henry! I got to polish off everything on his plate! Not a single purple mush spot left on my plate! [/custom_blockquote]

Andrew – Sleeping Baby

[custom_blockquote style=”eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey”] Zzzz… Dreaming of eating solids. But maybe not this time. 🙂 [/custom_blockquote]

 

Are you from Alaska? What do you think? Do you think this was made authentically? Or did I miss a key ingredient/utensil? (I know I kind of screwed this one up…)