Miso Glazed Steelhead

"Salmon" just SO much better!!

We are finally settled into the new house… and it’s so great to be having good friends over for dinner again. We had an impromptu dinner party over the weekend with our friend (who was on dad duty while his exhausted wife got some much deserved “me” time), our newly married friends (who I adore), super dad’s 2 year old son, and the boys. 

I love to try new recipes, and even more I love to find new foods to wow our guests. While shopping for our little get-together, I found some beautiful Steelhead at the store. Compared to the Salmon fillets right next to it, there were only very slight differences. The steelhead was richer in color, the fillets were only slightly thinner than the salmon, and due to the richer color the fat was slightly more visible. As it turns out, there is a major difference - the taste! It was so moist, perfectly flavored, and so delicious that I might not ever buy “regular” salmon ever again!

Steelhead is actually a trout, but unlike the landlocked rainbow trout, steelhead swim out into the ocean during their adulthood. After some further research it seems that the life of a steelhead and the life of a salmon are very similar. 

Both fish eat large diets of Krill, spawn in streams, adults live in the ocean, and return to the stream to spawn. The main difference between salmon and steelhead is that steelhead can spawn numerous times before dying, whereas salmon only spawn once in their lifetime. This last point actually makes the steelhead a better choice, if you’re concerned with sustainability or being more “green.” 

This might just be the best “salmon” you’ve ever eaten!

Menu:

~
Cracked dungeons crab, with homemade cocktail sauce.
Spicy Pickled Asparagus Spears
~~
Bok Choy with ham
Spiced Coconut Rice
Miso Glazed Steelhead
~~~
Dessert:
(I totally forgot to make one!)
We rarely eat dessert, and it just slipped my mind… oh well I don’t think anyone noticed ;)

Cracked Crab:

To clean and crack crab- remove the apron, remove the larger shell by lifting it from the back, wash out the body cavity, remove the gills, the remove legs and arms, split the body in half and remove the crab section by section, crack the legs with either a meat pounder or a nut cracker.

Cocktail Sauce
1 Cup of ketchup
1 tbs of worcester sauce
1 tbs lemon juice
2-3 tbs horseradish (depending on how horsy you like it)
3-6  dashes of Tabasco (optional)
Mix it all together in a small mixing bowl, serve chilled.

Spicy Pickled Asparagus Spears 

2 cups Apple cider vinegar
1 tbs sea salt
1 tbs dill seeds
3-4 small chili peppers
4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
25 asparagus spears

Add vinegar, dill seeds, sea salt, chili peppers, and garlic to a sauce pan, bring to a simmer. Add asparagus in batches; cook each batch so that the liquid just covers the spears (about 8 at a time). Remove when just tender, set aside in a shallow pan to cool.  When all the asparagus is cooked, pour the remaining liquid over cooling spears, chill (the longer the better, even overnight if possible). Serve.

Miso Glazed Steelhead

Miso glaze:
2 heaping tbs of miso paste
3 tbs lemon
3 tbs low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup brown sugar

Mix ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

To prepare the steelhead, rinse, pat dry, and cut fillet into serving sized pieces (skin on). Line a baking sheet with tin foil, and place the fish on the tin foil skin side down. Turn oven onto broil, with the top rack about 3 inches from the heat source. Paint Miso glaze on top of each piece. (save the remaining glaze for the bok choy). Place pan under broiler for about 8 mins (check it frequently). Fish should flake easily, and glaze should be slightly browned in places. Serve skin on.

Spiced Coconut Rice
2 tbs olive oil
Sea salt
1 tps cumin seeds
3 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of cumin powder
3 cardamom pods (optional)
½ package of sweetened coconut
1 cup of white rice
2 ¼  cups of water

Add spices, salt and olive oil to a medium pot. Slightly fry spices (1 min), add coconut and dry rice, slightly brown while stirring. Slowly add water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook on low for 20 mins.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 mins. Serve.

Bok Choy with Ham

½ lb of chopped ham steak
(I used some frozen ham leftover from Christmas, any ham steak will work).
Olive oil
Bok Choy (rinsed and quartered)
Remaining miso glaze (about ¼ cup)

In a wok, fry the ham until browned; add Bok Choy and Miso glaze. Toss until Bok Choy is covered with sauce. Cover pan for about 10 mins, mix, and if Bok Choy is wilted serve

Dessert- Like I said... OOPS!.