cast iron

Ember Cooked Cheese with Rosemary Ash

Serves 4 -If you’re looking for something that will truly impress but over the fire cooking still intimidates a bit then I urge you to give this “recipe” a try. I say recipe loosely because really it’s more of a method. And even to call it that gives me pause. Cheese goes in a pan and fire melts the cheese. Boom. Done.

It’s the perfect snack for lingering around the fire. If the cheese firms up simply return it to the fire. By the end of the meal it may not look as appetizing but the taste continues to wow.


Ingredients
1 wheels Camembert, triple cream or Brie cheese
4 rosemary sprigs
Bread or crackers for serving

Place the cheese in a small cast iron skillet and set in the fire. Surround the cheese with a few hot coals. Burn the rosemary in the fire then scatter over the cheese.

Grilled Salmon with Preserved Lemon Herb Sauce

1 large filet of Salmon, about 3 pounds

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper


Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on the salmon and cook over the grill, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Herb Sauce:

1/4 cup minced preserved lemon

1 tablespoon roasted garlic (about 3 cloves)

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

1 cup roughly chopped Italian Parsley

1 tablespoon minced rosemary leaves

Olive oil  

Juice of a grilled lemon


Whisk Together and drizzle over grilled salmon.

 
 

Grilled Salmon and Wild Mushrooms

This recipe was provided by Nelly Hand from Drifter’s Fish.

1 large filet of Salmon, about 3 pounds

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

3/4 pound wild mushrooms

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced

Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on the salmon and cook over the grill, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Cook wild mushrooms in butter, thyme, and garlic over low flame until cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the wild mushroom mixture directly over the salmon. Serve.

 
 

BBQ Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Pizza

This recipe was provided by Raven Madison

Raven’s take on a BBQ “Chicken” Pizza is loaded with freshly foraged and homemade ingredients from Cordova.

If you’ve never tried making pizza over the fire I highly recommend it. Good pizza requires a lot of heat and you can easily achieve that with a pile of hardwood coals. The smokey flavor and the just perfectly charred crust will have you turning off your oven and stoking up the fire.  

Dough recipe:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sourdough starter

2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (or one packet)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon organic sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons oil

3/4 cup hot water

Mix flour, salt, sugar, and garlic together in a mixer on low. In a separate container mix hot water and yeast. Once the yeast is dissolved mix in the sourdough starter. Mix flour mixture and sourdough starter together and oil. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rest for 24 hours in a well-oiled bowl on the counter.

Split dough in half, roll into balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

Form the dough balls into rough 12-inch circles. Grill on a grill grate or cast iron pan over coals for 5 minutes, watching closely so as not to burn.

Using tongs, flip the dough over the top with sauce, chicken of the woods mushrooms, cheese and any other toppings you desire. Continue to cook the pizza until the dough is completely cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more.

Homemade BBQ sauce:

2 cups ketchup

1/2 apple cider vinegar

1/4 brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce

A hearty pinch of each: paprika, black pepper, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper

In a medium saucepan combine the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, honey, worcestershire sauce, lemon, hot sauce and spices. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Chicken of the Woods

2 cups sliced Chicken of the Woods mushroom

1 cup white wine

Salt

1 stick/ 1/2 cup unsalted butter

Add the mushrooms, wine, and a pinch of salt to a large skillet set over the coals or on a grill grate set over flames. Bring to a simmer then continue to cook until all the wine has dissolved. Add the butter and cook until the mushrooms have soaked up the liquid. Taste and add more salt as needed.

Pizza toppings:

Red onion

Mozzarella cheese

Jalapeno

Homegrown mixed sprouts

Fresh tomato

These salmon recipes from Nelly and Michael are beautifully simple yet stunningly spectactual. The simple ingredients allow the salmon to shine, as this beautiful wild ingredient should.

Having not grown up a lover of fish I was intimidated by all the fish cookery I did in Alaska. But Nelly’s easy spirit and confident grace was just the lesson I needed. No matter how much I charred the skin she cheered me on and honestly, it was always delicious. When the ingredients are as pure and delicious as what we found in Cordova, the hard part has already been done.

 
 

Moose Meatballs with Low Bush Cranberries and Smoked Cabbage

I felt so honored and humbled while preparing this dish. After the experience we had on our adventure out the road the day before our feast I knew I wanted to make this dish incredibly special. I think we succeeded.

There are a few easy substitutes if you don’t happen to have a freezer filled with ground moose. That can easily be swapped for either ground beef or pork. For the low bush cranberries, feel free to use conventional cranberries (fresh or frozen). Adjust the sweetness to your taste.

2 pounds moose meat (used ground beef or pork instead)

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, ground

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

1 piece bread, roughly chopped or torn

¼ cup milk

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 ½ cup cranberries

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup butter

½ a head of Napa cabbage

Olive oil

Flake salt

1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian Parsley

In a large bowl combine the moose, onion, garlic, fennel, rosemary, bread, milk, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well to completely combine.

Set a large skillet directly over the coals or over a grill grate set over flames. Sear off a small piece of the mixture to check the seasoning.

If you’re happy with the seasoning form the mixture into roughly 2 inch meatballs. Add to the skillet and sear on all sides. You want to get a good deep crust. The meatballs are tender so carefully move them around with tongs or a spatula.

Once seared add the cranberries directly to the pan along with the brown sugar, soy sauce, five spice, and vinegar. Add a pinch of salt as well. Let this gently simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the cranberries have broken down. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Cut the cabbage in half and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Set over a hot grill and sear for two minutes, until the edges are charred but the interior is still crisp and fresh. Remove from the grill and set on a platter. Drizzle the wedges with red wine vinegar and finish with flake salt.

Add the meatballs and sauce to the platter and finish with flake salt, Pecorino and parsley.

 
 

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