The Pacific Northwest and the fishing we did on our Desolation Sound charter inspired some great cooking. These were a few of our choice memories, and recipes I highly recommend.
During a day of fishing with Romney of Cortes Fishing Adventures, we managed to catch a 14lb salmon and a 12lb lingcod.
Romney filleted the fish for us from his boat, providing tasty samples of salmon roe and sashimi.
Back on Passages, we prepared the raw fish by cutting off the extra bits. During the day, we also soaked our locally purchased Canadian cedar planks in ice water in preparation for the evening’s meal.
Cedar Plank-Smoked Salmon
Ingredients:
2 Salmon sides
Mustard
Honey
Lemon
Olive Oil
Onion
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
1. Let cedar planks soak in fresh water for 12 hours before using.
2. Mix 2T dijon mustard, 1T honey, 3T olive oil, 2T lemon juice and 1/2 onion very thinly sliced. Add salt and pepper to taste
3. Cut salmon in half length-wise
4. Lay on soaked cedar planks and spoon mustard mixture on top.
5. Place on grill and cook until fish becomes opaque.
Cornmeal Crusted Lingcod
(See darkened fish on right side of image)
Ingredients:
Cod Filets
Eggs
All-Purpose Flour
Corn meal
Vegetable Oil
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
1. Cut cod filet into equal sized pieces
2. Dip each cod filet in egg wash (1 egg whisked with a little milk or water). Let wash excess drip off.
3. Dredge each egg-coated filet in cornbread mix or 2 parts flour to 1 part corn (flavor with any spices you have on board; in our case, salt, pepper and taco seasoning).
4. Heat large fry pan over medium heat.
5. Coat the bottom of pan with vegetable oil.
6. Add breaded cod in a single layer (do not overcrowd the pan).
7. Cook both sides of the cod filet until they are golden brown.
8. Serve with a wedge of lemon and enjoy!
Roasted Tomato and Olive Lingcod
(In this image, you can see the completed fish on the righthand side)
Ingredients:
Cod Filets
Onion
Garlic
Green Olives
Canned Whole Tomatoes (hand crushed)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Directions:
1. Cut cod filet into equal-sized pieces.
2. Lay the cod in the bottom of a baking dish.
3. Thinly slice 1/2 onion and a few cloves of garlic.
4. In a separate bowl, mix onions and garlic with a handful of diced green olives, tomatoes and a bit of olive oil.
5. Add salt, pepper and your favorite seasonings to taste.
6. Spoon tomato mixture over the cod in baking dish.
7. Bake at 375 until the fish is flaky and the onion/garlic are soft and translucent.
Midway through the charter, while docked at Toba Wildnernest Resort, the dockmaster, Kyle, asked us to help check his prawn traps. We caught a few dozen juicy prawns and carried them to shore where we quickly separated the shells…
…And dropped the bodies into boiling salt water until they turned perfectly pink. What a tasty treat.
Nothing tops off a fresh-caught meal quite like a fresh-baked pie made from fresh-picked blueberries that grew in the thickets surrounding the Desolation Sound Yacht Charters base in Comox, British Columbia.
