Destination # 14 - Alaska

So... I kind of forgot that Alaska was a state within the U.S. and was just pleased as punch when Drake reminded me that it was because 1) I've been there and 2) I like fish.

My bff and side-kick since elementary school, Camper Caro, moved to Sitka Alaska on Baranof Island back in 2004, enabling me to finagle a trip for me and my Dad (who has big fish dreams) to visit her and go salmon fishing for a week on their boat. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE! We fished the Sitka Sound, trolling with two rods on down riggers baited up with plugged herring and I swear we probably got a bite (or as they say in Alaska "FISH ON") about every 15 minutes. Our bounty was plentiful with several king salmon ranging from about 25-35 Ibs, white kings (which are the most delicious), ling cod, dungeness crab and deliciously sweet spot shrimp. Alaska is, in a word, breath-takingly beautiful. Sitka is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest and literally crawling with all sorts of wild life from bald eagles to salmon-carcass eating sea lions to porpoises to brown bears to humback whales and on and on and on... Feel free to visit previous posts from this blog to read more about and/or see photos from our AK trip here.

We had initially decided to do halibut as our Alaska dish, but then we went to a Farmer's Market in a port town in WA. and stumbled across a guy who was selling fish that he caught himself from AK. He sold us on ling cod which is a hugely popular catch in AK. and made just as much sense for our food blog project.

Grilled Alaska Ling Cod Marinade

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. minced lemon zest
1/8 cup Dijon mustard
2 TBS finely chopped tarragon
1 TBS finely chopped chives
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 lb Ling Cod

Garnish: lemon slices and tarragon sprigs

Combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, tarragon, and chives in a small mixing bowl slowly whisk in the olive oil until well blended. Add the pepper to taste for seasoning.
Arrange the fish pieces in a large, shallow glass dish. Pour the marinade over, coating all the pieces evenly. Marinate 1/2 to 2 hours.

Prepare barbecue for medium heat grilling. Grill approx 5-7 minutes per side or until done. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.

Drakey's "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Salad"


3 cups ORSO spinach leaves
3 slices ORSO crumbled bacon
3/4 ORSO of a thinly sliced red bell peppers
1/4 Cup ORSO finely chopped green onions
Crumbled cojita cheese (hey - it's what we had in the house)
Croutons made out of left over cornbread muffins

We dressed the salad with once around the bowl olive oil and once around the bowl vinegar.

Bon Appetit! and p.s. if you ever get a chance to get to Alaska, take it! You won't regret it.

Destination # 13 - Maryland

Maryland is one of those states out yonder somewhere that I have been to on random occasions once or twice (or thrice) perhaps. My last visit to Maryland was only just recently in 2010 when Drake and I took the Metro out to the first stop across the Maryland/D.C. border so that we could boast having found a Geocache in the great state of Maryland. We found 4, in fact, in a short 30 minute jaunt and thus considered it a trip well worth taking. Back when I was 18 or 19 I took a vacation to D.C. and Maryland with my boyfriend (yes; it's true, I once had one) and I remember finding Annapolis to be surprisingly charming and beautiful. I recall the "downtown" corridor to be an aesthetic brick paved street lined with double-story brick houses only the bottom story was always a merchant business of some sort with a residential household on top of it. If I were to live in a house stacked on top of a merchant, I would most certainly insist that it was a pizza joint or a bakery. I'm just sayin'. What I recall of the U.S. Navel Academy, located in Annapolis, was that I had never seen an expanse of lawn so neatly manicured nor so many men dressed in the exact same uniform, all with the exact same crew cut, the same gait, glance, demeanor, drawl, cup size, etc. It was like walking onto a movie set of Pleasantville with the same actor replicated 1,500 times playing the role of the Tin Soldier.

For Maryland our food choice was as no-brainer. Crab Cakes. Duh! We made these tonight served up with some sweet corn and some Bubbly because Bubbly is elegant and so are crab cakes (and so are my pink champagne flutes that we bought to benefit breast cancer but look shockingly like giant pink butt-plugs and thus we refer to them as such).

I should explain that the recipe here is Drakey's own creation and not to an exact science. She uses the "ORSO" unit of measurement so feel free to use your own judgement if you want more or less of any particular ingredient; or so. The cakes turned out AH-MAZING!!!

Maryland Crab Cakes - recipe courtesy of Drakey Reilly Kendermore

1 lb loose crab meat
1/2 cup mayo
1 1/8 cup ORSO crushed Club crackers
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup ORSO finely chopped celery stalk
1/4 cup ORSO finely chopped red bell pepper
2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 dash and a slight pause of lemon juice

Slightly mix all the ingredients together (EXCEPT FOR THE CRAB) until everything is in a rough paste. Gently fold crab in so that it is not overworked.

Heat olive oil in large saute pan until hot on medium-high heat and then turn down to medium. Form 4 patties and place them into the frying pan, cooking each side until it is golden brown; about 4-5 minutes ORSO on each side. Drain the patties on a paper towel and repeat with the remaining 4 patties.

Destination #12 - Tennessee

Tennessee is one of those states that I'm cautiously curious about. Cautious of their history, as it is noted that Tennessee has seen some of the nation's "worst racial strife" from the formation of the KKK in 1866 to the assassination of MLK in 1968 and still deeply rooted in that good ole' boy Southern Confederacy nuttiness. Curious about the amazing music scene of Nashville and Memphis; though most widely known for Country music, Tennessee was instrumental in the development of early Rock n' Roll and Blues music. LOVE ME SOME BLUES, ya'll!! Where food is concerned, there's nothing that screams Tennessee more than BBQ Ribs and there's nothing that sings of awesomeness more than a warm Spring/Summer day in the yard with your hot wife gettin' her hillbilly on, Coltrane wailing through the speakers and the delicious aroma of Cherry wood smoke permeating your hair, clothes and heart.

BBQ Smoked Pork Ribs
Rack of pork ribs
cup of apple juice

BBQ Rub (this makes a ton so either save for repeated use or recipe can be adjusted down)
1 Cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup garlic salt
1/3 cup onion salt
1/2 cup paprika
2 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper

Cooking Instructions
Place ribs bone side up and remove the membrane to result in more tender ribs.
Generously apply rub to both sides of ribs. Pat down.
Slow smoke (we use cherry wood) for 5 hours at around 225 degrees.
Spray with apple juice occasionally to keep moist and add a slightly fruity flavor.
Ribs are done when the bones fall out.

Grilled Ceaser Salad

We had this once at one of our favorite restaurants and decided to try it ourselves. It's basically like a deconstructed Ceasar.

Pull apart the whole leaves of a head of Romaine Lettuce (or alternatively just quarter the whole head).
Toss leaves with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Toss on the grill until leaves begin to lightly char. Top with shaved parmesan and a splash of lemon. Serve warm.

Destination # 11 - Utah

Let me preface this by saying that one of the many valuable things that my mother taught me in life was that "if I didn't have anything nice to say then to not say anything at all." I can't honestly say that I have conducted my life in a manner always remaining true to these words; no... I can't say that AT ALL, actually, but in the back of my brain where my conscience lies, there's a little nagging angel whining the words of my mother "if you don't have anything nice to say then well then just don't say it at all!". WHATEVER! I tell you this anecdote, kind reader, as a poorly attempted excuse as to why I am not including hardly any information (no research, no
legitimately tried or consumed recipes) about Utah here. Because at the ripe age of 38, I have decided once and for all to heed my mother's advice and just shut the hell up. Well... mostly. Oh hell, I'm gonna TRY!

Here's what I know about Utah: MORMONS! Mormon things. Mormon $$, Mormon politics, Mormon frocks, magic Mormon underwear, and a man named Joseph Smith who found some killer antique gold plated dishware in the desert and decided that those plates were a sign from God to have sex with multiple women and take them under slave-like conditions as "celestial" wives. In the name of Jesus and the Holy Prophet, Amen! And now the Mormons are running for President of the U.S. of A! AWESOME! JUST AWESOME!

Apparently Pastrami Burgers are big hit items in Mormonville...um... I mean, Utah. Burgers cooked like any other burger and then topped with a heap of Pastrami, Swiss Cheese and Thousand Island dressing and dressed up appropriately so in a sesame seed bun (the recipe didn't mention anything about dressing up the burger in magic burger underwear so I think it was safe for heathens like us to cook and eat as well). When Drake suggested this recipe I thought to myself, "well hot damn! Something from Utah that I actually might like!" Burgers = GOOD! Pastrami = GOOD! Cheese = GOOD! Thousand Island = GOOD, non-holy Buns = EXCELLENT! A plan was hatched, the BBQ was lit and we were on our way to a blessed Mormon (shit! I mean Utah) super. Now, allow me to boast for a second here if you will, but I am a RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME Grill-Master-Baker. Seriously. I've worked hard to hone my skills at the BBQ and I take pride in perfectly cooked meats and other grilled things. So... I preheated my grill nice and hot only to come back after 20 minutes and find that it was not, in fact, nice and hot, as intended. So we switched out the propane tank thinking that it was just running low, cranked it back to high and gave it another 15 minutes. Still not very hot but I could work with this. Or so I thought. I was wrong. THOSE GOD DAMN MORMON BURGERS BROKE MY FRICKIN' GRILL! I swear it! I swear it on the Prophet and Celestial Marriage and on Gold Plated Dishware! I swear it! Those sad little burgers literally baked (slowly) on that grill for 30 minutes until I finally threw in the towel and fed them to our pet lion. Well... I don't really have a pet lion but if I did, I would have fed him the Mormon burgers because I don't think lions are all that bigoted or picky. Anyway... we took the Pastrami off and made Ruebens which were quite good but not at all associated with Utah so I'm not going to tell you how we made them here.

HERE is a link to the recipe we were ATTEMPTING to make if you'd like to try it.

I guess I failed (once again) at keeping my mouth shut re: mean things about certain religions or practices but I shall try this again in another 10 years when I'm more mature. If it makes any difference, I have ALWAYS strictly adhered to my mother's sound advice about using the proper glassware for the appropriate beverage. So at least the really important advice has stuck.

In the name of the Holy Prophet and Magic Underwear. Amen and good night!