Lake Michigan

Something new to come

Cooking Recipes

Salmon Pasta Salad

Easy Smoked Salmon

Garlic & Ginger Salmon

Salmon Rub

Adam Trenz Family Fish Fry

Egg Cures

Borax Cure

Sodium Sulfite Cure

Salt & Sugar Cure

Salt-Cured Single Eggs

Brine for Firming Eggs

Gooey Eggs

What do you want to see here? E-mail me today

mailto:captjay@netzero.net

Cooking Recipes

Salmon Pasta Salad INGREDIENTS 1 package (8 ounces) spiral pasta, cooked and drained 2 cups fully cooked salmon chunks or 1 can (14-3/4 ounces) pink salmon, drained, bones and skin removed 1-1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes 1 medium cucumber, quartered and sliced 1 small red onion, sliced 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup fresh lemon or lime juice 1-1/2 teaspoons dill weed 1 garlic clove, minced 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 head lettuce, torn SERVINGS 6-8 CATEGORY Salads METHOD Chill PREP 15 min. TOTAL 15 min. DIRECTIONS In a large bowl, toss the pasta, salmon, tomatoes, cucumber and onion. For dressing, combine the oil, lemon or lime juice, dill, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well. Pour over pasta. Cover and chill. Serve over lettuce. Yield: 6-8 servings. Easy Smoked Salmon INGREDIENTS 1 salmon fillet (about 2 pounds) 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 to 2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke SERVINGS 16 CATEGORY Lower Fat METHOD Baked PREP 10 min. COOK 35 min. TOTAL 45 min. DIRECTIONS Place salmon, skin side down, in an 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with brown sugar, salt and pepper. Drizzle with Liquid Smoke. Cover and refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Drain and discard liquid. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Yield: 16 servings. Garlic and Ginger Salmon INGREDIENTS 3/4 cup minced fresh parsley 1-1/4 teaspoons ground ginger or 4 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot 6 garlic cloves, minced 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil 4 salmon fillets (6 ounces each) SERVINGS 4 CATEGORY Low Carb METHOD Microwave PREP 10 min. TOTAL 10 min. DIRECTIONS In a food processor, combine the parsley, ginger and garlic; cover and process until minced. Add the lemon juice, lime juice, salt, tarragon and pepper; cover and process until blended. While processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream. Spread mixture over salmon fillets. Place in a shallow 2-qt. microwave-safe dish, positioning the thickest portion of fish toward the outside edges. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Cover and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Let stand, covered, for 2 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings. Salmon Rub 1 filet of salmon or steelhead (3 to 6 servings) or 4-6 steaks 2 bay leaves 2 teaspoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon thyme 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon rosemary 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper grind all ingredients in a food processor. Lay fish on plate and firmly rub ingredients into fish. (both sides if skinned) Let set 1-2 hours in the fridge. Grill, bake or broil no more than 5 minutes per inch(total time for both sides) I don't know if any of you guys up there try this type out, but in all honesty it is PERFECT, especially on some nice fresh michigan caught atlantic salmon. Also great on coho and kings, have yet to try it for steelhead, can only imagine it would be great. I have tried this for walleye and perch, and really, dont waste you time on it, this is great almost exclusively for the salmon family. I stick to plain old kentucky kernal for the walleye/perch family. Adam Trenz Family Fish Fry Mix Start by of course, removing the bones and trimming off all of the dark meat, near where the skin was on your fillets. I get my frying cuts quite thin as well, to provide a more crisp fry, probably about 1/4"-1/2" thick. I also only pan fry, I do not like the results of a deep fry for this mix. Start with a plate of cornmeal, about a 12" plate, cornmeal being about 3/4" thick. Add in 1 tsp of the following, give or take to taste. Salt, (i go a little heavy on the salt) paprika, cayanne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder. I add a bit of sugar, not much, just a pinch. Whatever tastes you don't like in that, go a little light on, I would say least important is the chili powder. Of course, dip the cuts in egg, roll it in the cornmeal mixture, fry it up! Be sure to not overcook.

Egg Cures

The following are just a sample of the many Spawn Cures out there, each can be modified by adding scents and color. Spawn cures are closely guarded secrets to this may upset some people. Remember the goal of a spawn cures is to preserve spawn/eggs to make them last longer, Please release as many of your fish as possible, so that others can enjoy the thrill. Good Luck and Good Fishing! Capt. Jay. #1 Borax Cure 1. Place roe/egg skeins in paper towel overnight to drain. 2. Unwrap and place on newspaper 3. Cover thoroughly with Borax 4. Cut into bait size pieces 5. Cover in Borax 6. Spread out individual pieces on newspaper 7. Let air dry until crust has formed on top side 8. Turn over each piece until crust forms on new side 9. Place in container and cover with fresh borax. Freeze or Put in refrigerator should keep up to 2 months #2 Sodium Sulfite Cure - Produces red eggs 1. Cut bait into fishing size pieces 2. Place in Ziplock bag with sodium sulfite 3. Shake until all pieces are covered 4. Place a layer of sodium sulfite on bottom of container and then alternate layers of pieces and sodium sulfite until container is full. 5. Refrigerate until ready to use. #3 Salt & Sugar Cure 1. ½ cup Sugar 2. ½ cup salt 3. 1 cup of warm water Use warm water to dissolve sugar and salt completely, put the eggs in and let stand for about 1 ½ hours. Drain and Store. A Ziplock bag works best for soaking eggs. #4 Salt-Cured Single Eggs 1. Rinse eggs under cold water (Best to use stream or River water) and allow hardening in refrigerator. 2. Place on paper towel and plate to air dry for several hours 3. Heavily coat eggs with salt and allow to dry for up to 12 hours and become wrinkled. 4. Roll eggs every couple of hours 5. Test for hardness by squeezing eggs with fingers or using a small hook. When an egg stays firmly on the hook, without splitting or popping it’s ready. 6. Place salt & eggs in small jar (baby food jar perfect) and freeze. *Eggs will be wrinkled, after fishing for a while they will plump up. #5 Brine for Firming Eggs 1. ¼ cup Sugar 2. 1 cup Salt 3. 1 gallon Water Brine consists of 1 part sugar to 4 parts salt mixed in 1 gallon of water. Stir brine until salt and sugar dissolve. Eggs when cured will be firm not wrinkled or rubbery. You can then go to one of the other methods to finish the clusters to your liking. #6 Gooey Eggs 1. 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar 2. 1 tablespoon of salt 3. 4 cups of Borax 4. Ziplock bag or glass dish to store roe in refrigerate overnight Mix the above ingredients Cut skeins in half lengthwise Place skeins into the dry mixture and store in refrigerate for 24 hours. Shake off the dry mixture and rinse the skeins gently with water to remove any powder stuck onto the skein. 5. Dry on paper towels for 12 hours in the refrigerate. 6. Vacuum bag or vacuum jar the skeins. * This recipe makes a nice gooey roe that stays on the hook well and milks well even after freezing.

Preparing Cut-Bait Strips

1. Opening the Package cut one end of the package and remove tray with whole herring from the plastic package. Foam will dehydrate bait, not all packaged whole herring come on foam trays. 2. Allow the herring to sit out until it just begins to thaw, approximately 20 - 40 minutes. 3. Cover the herring with "20 Mule Team Borax" this is to set or hold the scales in place. Then cover the herring with approximately the same amount of kosher salt or pickling salt. 4. Immediately after covering herring with borax and salt, place all the herring covered with borax and salt into a zip lock bag or any sealable watertight container and add approximately 2 cups of cold water. 5. Let the herring soak for approximately 45-60 minutes, removing before completely thawed. 6. Take a bait head and determine which will be tail side and non-tail side. This is determined by the angle of the bait-head. (Tail side sometimes works better on certain days.) 7. Now you need to cut the head off at the angle of your bait-head. This can be done with a knife or scissors. 8. On the side with the backbone you will need to remove approximately 3/4 to 1 inch of backbone for proper fit into the bait-head. 9. The belly now needs to be trimmed for a nice sleek appearance the width should be just under an inch, and the belly should be smooth with no rib bones protruding. 10. The overall length of your herring strip should be between 5 and 6 inches. In late fall bigger is better, just like magnum spoons. Tips: a. Use a sharp knife or a small snap blade knife works well to fillet the sides of the herring. b. Scissors work very well for trimming the belly and also to cut the angle, c. Trim strip head to same angle as bait-head, d. Save and re-use your old brine (unless it gets warm and spoils), the herring oil in the brine will continue add to scent to your new strips. e. Other scents can also be added such as, prawn, salmon egg, anise. Brine Recipe: 1/2 to 3/4cup of Kosher or Pickling salt 1/ 2 to 3/4 cup of "20 Mule Team" Borax laundry booster 2 cups (Approximately) of cool water Other needed items: Gallon zip-lock type bags or a watertight container. A sharp knife or snap blade knife Scissors Bait-head

Hit Counter