Smoked Fish Cheesecake

This savory cheesecake is perfect when sliced relatively thin as an appetizer, but also works well for lunch or even as an entrée. Fans of our Northern Bagel will be familiar with its creamy, lightly salmony flavors.

Crust:

• 4 Tbsp melted butter

• 1 large egg white

• 1 ½ cups crushed bagel chips

Filling:

• 24oz cream cheese (bring to room temperature before mixing)

• 4oz sour cream

• 3 Tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 large eggs

• 10oz (.625lbs) smoked fish, de-boned and flaked (we suggest 8oz smoked lake trout and 2oz smoked sockeye salmon [for color], but any combination will do)

• ⅓ cup finely chopped chives

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, bagel chips, and egg white. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch spring-form pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool, and adjust the oven to 250°F.

3. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, blend the cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, and salt until combined. Mix in the eggs. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the smoked fish and chives. Pour mixture into the cooled crust.

4. Bake at 250°F for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let sit in the oven (don’t open the door during this process) for an additional hour. Cool on a rack for at least 4 hours. Carefully un-mold (you may want to run a knife around the edge first) and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tip: The flavor of the smoked salmon is more apparent as the cheesecake warms up after refrigeration, so you may wish to allow your slices to warm up a little before serving.

Spring Pasta with Smoked Salmon Recipe

What could be more appropriate to the weather tug-of-war that is Springtime in Duluth, MN than an ample plate of pasta festooned with smoked salmon?  Recently, while filtering through an inbox of email nonsense (due Friday? How about next Monday?) a thrilling word was on a subject line: *( and Rosé) - and we knew a new smoked salmon recipe was in order.

Humans, we made it through another winter. There's something in the air -- maybe it's the sudden sunlight and early storms? Maybe it's the oomph in people's steps? Let's just say we are starting to dream about Rosé.

Whatever your reason might be, we are eager to sip, cook with friends and relax.

The cocktail recipe inspired us to make something light and citrusy. We paired our favorite Haus-smoked salmon with an affordable, fresh and fruity Rosé (we substituted  a bottle of sparkling Rosé for La Vieille Ferme 2015).

*If you don't have a bottle of St. Germain liqueur just laying around in your house, the chilled Rosé is still quite the treat. However, that liquor is like liquid gold. Use it today, use it tomorrow, use it forever. 

Ingredients

½ lb Smoked Alaskan sockeye salmon, cubed

1/2 Shallot, diced

4 Cloves of garlic, diced

1 T Cracked black pepper

1/2 Lemon, zested and juiced

1 C Fresh parsley, chopped

10 Asparagus stalks 228 g (two servings worth)

Dry angel hair pasta

Canola oil or olive oil for cooking

Salt to taste

3 T Butter  

4 T (¼ cup) of White wine (Sauvignon Blanc works great. It’s light, dry, herbal & floral, which will create a nice dimension).  

Directions -

After getting your mise en place all ready (aka prepping your ingredients), get  salted water boiling and cook pasta al dente, strain, toss in 1 T (or so - enough to prevent sticking) olive oil. Save 2 Tablespoons of pasta water -  the gluten will be useful for the sauce.

Heat 1 T of oil and 1 T of butter over medium-high heat. Lightly salt and cook the asparagus until they are nearly tender, 4-5 minutes. Remove the asparagus and set them aside for later. We want the asparagus to be a little undercooked here because we will be adding them back in later.

If the pan seems dry, add a little bit of olive oil to the same pan and sweat shallots over medium heat until they are nearly translucent. Add another 1 T of butter and add the garlic and salmon. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes to combine flavors.

Add  wine and the pasta water you saved. Add the rest of your ingredients (black pepper, lemon zest and juice). Toss in the asparagus and add another tablespoon of butter. Let your ingredients simmer for about 5-7 minutes until the sauce reduces and becomes slightly thickened and reduced.

Toss in the pasta and add the fresh parsley. Mix and serve!

Eggs Three-Way (or this is not a pipe)

Smoked Lake Superior Lake Trout

Ingredients

⅓ lb Lake Superior Smoked Trout

½ Lemon juice (if not juicy, use the whole lemon)

2 tsp Minced chives*

3 tbsp Mayo

½ tbsp Dijon Mustard

Black pepper to taste

*leave a bit for decoration

Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper and Coriander

Ingredients

⅓ lb Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper and Coriander

2 tbsp Medium-minced red onion

2 tbsp Medium-minced parsley

¼ cup Sour Cream

Black pepper to taste

If you have some scallions around, slice a bit for decoration.

Spanish- Style Dry-Cured Chorizo

Ingredients

¼ cup or 3 tbsp pan-fried, thinly matchstick sliced chorizo*

¼ cup Mayo

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

*Leave a little for decoration.

Directions:

Boiling the eggs -

Add the eggs in a single layer, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then shut the heat off for 12 minutes, the eggs will be perfectly cooked. Add a splash of vinegar to stave off runaway egg whites if there is crackage. Once timer goes off, place your eggs in a bowl with water and ice to stop the eggs from further cooking. Peel your eggs once they are cold. When slicing your eggs, keep a wet kitchen towel by you and clean your knife in between each egg.

Making the filling -

A lot of this will be left to preference. Do you liked your deviled eggs with a little bit more texture? Then don’t use a food processor to mix your ingredients. Use a spatula and mix back and forth until you can’t find big chunks of yolks in your mixture. Mix ‘til preferred smoothness. If you’re using a food processor, combine the yolks, and the rest of your ingredients and process until the mixture is to your smooth preference. Scrape the bowl as necessary.

To pipe or not to pipe?

Depending on your mood or who you’re sharing the eggs with, you might just want to use two spoons to place the mixture in the white egg halves. If you wanna pipe, pipe away, baby! Make a sweet swirl and decorate your eggs with chives, scallions or fresh cracked pepper.