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Welcome to our collection of recipes, lore, and favorite stories from all of us at the Smokehaus. We hope you find something interesting and useful to add to your food journey.

boursin jars

Top Five Boursin Recipe Ideas

May 5, 2017

Boursin is a versatile, flavorful, creamy addition to many meals. We started making Boursin at Northern Waters Smokehaus on a whim, and it has now become one of our most popular cheese case items. Over the years, we’ve learned to concoct some simple dishes with our Boursin, adding an herbal, lemony lift to veggies and meats alike. Our Mother’s Day Gift Box is a favorite - the combination of smoked Sockeye salmon, crispy crackers, and fluffy cheese is an elegant, binge-worthy snack. Here are the top 5 Boursin recipe ideas (so far) for you. For more exact recipes, email creative [@] nwsmokehaus.com and we’ll do our best to get you cooking with Boursin to mathematical perfection!

Five time-tested, Smokehaus-approved recipe ideas for our Boursin:

#5: Boursin and Endive Bites

Belgian endive is almost always available at the grocery store, even here in the Great White North. These delicate little torpedoes of green are crisp, sweet, and very slightly bitter - a perfect foil for creamy, citric, floral Boursin. Simply trim the endive ends and gently separate the leaves. You will find a delicate little shovel - a great conduit for many mediums, and excellent for a dollop of Boursin. Use a teaspoon to smear the Boursin or get fancy and pipe it (with a pastry bag or clipped plastic one - up to you). We garnish ours with jolly little Sweetie Drops, or pickled Peruvian peppers, but feel free to use your own favorite garnish - paprika, parsley, anything pickled - or go au naturale and let the bite speak for itself.

#4: Steak and Boursin

What can we say? Compound butter + grilled beef = heaven on earth. Useful on any cut, but especially the fatty, interesting ones, like New York strip, Boursin will be the equivalent of a Valentino gown on Sophia Loren: it will cling to it in all the right places. Salt and pepper your steak, let it get to room temperature, cook it over or under hot flame for your desired temperature, let it rest for 5 minutes, dollop with a Tablespoon of Boursin, and let rest for at least another 5 minutes. Devour, with or without starch to sop up the resulting incredible juices.

#3 Chicken and Boursin Surprise

The real surprise here is that this doesn’t exist at every fast-casual American eatery on the planet. This is a simple yet luxurious meal that is quick to construct, satisfying, and actually makes great leftovers for sandwiches. Pound chicken breasts to a ½ inch thickness, spread an even layer of Boursin approximately ¼ inch thick,  and add a layer of cured muscle meat, like prosciutto, jamon serrano, or copa (if you live near the Smokehaus deli or are a member of our Smokehaus of the Month Club, we recommend asking for our Speck or Lonzino). Roll the cutlets into wheels, secure with toothpicks, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and fry in good oil until golden and cooked through (165 degrees). Great with buttered, Parmiganno’d pasta, roasted asparagus, or sliced after cooling and served on a leafy green salad.

#2 Boursin Toast

Inspired by a local business that boldly decided to exclusively offer coffee and toast (we miss you, JPH!), we salute the simplicity of a crusty, magnificent slab of Duluth sourdough stuffed into the nearest (and most accommodating) toaster, grilled to pedal-to-the-metal blackish-brownish, and smeared with enough Boursin that it qualifies as a “barge.” Extra points for those who first slather their toast with butter, but enough Boursin will certainly do the trick. Top with sun-ripened tomatoes, crumbled bacon or pancetta, a raisin smiley face (probably gross, but pretty kitschy, no?), or nothing at all.

#1 Boursin and Smoked Turkey Sandwiches

At the risk of redundancy, we here at the Smokehaus are really into sandwiches. We live sandwiches from the moment we flick on our meat case lights and start cutting cucumbers in the morning to the end of the day when Jerry ushers out the last stray customer with a flourish of his vest and stamp on their sandwich card. We fully realize that many would place a steak at #1 on this list, especially considering that a lowly turkey sandwich had secured the top ranking. But we are not many. We are sandwich people. Our original intent for Boursin was on a turkey sandwich, but we quickly realized the delicious nature of said sandwich would backfire and we would have to hire a whole separate person in the summers to exclusively make Boursin to keep up with demand. So here is the catalyst for the hundreds of cute little medicine jars of Boursin we sell, revealed at last, The Green Meanie: buy or make some naan (we use Stonefire, and it’s really good), and warm it in the oven. Slather liberally with Boursin. Aim the point of your naan to the left to orient the sandwich. In a vertical line down the center, place an even row of cucumber slices, basil leaves, pickled jalapenos, and as much smoked turkey as you like (but don’t get crazy, you need to roll this up). Starting at the wide end, roll the sandwich, tucking stray ingredients as you go. Slice in half and savor a Smokehaus secret.

In Entertaining, General, Recipes Tags boursin, cheese, entertaining, mother's day, recipes
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Spring Pasta.jpeg

Spring Pasta with Smoked Salmon Recipe

April 24, 2017

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!

In General, Recipes, Smoked Salmon, Smoked Salmon Recipes
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Some food bites transport you.

Some food bites transport you.

Northern Bagel Sandwich Kit

April 17, 2017

Creamy whipped scallion cream cheese, perfectly smoked, flakey Traditional Salmon and a golden (with a slight hint of sweetness) Lake Superior Bakehouse Bagel.

Can you remember the anticipation while waiting in line?

Can you remember the list of to-dos and must-sees while visiting the western tip of Lake Superior?

Do you remember avoiding making eye contact with the Seagulls (or lake birds)? 

This May, we will help transport you to the unsalted sea. You can bring a friend along and share a Northern Bagel anywhere in the United States.

No luggage required. 

Coming Soon

In General, News, Sandwich Kits, Sandwiches, Smoked Salmon
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Scotch Eggs with Maple Breakfast Sausage

Scotch Eggs with Maple Breakfast Sausage

April 3, 2017

Come visit us at our Canal Park Storefront in Duluth, MN to purchase the Maple Breakfast Sausage.

This recipe uses one whole bag of Maple Breakfast Sausage (weight varies per each bag but you will use about 8-10 sausages).

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 lb of Smokehaus Maple Breakfast Sausage

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)*

*You can substitute cayenne for 1 tbsp of fine diced spicy fresh pepper of your choice.

4 green onions, fine minced

2 cups high-temperature oil, such as peanut or rapeseed, if frying

2 eggs, whisked

½ cup flour

½ cup Panko bread crumbs

½ cup water

Utensils

4 bowls Paper towels

Plastic wrap

Cutting board

Thermometer for oil temp

Large frying pan/cast iron skillet / or a baking sheet

DIRECTIONS

If you’re a visual learner: we recommend the following video for additional information and a visual guide on how-to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkPPn5ycsnc

Boil 6 eggs for 6 minutes (runny yolk), 6 ½ minutes (for partially runny yolk), or 7 minutes (not so runny). Cool down those eggs to stop them cooking  by placing them inlace iced water for 5 minutes.. Gently peel your eggs (the less you cook them, the trickier it will be to peel them) and dry them with a paper towel.

Take sausage out of their casings and add the green onions and cayenne pepper. Lightly mix until just combined and raw sausage is malleable (beware of over-mixing, this will lead to tough sausage!). 

Get the oil ready for frying, have it reach a 350F temperature.

Pre-heat your oven  to 400 F** if you’d rather bake the eggs.

Get your stations ready:

Plastic wrap your cutting board and tape one side of the plastic to the bottom of the cutting board (this will help keep it in place while you spread out the raw sausage).

Place remaining ingredients in separate bowls.

Make sure you dry your eggs before placing them on the flat raw sausage.

Scoop out a 2 inch ball of sausage, spread with wet fingers and then use the non-taped side of the saran wrap to finish spreading out the mixture. You’ll need enough of a diameter to cover the egg evenly.

Place your dry egg in the middle of the mixture, wet your fingers and slowly join all edges of the sausage to close up any gaps.

Coat the egg in flour then the whisked eggs and finally in panko bread crumbs.

Slowly place your egg in the fryer. Fry for 5 minutes. If you boiled the eggs the night before allow for an extra minute of boiling.

Allow the eggs to cool down and then slice, serve and enjoy!

BAKING**

For baking, place all coated eggs in a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes until golden.

Allow the eggs to cool down and then slice, serve and enjoy!

In Entertaining, General, Recipes
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