Cajun Finn - The Inside Story

The humble beginnings of a Titan among sandwiches

The Cajun Finn is our most popular sandwich by far - we outsell our second most popular sandwich (The Cold Turkey) by nearly double the amount of Cajun Finns. Invented early on in our deli life - around 2004 - the sandwich began as many of recipes did - with the help of customers and the use of ingredients that happened to be around.

Regular customer, dream pop superstar, and all around cool guy Al Sparhawk happened to be in the shop to purchase his favorite at the time, Smoked Atlantic Cajun Salmon. Eric asked if Al wanted to try a sandwich, and Al and Eric basically improvised until they came up with a fairly cohesive mish-mash of the ingredients we had for the purpose of experimentation, including pepperoncini (Eric had a huge hot pepper faze), roasted red peppers (because ripe tomato season is too damn short in Northeast MN), and wild leek cream cheese (I wish we could still make this, but we'd have to hire a team of licensed foragers to bag up an airplane-hanger's worth every season to keep up with demand).  A sprinkling of greens and a freshly-baked stirato later and before you could say "The Great Destroyer" a wonderful sandwich was born.

Variations on the sandwich have included double cream cheese, no cream cheese/add mustard, add bison pastrami (Affectionately called "The Big Diaper") and of course the celebrated jean jacket - adding Sriracha and cilantro. But the original recipe, invented on the fly to please a regular, is still a peppery, smoky, sweet, and spicy sandwich that is hard to beat.

5 Things - Volume 7

Keeping the fire alive - Volume 7!

1 / A Really Fishy Photo! We took this photo of our traditional smoked salmon and we think it’s pretty neat! Mmmmm…Hold up while we break for a snack…

2 / Catering Extravaganzas 1: Sue is the owner of the Hemlock Preserve in Esko and we catered her daughters wedding last Saturday. It was crazy humid in the barn but we managed to work fast and pull through for a feast of epic proportions. Photo recap!

2: On Sunday we went to the Oldenberg House in Carlton for a wedding showcase. Food was served, food was eaten and we all had a blast! This historic building is right on the edge of Jay Cooke State Park and is lined with an abundance of rock formations, greenery and other natural goodies to take your breath away. Check them out for bed and breakfast services, special events, jazz dinners, live music, and much more. Thanks for having us!

3 / Restaurant Bits & Bites 

1. We are running an Heirloom tomato and chèvre salad special with fruits from the tomato growing experts over at Hammarlund. I overheard them talking to Eric (The Owner) about the different varieties of tomatoes and the flavor differences. The green striped ones are the all around favorite, the yellow ones are fruitier + sweeter and the dark red ones are kind of like a roma, but with more flavor. We running this with honey-dressed Boucheron chèvre, a balsamic reduction, and Maldon salt flake. Stop in and try one before it’s gone!

2. We have a new side! This couscous salad is delicious and beautiful.

4 / Basement Anthems The delivery and prep department needs music to stay sane. The work they do is incredibly fast paced, super detailed, and downright chaotic. They add to this insanity by BLASTING their music at full volume with no remorse for any nearby ears. In fact, they recently upgraded their stereo system by pooling tips because the old one wasn’t loud enough. Kudos on the teamwork y’all! This week it just so happened that Propagandhi’s new album dropped and it has been on repeat ever since. I asked Jeremy for a few words about it and his response was “Can I say it’s f***ing rippin’?”

5 / Insider Tip! There were three employee wedding anniversaries this week! On the 27th, Stephen and Robin celebrated their 3 year and Woody and Kiah celebrated their 1 year. On the 28th Mary and Greg celebrated their 7 year! Many more to come, but don’t worry, we won’t post about them next year….. <3

5 Things Volume 6

5 Things Volume 6

Fish, meat, bread, boxes – yes, these are just some of the staples of the Smokehaus. While we churn through a lot of sandwiches, shipments, spices and slices, we’re still inspired and we’re endlessly proud to hold ourselves to high standards in tradition, quality and uniqueness.  Here’s 5 things that happened this week!

#1. A batch (a catch?) of wild-caught Alaskan King Salmon made its way to the smoker. If you’re on our website looking to get these choice chunks shipped right to your doorstep, check out The Royal Pound. The fish is caught by local fisherman Dave Rogotzke. Read more about these salmon over on Dave’s website. Don’t you love the color of the fish??

#2. We’re catering a wedding this Saturday! Lots of prep has been taking place, including these miniature meatballs rolled by TK one by one.. by one.. by one… until you get to 300. These meatballs are being made for a soup – fun, right? Plus, crostini! I personally never met a crostini I didn’t like. Jerry and Addison sliced these one by one.. by one.. by one… until you get to 400? 450? Lots. Just lots.

#3. We received our order of new boxes for Mail Order. We’re in the process of changing insulation from styrofoam to a more earth-friendly box liner (it’s biodegradable, and compostable), and have had to adjust our box sizes a little bit. Our new small box now has our logo printed on it again! New font (we love fonts around here), and the adorable fish bundle has become the official logo of our Mail Order business. Pretty cute for a box, no?

#4. This week down in the shop, we’ve had King Collars for sale. These can look intimidating to some, but to others they are pure magic. Buttery, flakey, and full of Omega-3s, you need to set your palate for adventure, and get on down to the Smokehaus while supplies last. ($19.99/lb) They’re smoked! Of course.

#5. We ran out of our truly popular pepperoni earlier this week. It happens when you are making everything by hand. But rest assured, that salami case will be chock-full again soon. Check back with us in a couple weeks for a freshly harvested batch of dry-cured pepperoni. And in the meantime, the chorizo is just killer right now.

5 Things Volume 5

Volume 5 - Les Sgo!

#1 / Boot in the Barn was a success! The folks came, The cooks cooked and the staff worked really hard. We are really proud of everyone involved!

#2 / Beer in hand - Sandwich in Mouth The Cedar lounge is one of our favorites places to catch a drink and relax. Starting this week you will find ultra fancy, co-branded menus throughout the establishment! That’s right, you can order a sandwich straight to your bar stool at the Cedar Lounge. We think you’ll love the way our sandwiches taste with a cold one.

#3 / The Future Holds New… Photographs! Our creative crew (Stephen & Flo) took a trip to Mary’s (GM) house to scout locations for our new product photos. The abundance of trinkets, textures and materials was inspiring and we can’t wait to get cracking on this dream project.

#4 / Happy Mistakes Our restaurant (Northern Waters Restaurant) makes ice cream from scratch. But what do you get when you burn the base for this sweet treat? Cream Brûlée ice cream! It’s quickly becoming one of our favorite flavors, although the curry is pretty dang tasty…. Nothing like a good happy mistake!

#5 / Our Bread’s First Voyage Our Baker Jerry has been cranking out loaf after loaf of his delicious rye bread for our deli and we are loving it! Although the loaves are living the good life in Canal Park I could tell they were feeling a little antsy and longed for a bigger taste of the world. Low and behold they took the grand voyage to Woodland Ave. and became a permanent addition to our restaurant’s Reuben (The Thursday and sometimes Friday special). This sandwich is truly a legend in the making and now it’s one step closer.