The Art of Gift Giving

Let’s face it, not everyone is good at giving gifts. Remember that Seinfeld episode? The one where Jerry gives Elaine 182 dollars to her snarky response, but then weeps when given a beautiful wooden bench she asked for, complete with a Yeats-quoted card (from Kramer, of all people).  Now, there’s the art of gift giving.

“Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such a friend.” - Yeats

At the Smokehaus, we appreciate fine and thoughtful things, and pairing certain items together for special gift boxes throughout the year brings us great joy. We know many of our mail order customers have been to the Canal Park deli on a special trip to Duluth. They have fond memories of being in our small shop, of traipsing around the Northland for summer fun and whimsy, all coupled with the mouth-watering goodness that filled their bellies and their memories. And perhaps, you’ve thought about how to bring the feelings of the Smokehaus into your own dining room.

We do understand giving the gift of specialty food mailed right to your door is a luxury, and that’s why we send the freshest product, handle and package each item with care and respect, and are sure to email or call you with any questions about your order or desired delivery time. (We even accept custom gift box orders.) We hope you feel giddy when you receive these special boxes of smoked delicacies. And we hope you will send a gift box to a friend someday, or a mother, for a special occasion, or to share together over beers on the deck, recounting all the hilarity and inside jokes from that last trip up the shore.

Gift Boxes Courtesy of the Smokehaus

Order Mother’s Day Gift Boxes by Wednesday, May 10th to ensure delivery before Mother’s Day.

Order Father’s Day Gift Boxes by Wednesday, June 14th, to ensure delivery before Father’s Day.

Order Northern Bagel Sandwich Kits anytime for that special someone, or special people. The Northern Bagel has been featured on our menu since 2001.

How many times have you been to the Canal Park deli? Who did you come with? Leave comments above.

Cheers, friends! And Happy Gift Giving!

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!

Northern Bagel Sandwich Kit

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

Scotch Eggs with Maple Breakfast Sausage

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!