Pan-Seared Alaska Salmon

A breaching humpback whale.

A harbor seal.

Once a week from now until the end of the summer I get to spend a day out on a tour boat in the fjords taking photos of wildlife and scenery. It's okay to be jealous. I have to admit one of my favorite parts is talking with tourists and seeing their faces when I tell them this is my job.

I'm able to do this every week because of Dr. Anne Hoover-Miller and the Alaska SeaLife Center. Dr. Hoover-Miller does research on harbor seal and I help with counts and taking photos. She uses the photos with the boats GPS to track the seals.

It's a pretty great tour through the Kenai Fjords Tours. The captain has been doing for almost 20 years and he stays in radio with other boats to find out where the whales are. It's pretty cool seeing the whales though waiting for them reminds me a lot of that scene from Jurassic Park where they are testing out the tour and they aren't seeing any dinosaurs. There is a lot of waiting, but it's worth it.

I've gone out twice so far and have seen humpbacks, orcas, a grey whale, harbor seals, sea lions, and more birds than I can name including eagles and puffins. I couldn't have asked for a better trip my first time out. It was sunny and warm. The seas were calm allowing the boat to go to areas and coves it normally can't get to.

That little white thing is a mountain goat.

A sea otter.

Mist moving in over an island.

Cataract Cove has multiple waterfalls streaming down the mountain side from the melting snow.

Pan-Seared Alaska Salmon with Orange Vinaigrette

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INGREDIENTS 4 Alaska salmon fillets or steaks, 6 to 8-ounces each 1 cup orange juice 1-1/2 tablespoons red onion, minced 1-1/2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon Honey-Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 cup fat-free Italian salad dressing 4 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste SAUCE - Cook orange juice in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it is reduced to the consistency of syrup, (makes about 1/4 cup); let cool slightly. Place onion, lime juice, mustard and chili powder in a blender; add cooled syrup. Blend 30 seconds. Then, with blender running, slowly drizzle in the salad dressing so that the mixture emulsifies. SALMON - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly season the salmon fillets or steaks with salt and pepper. Heat an oven-proof sauté pan 2 minutes; then add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sear the salmon steaks/fillets on 1 side for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn over and place the entire pan into the oven. Bake 4 to 8 minutes, or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. To serve, make a 1-ounce pool of the Orange Vinaigrette Sauce in the center of 4 plates. Top with the salmon fillets/steaks and garnish with 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro. Makes 4 servings

Baked Alaska

Normally an ice skating rink during the winter, sign reads "Please keep off ice until frozen".

Me coming out of the water.

 It has been hot in Alaska. As in not just "getting into the upper 70s hot-for-Alaska hot" but actual recording breaking heat.  We have had almost two straight weeks of sunny weather. Which everyone keeps reminding to not get use to. This doesn't happen I've been told. I asked my boss how many hot days like this they get per summer. He said most summers they don't get any hot days like this. Last summer he doesn't remember it getting above the high 70s.

After baking in an office for 8 hours on Monday, I decided to go swimming after work.
About a four minute bike ride from my house there is a mile loop trail called two-lakes trail. Within that mile loop there are two lakes. (They get really creative with their naming). The second lake (pictured above) is the one I actually waded out. It wasn't the cleanest lake and I've been spoiled growing up on a sand bottom lake so I didn't actually for a swim but I waded out to my thighs and then dunked my head in. I cooled off and it was glorious.

Two Lakes trail.

On my way back I stopped at the first lake. This one had a snow-fed creek running into it. It was freezing. I couldn't even put my toes in for more than a minute without severe pain. And as if to prove how much tougher Alaskans are, two girls that were probably in high school went swimming with their horses.

So while I bake in Alaska. Enjoy some baked Alaska.

Even this horse was like "you crazy."

Baked Alaska

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 pints pistachio ice cream, slightly softened
• 1 1/2 pints cherry ice cream or berry sorbet, slightly softened
• Swiss Meringue
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.
   
2. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and the egg yolks in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whisk, on medium speed, until pale yellow and thick, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla, and fold in melted chocolate just to combine.
   
3. In a medium bowl, combine egg whites and pinch of salt in bowl of electric mixer; whip, on medium speed, until frothy. Add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar; beat until stiff. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
   
4. Carefully pour batter out into prepared cake pan. Bake until cake is set and top is dull, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack.
   
5. Spray a 5-cup-capacity metal bowl with cooking spray; line with plastic. Pack base of bowl with pistachio ice cream; layer cherry ice cream over pistachio, then finish with another layer of pistachio ice cream (or layer ice creams and sorbets as you desire). Pack firmly, cover surface with plastic wrap, and place in freezer. Freeze until ice cream is very hard, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours in advance.
   
6. Place cake on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Remove ice cream from the freezer, and invert bowl over cake. Keep the ice cream covered with plastic wrap, and return ice-cream cake to the freezer.
   
7. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.Fill a pastry bag, fitted with an Ateco #5 star tip, with meringue; pipe onto ice cream in a decorative fashion, or spoon meringue over ice cream and swirl with a rubber spatula. If ice cream starts to soften, return cake to freezer for 15 minutes.
   
8. Place in oven, and bake until meringue just starts to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve immediately.
   

Spruce Needle Tea

Icebergs broken off from Ailiak Glacier that were left on shore after the tide went out.

A scenic detour through Coleman Cove.

 In case you weren't aware I have a pretty awesome job. (Given it would be more awesome if it was paid and for the rest of my life, but I'll settle). After a week of office work and training I got to go out into the field. Not just over cover a program or the scenery over by Exit Glacier. I got to spend four days out on the Serac (which is the National Park Services Boat). Our main purpose of the trip was to capture photos, video, time-lapse, and panoramas of the area.

It was rainy the first two days which kind of
sucked but was still pretty great. We went to Northwestern bay which 100 years earlier you didn't exist because it was a glacier. Now the glacier has receded back allowing boats to get back there if they can make it through the ice. The part I found cool was that I was probably one of only 10,000 or less people that had actually walked on the part of the earth. Which in the grand scheme of the history of mankind is a pretty small number.

Harbor Porpoise hanging out in Coleman Cove.

The second two days of the trip were amazing. We woke up at 5 a.m. the third day to rain and overcast skies which disappointing us but by the time we beach on the shore near Ailiak Glacier the sun was shining and it stayed like that.

Our schedule was pretty similar everyday. Wake up early. Eat breakfast. Go on shore. Do photo. Go back to boat and eat lunch. Do more smaller photo thing. Come back to boat for dinner. Go find birds and photograph them until 10 p.m.

I have to say I never thought I'd be a fan of bird photography. The idea of waiting around and looking for a certain type of bird didn't sound appealing but it was actually kind of fun and hard. Birds are small and fast trying to track on to them long enough to focus and get off a picture is a pretty difficult task. 

A week later and I'm still processing through a lot of the photos I took, but I'll leave you with a few. So go make a cup of spruce needle tea and enjoy.

Ailiak Glacier. To get an idea of just how massive these things are, those are people standing in the lower left corner.

A glacier calving (aka breaking off). Seeing them break off is quite a sight but even cooler is hearing them. They sound like thunder rumbling. They can also be dangerous.

A seal chillin' on an iceberg.

A mom and pup seal.

My office.

Spruce Needle Tea

 

This is traditionally drunk by Athabascan Natives to cure kidney problems or to obtain spirit power from the spruce.

INGREDIENTS
Spuce needles
Water

Boil spruce needles in water. Strain.

Moose Stew

My backyard. Seriously.

I've always wanted to go to Alaska. Before leaving I joked around with some people that my entire life had been leading up to this moment and when it was over I'm not sure how I was going to deal with life. I'm starting to think that's not a joke.

Alaska is beautiful. Even on overcast rainy days like today the mountains surrounding me are awe inspiring. I live in the small town of Seward which, even in the summer when the population doubles, has a population less than that of my old high school. The town in cute, full of little touristy shops. It is located right on the ocean. The other day I ate my lunch near the beach and just watched a group of harbor seals jump and play in the ocean. On my drive into town on the aptly named Seward highway, my boss pulled over so I could photograph a moose eating dinner on the side of the road.

Last weekend I received a somewhat brutal welcome to Alaskan hiking and reminded me of just how flat the Midwest really is. I, along with some of the other people who like in my apartment building, went on a 13 mile hike along the cliff side and rocky beach to Caines Head. It was rough. I was slow. But it was a really cool hike. We had to time it go during low tide otherwise the beach is impassable. We then hiked 2.5 miles up to an old Military fort that had been abandoned after WWII. It was quite a site. It also wasn't lost on me the fort had been built to protect the port at Seward from the inhabitants of the country I had been living in not 6 months ago. I was completely exhausted and very sore the next day, but it was worth it.

This week was mostly training at work. I now know what to do when I come across a bear and how to react if it decides to attack me, which I hope I never have to put to the test. I'm looking forward to next to get out into the field. I will be going on a four day trip out into some of the other bays to various photo projects for the park.

The beginning of the hike.

A small bunker on the way up to the fort.

From the inside of the main fort.

Until next time here's a recipe for moose stew:

Moose Stew

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Moose meat has a lean texture and rich flavor. It is difficult to acquire commercially, so you can substitute beef. Serve this stew with white rice and corn bread. INGREDIENTS 6 strips bacon, cut into pieces 2-1/2 to 3 pounds moose meat, or beef, cut into 1-inch cubes Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped 2 cups dry red wine 1 cup homemade or canned beef stock 3 tablespoons brandy 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 an orange, washed 6 whole cloves 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 large carrotss, peeled and coarsely chopped 1/2 pound mushrooms, coarsely chopped Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In an oven-proof 3-quart casserole, cook the baon over medium heat until brown. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, drain, and set aside. Sprinkle the moose meat with salt and pepper. Dredge it in the flour. Add the meat to the pan drippings. Brown on all sides over medium heat. Add the reserved bacon, onion, wine, stock, brandy, garlic, marjoram, and thyme. Stir until the sauce thickens and is bubbly. Stud the orange with the cloves and tuck it into the liquid. Cover the casserole and place it in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook until tender. Set aside. When the stew is done, add the carrots and mushrooms, cover, and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the orange and discard. Serve immediately. Makes 4 to 6 servings