Salmon Patties w/Russian Tartar Sauce

 Main ingredient: my 1/2 pound can of freshpack Copper River Sockeye with Jalapeno.  Tonight I made a quick dinner out of a can of salmon mixing 2 eggs & a cup of Panko into it.  Skin, oil & all.  Every last drop. 

I like making my tartar sauce homemade.  Went to the new 3 Bears out Knik-Goose Bay Rd. looking for pickles.  Must be the Alaska/Russian connection out there as I found Russian Style pickles that are great standing alone & excellent grated into Best Foods mayo for Russian Tartar Sauce.  Zer Gut!

This picture shows the reason I can Copper River Reds exclusively.  Look at all that oil in the can!  Copper River Sockeye (Reds) are the highest in Omega-3 fatty acids.  The Panko is used to soak it all up & the eggs to bind for patties, fritters or loaf at this point.

One can makes 3 adult size & 1 kid size pattie.  With quick white rice & steamed broccoli you got a fast, healthy mid-week meal. 

Salmon Pattie w/Russian Tartar Sauce

Copper River Reds in the Can

 All the stars lined up this past week & I was able to home can Copper River Reds!  I left the Kenai for good 10 days ago so when a friend came up with the best salmon in the world I had the time, equipment & know how to do a home pack.  But, it turned out my old electric can sealer did not work properly, so I went to my neighborhood Walmart & purchased a "hand cranker" can sealer for $200.  It works like a charm after I read the directions over & over.  Now I am confidant I won't kill anybody.

 My new Warthog Blade Sharpener made easy work of cutting up the sockeye.  The tough skin of the salmon dulls the knife after a few fillets.  Three swipes through the Warthog and I'm good to go.  No more struggling with dull knives!!!

First pack was a Freshpack with Jalapeno.

Second pack was a Freshpack with Ginger.

                               Copper River Reds are the perfect size for 1/2 lb flat salmon cans. 

 I turned my front entry way into a cannery.  Hooked up the stove to a bottle of propane & I was in business.

Jalapeno Freshpack Signed & Sealed

After the cans are sealed & cooled the next step is to make hand printed labels.  I code the can lids before I seal them with what kind of pack they are.  I know what they are but nobody else does until I stick the label on. 

Doesn't matter that this past week was the hottest days of the summer.  I got Copper River Reds in the can!

Chitina Fishwheel Rig

Ultimate Alaskan Camper for sale!

Good Fishing Stories

There’s nothing like a dip netting trip to Chitina to spice up a marriage


News-Miner outdoors editor Tim Mowry, left, and wife, Kristan Kelly, show off some of the fruits of their dip netting labor at Chitina in this photo taken by another dip-netter.

Photo Courtesy Of Valdez Fish Derbies

Fairbanks man heeds wife’s advice to gain derby lead in Valdez

Lucky Me

Started a new job today and ran into an old friend. He just happened to spend his 4th of July weekend in Chitina working on his cabin and dipnetting the Copper River for sockeyes. He gave me this smaller than average size salmon thats perfect for baking whole.



I like stuffing the salmon with onions, garlic and lemon. Then wrapping it up with tin foil and baking them whole in the oven or on the bbq.

When you can smell the garlic the fish is done.


Let the salmon rest a bit as fish will still cook away from heat while its still hot. Open foil carefully and the skin will peel away and the fillets slide right off the bone cooked just right.

No picture of the final step because I was too busy eating my first fresh Copper River Red of the year. Lucky me. Thank-you Brad!!

Chitina Candy Van

Look for Debbie's Candy Van down on O'Brien Creek in Chitina.


newsminer.com • Weather is hot at Chitina but not the dip netting

Camp Redington

PrimitivWerks Presents:


The Alaskan Peoples Heritage Museum


Pictures via Update on the ACL & Camp Redington.

Road trip this weekend for the FishTaxi. Heading over Thompson Pass to the Copper River Basin down into Chitina.

Staying overnight in Kenny Lake at Camp Redington.

Alton Brown Rocks the Boat

JAMES POULSON / Daily Sitka Sentinel
Charlie Wilber, holding a king salmon, gives a tour of the Seafood Producers processing plant in Sitka for chef Alton Brown, left, and Kristine Kidd, food editor of Bon Appetit.

TV chef takes in Copper River frenzy
SHOW: Celebrity cook preaches sustainability in what we eat.
By MIKE PETERSmpeters@adn.com
Published: May 30th, 2008 02:02 AMLast Modified: May 30th, 2008 02:22 AM
Chef Alton Brown of the Food Network was in Alaska last week taking in the start of salmon season and collecting footage for upcoming shows. He also was taping for an Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute video in Juneau.

~My favorite part of the interview:

Q. What was the most interesting morsel you put in your mouth on this visit?

A. Rockfish! It's bycatch, so it's completely impossible to get where I live (Atlanta). I haven't eaten it a lot -- I'm still learning about it -- but I'm surprised there isn't serious demand for it.
But my favorite is black cod. Good smoked black cod -- there is just nothing like it. So I'm glad I've been able to develop connections to ship great fish like that to me.

~Rockfish and black cod are the best eating. Alton, can't wait to see your show on Alaska's sustainable fisheries!

Full story here:

TV chef takes in Copper River frenzy

Gearing Up

For fishing.

The Stephen Daniel picking up his seine net from winter storage.

Other fishing news is there is the Dipnetters get 72-hour Copper River opening.

Fish are on the horizon.

Jalapeno Pack

This time of year, a couple months before the fresh fish returns, everybody craves Copper River Reds. Everywhere I go people are asking me if I could spare a few cans.

The freshpack Jalepeno is my favorite so I always end up with extra to share.

This can was made into dip.

Banner Year

Dipnetters post banner year at Chitina


CRAIG MEDRED / Daily News archive 2004

Dipnetter David Predger of Anchorage gets to the business of cleaning salmon along the Copper River near Chitina. Predeger was with a group of five who caught just over 100 salmon in a morning of dipping.


KELLY BOSTIAN / Fairbanks Daily News-Miner archive


Shin Suzuki of Anchorage shows off the king salmon he caught dipnetting in the Copper River at Chitina.





At this time of year I like to dream about the Copper River Reds that are coming back this summer.

Never can have too many CRR's in the can.

Two Views

The artist's perception and the photographers.

Another day ends with more fish in the can. A whole case of handpacked Copper River Reds with garlic. Before midnight!

Blooming Livingstone Daisies

A month late but I did get them started late this year. I was so happy to see the flourescent colors. More bloomed yesterday. Today they are closed as they only bloom in full sun. Whats cool about Livingstone Daisies, besides the bright colors, is they bloom on sunny days all the way til the snow flies. Speaking of which the fireweed has gone to cotton. While I was busy canning salmon they went to seed. No fireweed honey got made by me this year.

Another half case of Copper River Reds with garlic is in the pressure cooker right now. With the other 1/2 case cut and ready to go in the can, in the reefer, tomorrow. I'll already be up til midnight as it is. And its getting dark now, too.

Slammin' Salmon

Or how I spent the hottest day of the summer. After Mr. FishTaxi filletted the reds for me I cut them up to size. I know how to fillet salmon but Mr. FishTaxi does such a beautiful, fast job, I let him do it.

I measure the can and line out the cutting board for exact cutting size. Once I get a few cut up I stop and fill the cans. Thats how I learned to can salmon was by helping Ol' Bob by filling the cans for him.

Once the cans are full they are put in a 180 degree oven to exhaust. Thats when I add the jalapeno or ginger, garlic or whatever pack I'm doing.

After an hour or so when the cans are up to temperature I seal the cans with pre-marked lids with my electric can sealer. From there they go directly into the pressure cooker.

Thats when the fun begins.

I pressure cook the cans at 15#s of pressure for 90 minutes. While the pack is pressure cooking I get ready for the next pack. My pressure cooker has a rocker arm that makes a racket if the pressure goes over 15#s. Then I adjust the heat to get it back down. I like pressure cooking because that is when the work is about done.

After 90 minutes I pop off the rocker arm to release the pressure. Then I open the cooker and with gloves I take the cans out and put them in cold water. Once cooled, I place them in the dish drainer, dry them off and put them back in the case.




15 salmon gave me 33 cans of Copper River Reds with jalapeno and 34 cans with ginger. Roxy got the cooked up tidbits. Got another call for fish tonight and went out and picked up 12 more reds. I'll be canning them tomorrow night after work. I'm thinking a tequila pack. Lemon leaves from my tree and salt.

Cheery Reds

Gleaming fresh Copper River Red filletts ready to be cut up and put in 1/2 pound flat salmon cans. My home cannery is all set up. Knives are sharpened for another round. A little late starting on yet another beautimus sunny day in Valdez. My goal is to get it all done today so tomorrow I can play in the sun. Listening to Whole Wheat Radio for inspiration and ambition.

My First Rose

In the midst of the busiest time of year my first rose bloomed. I am way behind in picture posting as I took this picture earlier this week. Since then a couple more roses have bloomed.

I am busy canning Copper River Reds. And its 77 degrees and sunny. I will be done tomorrow and its supposed to be nice all weekend. Great for the Women's Silver Salmon Derby. I heard there are 500 women in town for this weekends 3rd Annual Sister Salmon Derby.

I can't take out time to fish for silvers when I've got reds.

Back to work.

Another year wiser?

Woke up this morning another year older, and hopefully wiser, since I'm a full deck now.

As usual I am spending my birthday canning Copper River Reds. Thats right, my call came this morning. I got 15 reds to put in the can. I'm doing a jalepeno freshpack first then a ginger.

Happy Birthday to me! I got fish!

Someday My Fish Will Come

A buddy gave Mr. FishTaxi a Copper River King (upper bag in left corner) and two Copper River Reds (bottom bag). That was nice. Not enough to can, though. So we vacuumed-packed the fillets. Last couple paydays I've been buying a couple of cases of cans at $40.00 a case. I could handle 30 Copper River Reds right now. Well, anytime soon!

Lemon Tree in Alaska

I started this lemon tree from a seed from a lemon I got from the store in 2001. I remember the year because I had just returned from wintering in Hawaii. The lemon tree I had before Hawaii got so huge I had to give it to somebody with cathedral ceilings.

The leaves are edible. I use them in cooking like lime leaves. Its also fun to grab a leave, scrunch it up, and take in the aroma of lemon. I also do a Lemon Leaf Copper River Red freshpack that when you open the can you see the whole leaf.

This plant will never bear fruit but I will always have a lemon tree in Alaska.

hey Batter Batter

Monday's rainfall didn't stop these girls softball practice.

Made banana bread tonight while I watched the Alaska Aces lose to the Idaho Steelheads in Boise. Guess I'll have to root for the Steelheads for the Kelly Cup.

The root looking thing on the far left next to sweet potato is horseradish. I'm thinking about doing a freshpack Copper River Red with horseradish. WOWZA!