Pickled Salmon and Applesauce

Made my first batch of pickled salmon yesterday. I had a King salmon fillet in the freezer from 2015 and since it was from the Columbia River in Washington, I knew it was heading up to spawn, so not as fresh eating as ocean salmon. We prefer eating Reds (Sockeye) or Silvers (Coho). Salmon that are starting to turn because they are getting ready to spawn, aren't as palatable. They are better for smoking, or in this case, my first attempt at pickling.

The salmon season is so finicky on the Columbia River. Last year, sockeye were stacked up at the mouth of the Okanogan due to high water temperatures to head up to Canada to spawn, and it was a fishers paradise. This year, cooler water meant sockeye weren't hanging around and headed straight up river. We spent 2 hard weekends fishing for sockeye this summer up there. One Sunday after fishing our tails off all day Saturday, and then again on Sunday, we managed to land 2 fish. When we got back to the dock, the Fish and Wildlife gal came over to our boat and asked if this was the boat with all the fish. I told her we only caught 2. She said, well if this was a tournament, you're in first place! We call them our $500 sockeye! We spent at least that much to have them in our freezer!

I adapted Sandra's recipe for pickled salmon, basically using 2 C water, 1 C vinegar and 2 TB of pickling spices, then adjusted the sugar by one fourth. I guesstimated on the amount of salt and sugar to use for curing, making sure the salmon was well covered. Otherwise, it would result in mushy salmon. I'm going to go try a piece now, even though it has been only one day. Be back in a minute.

Wow! This is amazing. It is not too vinegary, which I thought it would be trying it so soon. It is pleasantly but mildly sweet, tangy, firm, and just the right amount of seasoning. I bet it will be better in a few weeks!

Today, my endeavor was making applesauce from our Jonagolds which produce every other year. I ended up with 7 qts. and 4 pints. I still have some apples left and am thinking about making a batch of apple butter.

My KitchenAid is a lifesaver when it comes to processing the apples. I will use it again to make apple butter.

Not much else going on here. Snow is melting due to warmer weather temps. Roads will be a mess with the temps at 37 degrees. Gotta run to town and pick up some eggs, milk and other items. Until next time!