There’s nothing quite like fresh wild caught Alaska salmon; but how the heck is a California girl supposed to get her hands on such a find? Fortunately, we are lucky enough to know an amazing family who lives right here in Chico who happen to run a small Alaskan based fishing company. This father and sons team seasonally travel to Alaska to catch salmon and have it sent back to Chico, CA. The process in which they catch, process, and freeze the fish is amazing and produces the freshest tasting salmon I have EVER eaten.
If you live here in Chico, you can find Lance Alldrin and his family at the Saturday morning market selling their amazing fish. You can also visit the Alldrin’s website for more information about the possibility of having salmon shipped right to your home.
Below is a bio written by Lance Alldrin about his business. Following the bio is a recipe I came up with showcasing some of their amazing salmon! You can also look forward to a few more salmon recipes showing up on the blog later this week thanks to the Alldrin family!
Alldrin & Sons Alaska Salmon
Products: Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon in frozen, vacuum bagged fillets and portions, smoked salmon, cedar BBQing planks.
History/Philosophy: Our family bought into the commercial salmon fishery in Alaska in 2005. We choose to participate in this fishery because of our belief that our natural resources need to be maintained at healthy levels before “mankind” gets a chance to influence them adversely. All commercially caught seafood in Alaska is certified as “sustainable” by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This certification is based on the state of Alaska’s constitutional mandate that stipulates that all fish “be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” In all areas of Alaska that allow commercial fishing, the commercial catch is allowed only when the biological escapement goal for each specific river system is reached.
During the school year I act as a school counselor at an alternative education high school in Corning CA. During the summer months, my three teenage boys and myself run a small fishing operation out of Kenai Alaska. All of our fish are handled responsibly with the catch immediately going into slush ice totes where they are kept at near freezing temperatures until being processed by a certified processing plant later that day. They are cut into either fillets or portions, vacuum bagged, flash frozen and shipped to our storage in Chico CA. For a fresher fish, you’d have to catch it yourself! We currently sell at the Chico Certified Farmers Market and beginning this fall, at the Ferry Plaza.
Employees: Alldrin and Sons! Lance, Caleb (age 18 with 7 seasons in Alaska), Tim (age 14 who just completed his second season fishing) and Luke (age 13, who just competed his second season fishing). Wife Mary helps at the market, keeps the finances in order and prefers her fish interaction to be limited to a fillet on the BBQ!
Organic Certification: None as there is no certification for Alaska fisheries.
Now – a recipe!
Butter Poached Salmon with Warm Tomato Relish
Tomato Relish
1 small red onion, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced
3 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons grass fed butter
Fresh ground pepper to taste
In a small saute pan melt the butter over medium heat, add the onions and cook until the onions begin to caramelize. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. The relish is enough for at least 5 filets.
Salmon
(This is how to cook one filet, obviously if you are cooking more than 1, you will use 2 tablespoons of butter per filet)
1 salmon filet, skin on
2 tablespoons of butter per filet
Sea salt and black pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Generously season both sides of the filets with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a small oven proof saute pan until the butter is hot enough to sizzle when you place the fish in the pan. Place the fish in the hot butter, skin side down. Let it cook for about 3 minutes. Start basting the salmon with the melted butter (I just used a spoon to pour the melted butter repeatedly over the salmon.) Continue to bast the salmon for approximately 4 minutes. Finish the salmon in the preheated oven for another 6-8 minutes, dependent on the thickness of desired doneness of your fish.
Top the salmon with a big scoop of the tomato relish and enjoy!
Awesome! My uncles were all Alaskan fishermen and one still is…fortunately I will have a freezer full of wild Alaskan salmon next month when the season is over and he comes back home to Florida. I can’t wait!
By the way, I’ve only been doing Paleo for about a month and love it! I have so much more energy despite the fact that my 2 yr old still wakes up twice a night…I can’t imagine how great I’ll feel when he starts sleeping all night! Your site has really made the transition easy by providing recipes and information. So THANK YOU!!
Oo! I gotta try this!
I will leave out the onions, though, because onions are evil. If I were God, I would get rid of onions. Then disease, famine, & stuff. But onions first.
Thanks for the reminder about the Alldrin family salmon, just sent them an email hoping they still have some available for purchase.
I just moved to Whistler BC and have been absolutely in love with all the wild BC salmon available! Salmon patties, frozen for sushi, and so much more!
I am so sad that I am allergic to fish. 🙁 🙁
Hey there, I love your blog and cookbook. I have adopted the paleo way of eating and last winter my family of 6 had MILD illness. HOORAY!!! The year before we had a hospital stay and a couple of visits to the ER. So I definitely appreciate how eating healthier is keeping us healthier. Although, this has nothing to do with your delicious salmon, I am hoping you’ll respond. What do I eat or feed the children when there are stomach flu symptoms? I always have tried to go “easy” on the tummy with crackers and sprite or jello water and avoid so-called tough to digest meat or veggies. I hate to disregard paleo when we are sick, as that seems backwards. Yet, I need some help. Thanks for your suggestions. Jennie
I would give the sick ones things like applesauce, broth, make some homemade popsicles with pureed fresh fruit, pureed veggies.. etc. Broth especially would be great because you can put different herbs in it that will help get rid of whatever bug they have. Hope this helps!
You read my mind! I was just wondering what I should do with my salmon for dinner on Tuesday…problem solved! Sounds delish!
Mmmm. Can’t wait to try this recipe! I missed this Saturday’s market. I’m assuming since you posted this that they are back. Time to stock up!
Looks delicious!
And on a not related note; do you think that maybe paleo is just not for everyone? I had not eaten red meat in ten years, other meat in a couple of years, until I started paleo a few months back. While I feel great otherwise, I have been extremely bloated the whole time. I look like I am 8 months pregnant (no exaggeration here, unfortunately) and feel extremely uncomfortable. I seem to notice this most after I eat meat, but it stays pretty much the whole time. I am now contemplating a return to my high-raw diet, with just the occasional piece of fish.
Any ideas, comments, or advice are welcome. Thank you so much.
Wow, my husband made this for me tonight as our first official paleo meal. It was FANTASTIC!!! I look forward to learning more about the paleo lifestyle. Thank you for this great recipe.
Made it and LOVE IT!
Hi,
Lance here of Alldrin & Sons Alaska Salmon. We’ve had lots of interest in our salmon ever since Sarah was kind enough to feature our product. We are trying to arrange shipping so if you’re interested in online ordering, please go to our website at http://www.alldrinsalmon.com and add your email address and location (your home state is fine). We are currently negotiating with FedEx on overnight shipping rates and hope to get those firmed up so that we can start shipping by the end of the month.
Made this last week and the everyone loved it! My 2 year old loved the “papers” (capers) which is another reason I am so thankful for Paleo…it makes me push my cooking limits and introduce new things to my kids that I never would’ve done in the past. Going to definitely make this again!
So cute, “papers!!” Glad you all loved it! : )
What would you suggest would be a good replacement for the butter? We are pretty much puristic in Paleo and avoid dairy. It’s impossible to replicate that butter goodness, but I am curious if we could use Olive oil and not destroy the recipe!
I would suggest that you use ghee, which is clarified butter, leaving only the pure butter fat and in my opinion, totally paleo. Otherwise, go for coconut oil!
I made this for my wife, and she loved it. She doesn’t like olives, so I substituted minced black olives in place of the kalamata olives and it was still amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve made this about 3 times already. It’s a staple in my house now. I love, love love the topping. We make extra to use in turkey roll ups, on salads, or just to eat with a spoon!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was DELICIOUS! I am brand new to paleo and this looked like an easy way to assimilate flavors I love into my new lifestyle. I paired this dish with mashed sweet potatoes and laid the salmon on a bed of arugula. Thank you so much for this recipe!