I’m still wrapping my brain around the idea of jigging for fish. I can’t seem to quite get the technique down, and for some reason not being able to properly execute the simple idea of rhythmically bobbing a weighted lure up and down is breaking down everything I thought I knew about fishing. However, I am not having a difficult time with is wrapping my brain around is the idea of this Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe.
"My life is what a salmon must feel like. They are always swimming upstream, against the current." ~ Laura Schlessinger
Living in the mountainous western part of the United States, most of the fishing consists of stream or flatwater trout. And most of the techniques revolve around fly fishing (also a new “adventure” I have decided to unsuccessfully embark on recently), lure fishing, or using bait such as worms or grasshoppers. I have trolled and bottom fished many of the lakes around my home, and I have bait fished the streams. I have not jigged anything.
Floating in the large pod of fishing boats this past weekend on a beautiful Colorado lake watching everyone pull up Kokanee salmon after Kokanee salmon made me want to jig so bad it almost hurt a little. We had spent the morning slowly trolling around the outside edge of the cluster of fishermen jigging off their boats. Trolling was slow, and while we caught a few fish, it was definitely not the way to catch a limit for the day. We headed to the local bait shop and started interviewing the store clerks for tips and tricks to pulling in the Kokanee, and everyone offered up the same advice: you have to jig for them right now.
I left the store with a heavy, bright pink spoon, a small flashing light that attached to my line, a can of white shoe peg corn, and the “secret” depth to jig at. I raced back out to the Kokanee fishing crowd, rigged my pole up, dropped it down to 85 feet, and then started “jigging.” Nothing happened.
The boat next to me couldn’t move the net fast enough between people to grab up their fish. I should have offered them my net, because it was just sitting and waiting on my boat. Attempts were made to copy the motion of the poles from the boats around me, but nothing seemed to work. I adjusted the depth up for awhile, and then down for awhile more, but still nothing. As the wind started to pick up, floating in place became impossible and everyone started to pack up.
It was an unsuccessful day of jigging, but as often happens with unsuccessful days of fishing the desire to overcome only grows. So, while I cannot offer up any advice for how to jig for Kokanee salmon, I can share this super delicious Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe! And maybe next time I will have a more productive fishing story to share.
The Recipe for Ciopinno and Tarragon Pesto Kokanee Salmon
Ciopinno base ingredients include: fennel,
Traditionally compiled from the “catch of the day,” Ciopinno is an Italian-American style dish filled with fresh seafood such as shrimp, craps, mussels, and ocean fish. The base for the stew broth is a combination of tomatoes and white wine. I decided to take the sweet tomato base of Ciopinno stew and create a stew for the Kokanee salmon we caught.
Kokanee salmon are a landlocked version of an ocean sockeye salmon. Their meat is very hearty and oily, and is a lively shade of bright red. The
flaky but firm texture of the salmon makes it a great fish for this stew.
One of my favorite things about Ciopinno is it often contains fresh fennel. I love the licorice flavored bite that fennel adds to dishes. For this stew, I decided to enhance the licorice flavor even more by topping the fish with a tarragon pesto.
The Ciopinno Base
To start the dish, I slow cooked the stew base. To a large ceramic pot, I added a tablespoon of olive oil and then sautéed over medium high heat one diced medium sized onion, a minced shallot, four cloves of minced garlic, and a bulb of fennel, which I diced into bite size pieces. I let everything cook until the onions were softened and translucent, or about ten minutes.
One of the things I enjoy most about cooking are all the flavors that fill the kitchen. And one of my favorite smells in the world is onions slow cooking in olive oil. I don’t know why, but it gets me every time. I am already excited for a dish when it starts with a big pot, some oil, and diced onions. Add to that the bittersweet hints of fennel and things are really starting to look good in the kitchen!
Anyway, after ten minutes, deglaze the pot with a cup of white wine. I like to use a dry white wine, such as chardonnay. You can play with the flavors a little in your base by switching up the wine you use. You could even create a more robust flavor by adding a red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon. If you aren’t a wine person, you could also deglaze the pot with a cup of chicken stock.
Let the wine cook off for a few minutes and then add the roasted stewed tomatoes, two cups of seafood broth, a bay leaf, and two teaspoons of allspice. Simmer everything for at least thirty minutes. The base should reduce down so it is a bit thicker than soup.
The Tarragon Pesto
Pesto is a very quick and easy sauce that can enhance even the simplest dishes. My favorite thing about working with pesto is how it can be adjusted to fit a variety of flavor profiles. Looking for more recipes with
a pesto twist? Check out my recipe for elk tenderloin in a sticky tomato sauce with basil pesto. For the Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe, I decided to move from a traditional basil pesto to a tarragon pesto. Tarragon has a similar essence to fennel, except it tastes a bit more minty.
Pesto is a very quick and easy sauce that can enhance even the simplest dishes. My favorite thing about working with pesto is how it can be adjusted to fit a variety of flavor profiles. Looking for more recipes with a pesto twist? Check out my recipe for elk tenderloin in a sticky tomato sauce with basil pesto. For the Ciopinno
Kokanee Salmon Recipe, I decided to move from a traditional basil pesto to a tarragon pesto. Tarragon has a similar essence to fennel, except it tastes a bit more minty.
Add a few glugs of red wine vinegar, about two tablespoons worth, and a quarter cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I also zested the lemon before juicing it and added about a tablespoon of the zest to the food processor. Once again, give everything a few pulses to mix it up.
Finally, with the food processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil. It should take around a1/3 cup, but I just keep an eye on it and wait until it reaches the consistency I desire. Sometimes I add a little extra oil if it is something I want to kind of drizzle the pesto on, and other times, like for this recipe, I quit adding oil right as the pesto starts to develop a creamier more spreadable texture. Season with salt to taste.
Grilling the Fish and Putting It All Together
I contemplated a lot on how to cook the fish for this dish. I wanted to keep this kokanee salmon recipe simple without creating too big a mess in the kitchen, but I also really wanted the fish to have a very specific texture. The thought of just adding to kokanee salmon to pot as the ciopinno sauce reduced crossed my mind, but I was afraid the fish might develop a bit of a mushy, broken down texture. Instead, the decision was made to grill the fish.
I created tin foil packets to lay the fish, added a little splash of oil, seasoned the filets with salt and pepper and threw them on the grill for about seven minutes. One nice little trick to cooking the fish perfectly is you can tell when it is done by the foil packet. It will puff up and the fish is finished at the same time. Fancy little trick there!
So, to plate up this meal, get a shallow bowl and ladle in a hearty scoop of the savory and slight sweet ciopinno base. Lay on a grilled kokanee filet, and top with a healthy spoonful of the tarragon pesto. I like to get a fork full with all the components on each bite! You don’t want to miss how beautifully the flaky but meaty salmon pairs with the ciopinno sauce and pesto. Each bite is very flavorful with sweet hints of tomato, hidden tastes of licorice, and a lemony, minty finish. I hope you like this Cioppino Kokanee Salmon Recipe as much as I do. Enjoy!
The best Ciopinno helper around!
Happy Fishing!
Cioppino and Tarragon Pesto Kokanee Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- Four filets kokanee salmon, deboned and skin on
- One fennel bulb, diced
- One medium onion, diced
- One medium shallot, minced
- Four cloves garlic, minced
- Two tablespoons oil
- One cup white wine
- 28 ounces can stewed tomatoes
- Two cups seafood broth
- One bay leaf
- One to two teaspoons of all spice (taste and add more if needed)
- 1/2 cup cashews
- Two cloves garlic
- Handful fresh parsley
- Handful fresh tarragon
- Lemon, juiced and zested
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Two tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop in the diced fennel, onions, shallot, and garlic. Cook for ten minutes, watching that the garlic doesn't start to brown. Onions should become soft and translucent.
- Deglaze the pot with a cup of white wine, your choice. Let simmer for two to three minutes.
- Add the two cups of seafood broth, the stewed tomatoes, a bay leaf, and the all spice. Let simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes.
- To a food processor, add two cloves of garlic and pulse a few times to chop it up.
- Add in the half cup of cashews and pulse a few times.
- Add the parsley and fresh tarragon. Pulse.
- Squeeze in a quarter cup of lemon juice, add the zest, and the red wine vinegar.
- Let the food processor run and slowly stream in the 1/3 cup of olive oil. The pesto should be a creamy texture. Add more oil by the tablespoon if desired consistency is not reached at first.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Season the filet kokanee salmon with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle a little olive oil over the filets and seal tightly in aluminum foil packets.
- 3Place the packets directly on the grill over high heat and let cook for about seven minutes. The packets should puff up when finished.
- Carefully remove the fish filets from the skin.
- To Plate
- Add a large scoop of cioppino stew base to a shallow bowl. Lay a piece of grilled fish on top of the stew base. Top with a heaping scoop of the pesto tarragon.