By BRENDA JOSEPHSON
New Year’s celebrations include a variety of traditional meals, each having its own meaning and cultural significance. Whether you’re serving moose stew or black-eyed peas, everyone will enjoy starting the festivities with delicious appetizers made from your cache of wild-caught seafood.
Bacon-Wrapped Wild-Caught Appetizers are a delicious way to start a party, with bite-sized salmon, halibut, crab, or other seafood covered with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. This simple recipe allows you to make the appetizers ahead of time, refrigerate them until ready to serve, and then bake them as a final step for a warm and tasty treat.
This preparation works well with a variety of fish and seafood, providing plenty of options for creatively using your subsistence catch. The thinly sliced bacon acts as a wrap, transporting the centerpiece of the dish from the serving tray to the palate. The cream cheese topping perfectly brings this surf and turf combination together.
As we ring in the new year, let’s keep our food simple to allow us more time to reflect on the past year and toast the possibilities that lie ahead.
Bacon-Wrapped Wild-Caught Appetizers
Ingredients:
12 to 14 ounces of seafood (salmon, halibut, crab, or other seafood)
12 bacon strips (thinly sliced)
3 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1 tablespoon sundried tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning blend (more or less to taste)
24 large toothpicks
Seafood Seasoning Blend:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Baking Time: Approximately 30 minutes at 350°F
Total Preparation and Baking Time: 1 hour
Servings: 24 appetizers
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper and arrange bacon on it. Bake at 350°F for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the bacon begins to brown but is not crisp.
Remove the bacon from oven and place it on paper towels to remove any excess grease. Then, cut each bacon strip in half.
Prepare the cream cheese topping.
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and stir until smooth. Then, add the lemon juice and sriracha, mixing until thoroughly combined. Add the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and mix to combine. Finally, add the capers and stir just enough to incorporate them into the cream cheese mixture.
Create a seafood seasoning blend by mixing together the salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Lightly dust all sides of the fish or seafood with the seasoning blend. Do not over season; there will be more seasoning than needed.
Cut the seasoned fish or seafood into bite-sized pieces, approximately 1/2 ounce each. The pieces should be small enough to wrap the protein and cream cheese topping in a half-slice of bacon.
Prepare to assemble by placing the bacon, cream cheese mixture, protein, and toothpicks nearby.
Assemble the appetizers by laying out the bacon, adding the protein, then a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. To ensure consistency, I use a heaping measure of 1/2 teaspoon to place the cream cheese on each one. Pull up the bacon side to the top and secure with a toothpick.
Note: To reduce food waste, save any remaining cream cheese mixture to use as a topping for baked fish or a small serving of seafood dip.
Place the prepared appetizers in an oven-safe baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to a day before you plan to serve.
When it is time to serve the appetizers, take them out of the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and place the dish in a preheated oven at 350°F for 6-10 minutes, or until cooked, but not overdone.
Serve warm and enjoy!
Brenda Josephson is a Haines resident. She holds degrees in Culinary Arts and Food Business Leadership from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY and an MBA with a specialization in Strategic Planning from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School. She enjoys spending time fishing, foraging, and savoring Alaska’s abundance of natural and wild foods with her family.
Yep, add enough pork to anything and it will taste good. enjoy
You had me from … “Bacon Wrapped!”
….And chewy bacon to boot, not that over cooked crispy stuff!