Skip the turkey this year, and substitute Alaskan seafood! It's a sustainable and healthy option to fill your table.

Here are four festive dishes, that utilize different species, so you can find a new family favorite

Pumpkin Crab Bisque  

Who needs pumpkin pie after this delightful rich bisque? It's warm, filling, refined (and best of all easy!)

Cranberry Halibut 

If your favorite part of thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce, this is the recipe for you. Simple golden fried halibut topped with a zesty cranberry compote. 

Sablefish Dip

Impress your guests with this unique smoked sablefish dip. The rich buttery meat holds the flavor of Alder and makes the perfect appetizer. 

Salmon Wellington 

This salmon, mushroom and rice pie is a classic French recipe and is perfect for the holidays or family gatherings...like Beef Wellington but better!

Recipes courtesy of The Top Meal, US Cranberries, SNP, and Alaska Seafood

Serves 4

1 ½  tbl cornstarch

3 tbl water

1 egg

3 tbl peanut oil

½ cup shallots, minced

3 tbl ginger, minced

3 tbl garlic, minced

3 - 4 Thai chilis, de-seeded and minced

3 - 4 lb dungeness crab clusters, cooked 

2 cup chicken stock

1 cup canned tomatoes, pureed

3 tbl Thai sweet chili sauce

1 ½ tbl sesame oil

2 tbl ketchup

2 tbl soy sauce

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp white pepper 

1 tbl sambal oelek (optional)

2 tbl green onion, thinly sliced (used for garnish)

2 tbl cilantro, minced (used for garnish)

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water together, set aside.

Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil, shallots, garlic, ginger and chilis. Saute, stirring periodically allowing the vegetables to color slightly, roughly 6-7 minutes. Add crab to pan and toss to coat.

Add the chicken stock, Thai sweet chili sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, allowing crab to warm through in the developing sauce. Once the crab has been heated through, remove the crab to a platter and set aside. 

Turn heat up to medium-high and add half of the cornstarch-water mixture, making sure to stir while adding. Sauce should become noticeably thicker. Add the egg to the remaining cornstarch-water mixture and whisk until the egg is thoroughly combined. Lower the heat to medium-low and drizzle in the egg-cornstarch-water mixture. Do not stir for the first minute, allowing the egg to cook and take shape. Then stir the sauce and add the crab back to the pan again, tossing to coat.

Remove pan from heat and place crab on a serving platter. Taste sauce and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add the sambal oelek now if extra heat is desired. Spoon sauce over plated crab. Garnish with green onions and cilantro.

Serve with steamed rice.

Recipe developed by Natalie Janicka. 

Yields 6 portions.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. King crab (other varieties will work)

1 ½  lb Sablefish

¾  lb AK shrimp (Spots or Side Stripes)

½  lb Littlenecks clams (other varieties will work)

3 tablespoons mild olive oil

2 cups yellow onion, julienned

¾  cup red peppers, julienned

3 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½  teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups dry white wine (preferably sauvignon blanc)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 28 oz can tomatoes (good quality San Marzano are best), pureed

4 cups seafood stock

1/4 cup basil, chiffonade

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons chives, minced (reserve for garnish)

1 orange, juiced

Prepare your seafood:

• Clean your crab and break the large legs down into 2-3" pieces using a chef's knife. Using a pair of scissors or kitchen shears, cut the shells lengthwise so the meat will be more easily removed from the shell once the crab has been added to the cioppino base.
• Rinse the clams in cold running water for at least 5 minutes to remove any sand from the clams. 
• Peel the shells off the body of the shrimp (saving the shells for stock, if desired) while leaving the tails on.
• Remove the skins from the fish fillet by running your knife between the meat and the skin. Then cut into 2-3 oz pieces, roughly 2"x2" squares.
• Reserve seafood in the refrigerator until needed.

Start the cioppino base:

Heat a heavy bottom stock pot over med. high heat. Once the pan is hot, add oil and onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add the minced garlic. Stir and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Add the red peppers. Allow to continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. 

Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper and thyme and stir. Cook down until the tomato paste has had a chance to cook down for 3-4 minutes. Deglaze with wine, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release any brown bits. Allow to reduce by half; this takes roughly 15 minutes.

Add pureed tomatoes, seafood stock and allow the sauce to come to a boil, then cover with a lid and reduce heat to medium. Allow a low boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then reduce heat to a simmer (medium-low heat) for 35-40 minutes, while stirring periodically. The cioppino base is ready for the addition of herbs and seafood once the volume of liquid has reduced by a third.

At this point, turn the base back up to medium high heat. Add the salt and the clams.  Cover the pot again and allow clams to cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir gently and then add the crab and sablefish pieces, covering the pot again for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Once the fish is almost cooked through and the crab is warm, carefully stir the mixture and add the herbs and the shrimp. Allow to cook until the shrimp is cooked through, roughly 5 minutes.

Take the pot off of the heat and add the orange juice. Gently stir the juice into the fish and cooking liquid.

Serve with hearty bread.