Salmon and Corn Fritters (as seen on The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network)
At our previous stop in Palmer, we came in a very close 2nd place in the second culinary challenge which was a savory s’more challenge. We had to start our own campfire using a supply of kindling and flint…not something our team was overly familiar with! All of the teams tasted each s’more, and every team wrote their favorite on a piece of wood. After all of the other votes were revealed, we were tied with Querencia Mia and it was our turn to reveal our vote. We had to cast the winning vote and it couldn’t have been for ourselves, but it was a well-earned win for Querencia Mia, they made an incredible s’more! Each challenge was worth an additional sum of money to the team’s overall sales for the week, so they were extremely important and could make a difference in the outcome of whether a team went home or continued on to the next stop.
Homer, Alaska is an incredibly beautiful and special place, our 3rd stop on the Great Food Truck Race. It was definitely my favorite place we visited, and I believe it was the favorite of everyone on our team. The majestic snow-covered mountains were truly awe inspiring.
Homer, Alaska
Arriving in Homer, we couldn’t wait for the next culinary challenge and as it turned out, this one was BIG, it was for immunity from elimination on this stop. We started our day off in Homer as we did in each town, visiting some local establishments and making friends to rally support. The people of Alaska were awesome, and they came out to our food trucks, regardless of the cold, snow, ice and wind, we were so grateful for their support. So, naturally, we stopped in at the famous Salty Dawg Saloon for a couple of beverages with the locals. The Salty Dawg Saloon is located along the Homer Spit, on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. It’s a picturesque 4.5 mile stretch jutting out into the Kachemak Bay.
Early the next morning, we were headed out to the Homer Harbor to try our luck at some fishing, something none of us had ever done before…another first! We met Captain Josh of Big Butt Charters and his side-kick skipper named “Schooner”. One look at the icy cold, choppy water and I was a little worried about getting seasick…on national television…yikes! Luckily, someone had an extra Dramamine and I popped that before we went out on the water. As we left the harbor, we saw the huge fishing boat from the “Deadliest Catch” and if you’ve seen that show, they go out in some crazy waters, I was worried but also very excited!
Captain Josh showed us what to look for with the lines when we had a catch, most probably we would be catching a halibut or a king salmon in these waters. We had a certain amount of time out there and for the teams that caught a fish, Tyler allowed them to trade in their catch of the day for $500 seed money toward shopping. If a team didn’t catch anything in the allotted time, it was only $100 which didn’t get you very far in Alaska serving that large number of customers every day.
Captain Josh of Big Butt Charters and Schooner
With about 30 mins. left, we saw the tug on the line and had a catch…a big one! We had caught a 30” King Salmon which Flora named “Meatball” …mission accomplished! We had a sneaking suspicion we would be cooking something with this amazing fish. The next day, Tyler told us he would be delivering the freshly caught salmon to our trucks and that we needed to come up with a dish making it the star of the show. A mystery customer would be coming around to taste everyone’s dishes. We quickly decided on a Salmon & Corn Fritter on a pile of garlic parmesan fries with some arugula and scallions. We wanted to stay close to our “Meatball Mamas” theme/brand, and this was for immunity, so we had to nail it!
We quickly went to the store for the ingredients we needed and got it prepped as fast as possible, not knowing when the mystery customer would show up. We tasted it and we were very happy with the Salmon & Corn Fritter, but we had no idea what the other teams made. We were feeling pretty confident going into elimination, we had sold for 2 days near Querencia Mia and Tasty Balls and the parking lot was packed, and we served customers all day, both days. I’ve watched every season of the Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and the total sales we had at some of these locations are higher than I’ve ever seen on the show before. Thank you again, Alaska!
At elimination, we were introduced to the secret customer, chef Matt “The Hammer” Masera. He commented that our dish was delicious, nicely cooked and well composed. After critiquing each team, he declared us the winners…our second culinary taste challenge WIN! Plus, we had earned immunity from going home, so we knew we were headed on to the 4th stop in Seward. We were so proud of our dish and the fact that we had won another culinary competition judged by chefs with pretty amazing palates! Here’s a picture of the dish we served on the show, we served it with garlic parmesan fries which you can include (or even roasted potatoes) if you want to make it more of a meal than an appetizer.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
3-4 minutes per batch
Total Time
20 minutes
Course
Appetizer or Main
Cuisine
American
Servings
~ 20 fritters
Ingredients
1/2 cup AP flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
8 oz. corn (drained/rinsed if canned or thawed if frozen)
2 scallions, chopped in 1/8’ on a bias, whites and light greens separated from dark green for garnish
½ red bell pepper
8 oz. salmon, skin removed and cut into ½” chunks
Vegetable Oil for frying, approx. 24-32 oz.
Maldon salt for sprinkling
8 oz. arugula – dressed with 1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper and 1 tsp. lemon juice
For the crema:
6 oz. sour cream
1 Tbsp. chipotle in adobo sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp. salt
½ lime juiced (about 2 Tbsp.)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 150F to keep fritters warm, as you work in batches.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, pepper. In another bowl, mix the milk and egg and carefully whisk into the bowl of dry ingredients, until smooth.
3. Add corn, light green and white chopped Scallions (reserving dark green for garnish), diced bell pepper and carefully fold in the salmon cubes.
4. Make the crema; in a small bowl, add the sour cream, lime juice, chipotle in adobo sauce plus salt and pepper, stir to combine and adjust to taste, reserve.
5. Heat a large, deep pan over medium heat and add vegetable oil to about 1” up the sides. It needs to reach about 365F.
6. When the oil is ready, gently drop one heaping Tablespoon of the fritter batter into the oil, cooking a few at a time so they don’t stick together. Fry them for 2-3 mins., turning once to ensure even cooing. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate (or on to a baking rack lined sheet tray) and sprinkle with salt while they’re still hot.
7. Prepare some arugula, tossing it with EVOO, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
8. Serve a small mound of arugula and place a few Salmon and Corn Fritters on top, sprinkling with a drizzle of the chipotle crema and the reserved green scallions for garnish.