Living here in the Seattle area we are blessed with an abundance of seafood. When I moved here years ago, I was shocked by how much of it there was around here and I was glad because I like all types of seafood.
Obviously one of the specialties of this area is the salmon. Salmon swim in our streams around our house and we can see them spawning all the time. It’s quite an interesting sight to see these huge fish thrashing around in these small streams. Then they rot and die which isn’t a great sight, but just part of their lifecycle. Needless to say, we get a lot of local salmon and salmon from Alaska.
There is a rich tradition of hot smoking salmon in the PNW. But this product is neither of those. This is farm raised Atlantic salmon, which are raised in giant pens in the saltwater fjords around here in the Pacific ocean go figure. I hear that Atlantic salmon are more docile so that’s why they are farmed. Cold smoked gives the salmon a more buttery texture which I tend to like more.
Cold smoked Alaskan King salmon is probably the best thing you’ve ever tasted. Trader Joe’s is never one to not capitalize on a trendy product that they created (ie Speculoos Cookie Butter), this is a perfect opportunity to use the Everything But the Bagel seasoning on something new.
Here we have 4 oz of Atlantic Salmon which has been seasoned with EBTB seasoning. I put it on a plain bagel that I toasted and smeared with cream cheese (The Everything but the bagel yogurt dip might work here if you want to overload on the EBTB!). I placed one slice (there were only 4 in the pack) on the cream cheese. I cheated and didn’t do the whole caper and red onion thing and just sprinkled some EBTB seasoning on the top of the salmon. Why not, that stuff is great!
Wow, this salmon is killer! I really loved the way the EBTB seasoning permeated the salmon with its flavor. Obviously, the salmon is very butter and has a good smoked flavor. Trader Joe’s does sell smoked Alaskan sockeye salmon too and that is my preferred salmon since the flavor is so much better than this.
You can just sprinkle some EBTB seasoning on that salmon and just call it a day, but how would you impress your friends with your savvy shopping skills at Trader Joe’s! This is great, although expensive, to put out on the table for guests during the holidays or just anytime you want some salmon and cream cheese!
INGREDIENTS
Atlantic salmon (color added), salt, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, poppy seeds, natural. hardwood smoke.
