Win a Summer of Wild Salmon Contest

Do you have a creative and delicious recipe for salmon? MarxFoods.com is calling all cooks who are wild about salmon to enter their best recipe for an opportunity to win a summer of wild salmon.

The creator of the winning recipe will receive a “summer of wild salmon”—three separate 5 lb. shipments of wild salmon fillets totaling 15 lbs. over the next three months. A shipment of wild salmon will be delivered directly to the winner’s doorstep once in July, August, and September, on the dates of the winner’s choosing. The wild salmon species and origination will vary throughout the summer depending on what’s fresh and running. For example, July’s shipment might be Taku River Sockeye, Copper River Coho in August, and Columbia River King in September—it all depends on what’s running.

Swim into victory by submitting your best salmon recipe here. The recipe must be original with salmon being the star of the dish. A recipe title should be included with the submission and each contestant can enter only one recipe.

“We’d like to not only have our winner stocked with fresh seasonal fish for the summer months, but also give them an opportunity to taste and compare several types of wild salmon,” said Justin Marx, CEO of MarxFoods.com.

Wild salmon runs began with the Copper River in mid-May and will continue with different species in different rivers throughout the summer, ending with troll-caught King Salmon in mid October.

Recipes can be submitted directly to our blog and if the author would like to include a photo, it can be e-mailed to contest@marxfoods.com to be added to the post.

The contest is not limited to fresh salmon—recipes can incorporate any variety of salmon—frozen, smoked, canned, pickled, etc. Each recipe will be judged by the staff at MarxFoods.com on deliciousness and originality. Recipes are being sought out that can be realistically recreated in a home kitchen.

Marx went on to say, “Several of the recipes entered in our previous recipe contest had stories accompanying the recipes. Although when judging, we weren’t biased toward the recipes with stories; on top of being entertained, we really enjoyed learning a little background about the recipes.”

Last month we had a mushroom recipe contest. A recipe for Scallops, Morel Mushrooms & Asparagus and another for Mushroom, Ramp and Spinach Tart took the cake—which was 2 lbs. of fresh morel mushrooms. The winning recipes can be viewed here. All the delicious mushroom recipes entered—there were 122—can be viewed at the MarxFoods.com blog.

“We had an extremely difficult time narrowing down all the fabulous mushroom recipes that were submitted to our previous contest,” said Katy Springer, General Manager of MarxFoods.com. “But when it came down to it I think the recipes that were imaginative, realistic to recreate, and incorporated fresh, seasonal ingredients really stood out to us.”

TO ENTER
Please submit original salmon recipes online to the MarxFoodscom blog by Friday, June 20, 2008 at 11:59 p.m.

CONTEST RULES & REGULATIONS

MarxFoods.com will subjectively evaluate the recipe based on its perceived deliciousness (since we won’t be testing each recipe, but rather visualizing its palatability). The recipe’s perceived deliciousness will be judged completely at the whim of our staff.
Each contestant can only enter one recipe. So, make it your best!
All recipes must be original. Recipes that infringe copyrights are prohibited. By submitting your recipe, you promise that you created the recipe and did not violate copyright law by publishing it on our site. You also agree that we can publish its contents anywhere on www.marxfoods.com or www.marxfood.com, or otherwise use it as we see fit.
Each entry must include a recipe name and be well written in a clear manner that is easy to follow.
You must be a resident of the US over 18 years of age If you are under 18 years old and would like to submit a recipe, have a parent enter it for you in their name. We can only deliver the prize within the 50 US states.
We will announce the winner on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. At that time, we will send an email to the email address provided by the contestant. In that email, we will ask on what days (Tuesday through Friday) and to what address (only within the 50 US states) the winning contestant would like to receive their wild salmon. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, we will select a new winner.
The winner will receive 5 lbs. of wild salmon that will be shipped overnight via FedEx to the address specified by the winner, on the dates chosen by the winner, once in July, August, and September.
By participating, entrants agree to allow MarxFoods.com to send notices and promotions via email. If you receive an email from MarxFoods.com and wish to no longer receive such notices or promotions, there will be clear instructions on how to unsubscribe at the bottom of the email.
ABOUT WILD SALMON
Wild Salmon is among the healthiest, most sustainable and delicious fishes in the world. A salmon’s eating quality varies by the species, fishing technique and river system that it belongs to. Alaska’s careful management ensures the sustainability of their commercial salmon fishery. It is illegal to farm-raise fish in Alaska which helps to stop the pristine waters from being polluted and aids in the hearty genetic stock of wild fish.

Each river system has a varying length, temperature and arduousness. In general, the longer, colder, and harder a river is to swim up, the higher the fish’s oil content will be. Salmon have evolved to have enough oil (i.e. fat) to supply it with enough energy to swim upstream to their spawning grounds, because they stop eating once they re-enter the river. The higher the oil content a fish has, the more Omega 3 fatty acids it has and the richer its flavor will be.

Wild King (Chinook), Sockeye, and Coho (Silver) salmon are caught via trolling or gill netting from Alaskan waters south through Canada to the Washington coast. Troll caught salmon are pulled live from the water one at a time which results in a premium fish as long as they are bled and put on ice immediately. Gill-netters go after tightly schooled groups of salmon which means there is a low incidence of by-catch. The fish are then carefully removed, often times using a brailer bag, and iced. Gillnetting is used primarily to catch Sockeye and Coho salmon.

King are the largest and least abundant salmon, prized for their color, high oil content, firm texture, succulent flesh and large flake size. Sockeye are rich in flavor due to their high oil content. The fish is deep red with firm flesh and a medium flake size. Coho have a delicate flavor, firm texture, medium flake size and light red flesh with moderate oil content.

The rivers vary greatly. For example the Copper River is 300 miles long and has a 4000 foot elevation gain. The Yukon River, the longest river in Alaska, is over 2000 miles long. Both rivers produce salmon touted for their high oil content. For example, salmon from the Yukon River typically have 34% omega-3 oil content. The salmon runs begin in May and continue through mid October, but the species run time varies by river and does not last the entire summer.

The high fat content results in a rich, tasty fish and the best part is that the high Omega-3 oil content is very heart-healthy and lowers cholesterol. Fish oil can also help combat arthritis, cancer and migraines. Omega 3’s are critical for brain development in children and helps reduce the risk of cancer. They also aid in brain function, eye health, may improve memory and can improve symptoms due to arthritis.

Wild Alaskan Salmon is currently in season along with morel mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, ramps, and stinging nettles.

Individual consumers can purchase seafood including wild salmon, pacific halibut and shellfish, online at MarxFoods.com.

Marx Foods.com, headquartered in Seattle, Wash. is an online specialty food company dedicated to bringing the highest quality epicurean products directly to the consumer’s doorstep. For a decade, it has been selling to white tablecloth restaurants nationwide. Items now available to consumers include a variety of truffles, truffle products, fresh wild mushrooms, Artisanal ravioli, game meat, grass-fed beef & veal, sausage, game birds, seafood, sea vegetables, wild produce, farmstead cheeses, oils, grains, seeds, and eco-friendly palm leaf dinnerware. To ensure freshness, most products are shipped via Federal Express overnight.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for, special requests are welcome by calling (866) 588-MARX.