A soup for all seasons: Warm broth, spring dill, summer's catch

The Eat Alaska Project is a partnership of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Alaska Grown.

After spending a winter working in Antarctica, "I realized how important food can be for morale," Laura Cole, owner and executive chef of 229 Parks Restaurant & Tavern in Denali National Park, said over the phone.

So important, in fact, that it inspired her to open a restaurant filled with fresh produce and seasonal ingredients from sustainable sources, served in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The menu changes daily, focusing on the best of what Alaska has to offer from land and ocean. The restaurant keeps a rhubarb patch, a chicken coop and a substantial herb garden, and it maintains a zero-waste policy, donating scraps to local sled dogs.

"Kitchens are a place of nurture and nourishment," Cole said. "We just have a ton of fun with it."

Her goal for the menu is to define Alaska through food and flavor. For example, a couple of months ago when spruce tips were really tender, the crew harvested 10 gallons and ground them to use in brine solution. When last year produced an abundance of cranberries, she featured them in a cold cranberry soup with creme fraiche, cardamom and garden thyme.

"Our local traffic loves it -- not knowing what they're going to get, but knowing it will be really exciting," she said.

The cuisine that locals have come to expect, the tourists never do.

"The best everything from anywhere," is how one visitor from Laguna Beach, Calif., described 229 Parks on Yelp.com. "What are you doing here?" they ask. Her reply: "Well, you're vacationing here. I get to live where you vacation!"

Beyond that, she accepts the praise modestly: "I can cook pretty good," Cole said. "It's what I have to offer."

She offers more than that.

"I don't think that there's a place where I could have as big a voice or a seat at the table for helping direct the food future for the state," she said, referring to her work as an advocate for small-scale farming, fishing and ranching. "And here, I am able to get away with my lofty dreams and ambitions."

Asked if she considered herself a flavorologist, Cole said, "No. I like to eat, though. I don't want to eat something if it's not going to be amazing."

So maybe she doesn't like labels, but her expertise for creating flavor combinations is something special, and she offers some great advice for pairing herbs and spices with all the fresh fish folks are harvesting this time of year.

"Fresh seafood is so versatile," she said. "You want to think about complementary flavors versus something that's going to mask the flavor of the fish."

"I like to use broths where you're not weighing down the fish with butter," she said, adding that she'll also use citrus-flavored oils instead of butter to help brighten the taste of the fish on the palate.

But her best tip is to use a sprinkle of sugar on the skin, in addition to salt and pepper, while cooking. A little sugar helps to caramelize, she said. It brings to surface the natural sweetness -- from crab to halibut to spot prawns to salmon.

For herbs (in addition to dill), Cole recommends pairing fish with sage or lemon thyme for their qualities both bright and earthy.

Her recipe for a cheerful halibut with dill soup and prosciutto combines elements of all three recommendations: a hearty chunk of halibut cooked/caramelized to perfection surrounded by a warm broth highlighting garden-fresh, spring dill.

The dish's surprising brightness, color and flavor combination have won fans in high places -- even Bon Appetit magazine has asked Cole for the recipe. Her herb/spice concoction includes dill, nutmeg and cayenne. The fresh dill and cayenne for kick both made sense, but why nutmeg? For depth, she explained, to balance the brightness of the spring herbs.

For all the recipe's complexity and sophistication, what's in it for the home chef?

"It is super impressive for the ease it takes to make," she said. "You can make the base ahead of time, crisp the prosciutto in advance, and it still has color and flavor and wow appeal. All you need is a blender and a frying pan."

"Cooking shouldn't be a chore but a celebration," she said. "To bring people to a table is such a treat."

Halibut with Dill Soup + Prosciutto

Recipe courtesy of Chef Laura Cole, 229 Parks, Denali National Park

Start to finish: 40 minutes

Servings: 4

¼ pound Alaska-grown fresh dill (about 2 large bunches)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium Alaska-grown leeks, trimmed, sliced and cleaned

2 medium Alaska-grown white potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Ground cayenne pepper, to taste

Fresh ground nutmeg, to taste

3 vegetable bouillon cubes

Up to 2 cups Alaska-grown whole milk

4-6 tablespoons salted butter

Four 4-ounce Alaska halibut fillets

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Garnish: 8 slices crisp prosciutto

Bring a small pot of water to boil. Add fresh dill and let boil for 1 minute. Shock dill in a bowl of ice water. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add leeks and sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add potatoes, cayenne, ground nutmeg, and stir. Add enough water to cover vegetables (about 8 cups). Add bouillon, stir, and let simmer over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender, about 18 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Pour into a high-powered blender and blend, in batches if needed, until smooth; add milk to thin soup if too thick. Taste and add more salt and pepper, as desired.

Blend reserved dill with a small amount of water in a blender until completely broken down and vibrant green. Stir into soup. Keep soup warm over low heat while preparing halibut.

Heat the oven to 400 F. Heat butter in 2 large, ovenproof sauté pans or 1 very large pan over medium-high heat. Place fillets in pan, without overcrowding the pan, and cook until golden brown on one side -- about 3 to 4 minutes. Place pan in oven and let fillets cook a few more minutes. Cooking time will depend on thickness of the fish. Test halibut by gently pressing the tip of a knife into the center of the fish and pull back slightly; fish should yield at knife-point and not be translucent.

Divide halibut evenly among 4 bowls. Gently ladle soup around halibut and top with prosciutto. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top and garnish with dill.

Crisp Prosciutto

8-10 thin slices prosciutto

Heat the oven to 350 F. Lay prosciutto flat on a parchment-lined sheet tray; top with an additional piece of parchment paper and a second sheet tray to weigh it down. Bake for about 15 minutes until fat is slightly browned and prosciutto is crisp. Note: This can be done ahead of time, cooled and stored in freezer. Gently reheat before serving.

This story is sponsored by the Eat Alaska Project. Make this dish and post a photo on social media! Tag it with #eatalaska.

This article was produced by the special content department of Alaska Dispatch News in collaboration with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Alaska Grown. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.?