The key component of the omelet really is the jalapeño- smoked salmon spread. The smoked salmon that I used is from Bristol Bay and given to me by my friends Kelly and Nathan who smoked it themselves. They moved out to Dillingham about a year and a half ago since Nathan is teaching at the middle school.
Dillingham is a hub community of ~2,000 people down in Bristol Bay, about 350 miles southwest of Anchorage, accessible by plane or boat. Next door is Wood-Tikchik State Park, and at 1.6 million acres, it's the biggest state park in all of the United States.
Bristol Bay is the region of Alaska where the Pebble Partnership is trying to build what would be one of the largest mines in the world in order to mine gold, copper, and molybdenum. It's a multinational effort to establish the mine, and it is meeting strong local opposition because the very real threat that it poses to environmental damage that would have irreversible damage to one of the world's most productive wild salmon runs. The Bristol Bay salmon is critical for both subsistence harvest and the commercial fisheries. Beyond the economics impacts environmental degradation will likely have to the commercial fisheries and the all the jobs in the region provided by the fisheries, damage to the salmon fisheries will have significant cultural impacts in the Bristol Bay region as well. For more information about this issue, visit http://www.savebristolbay.org/
Jalapeño- Smoked Salmon Spread
Mix together:
8 oz block of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
a minced jalapeño (I remove the seeds since I'm a total güera)
dollop of mayonnaise
splash of worcester sauce (Lea & Perrins is gluten-free)
4-6 green onions, chopped
6-8 oz smoked salmon
dash of salt & freshly ground pepper
Constructing the omelet
Start by heating a bit of olive oil in a small cast iron pan over medium high heat and throwing in a big handful of fresh spinach.
Mix together a scrambled egg, a splash of half and half (or milk), and a
few twists of my favorite new spice mix-- Trader Joe's South African
SMOKE seasoning blend.
Pour egg mixture over spinach.
Flip to ensure that the omelet is cooked thoroughly.
One on a plate, smear half the omelet with jalapeño- smoked salmon spread and add a few slices of avocado.
Hopefully with some proper management that looks at all Alaska's natural resources, we won't just have empty jars of Bristol Bay smoked salmon in the future....
