Take Duke Moscrip of none other than Duke’s Chowder House, an veritable chowderrific institution that is nearly four decades old. Around these parts, when we hear the name Duke, we think of chowder. And chowder that wins awards.

Read the entire article from Heed the Hedonist.

Usually, I loaded my crab pot with the heads and bones from the fish I caught during the day, usually rockfish and ling cod.  We would filet the fish and with ropes and chicken wire secure the scraps from the fish to the bottom of the pot.  If the fish float to the top of the pot, the crab will just crawl on top of the cage and crawl off when you start pulling it up.  Picking the spot to drop the pot was always a bit of luck, a little divine intervention, some history and gut feeling.  Sometimes the “spot” was just to stay out of the way of other motor boats that could cut the line to the buoy.  We had lost some crab pots that way.  Depth didn’t seem to really matter, but some believe if it got to shallow, you get smaller crab.

We called it “Christmas Morning Pull.”  That’s why I woke up so early.  When you reach over and start pulling up the pot, it is like Christmas, you just don’t know what you’re going to get.  Some pots are full and some have none.  But, it’s on to the next great “spot” and drop the pot down again. Some pots are heavy and when it gets close to the surface you see nothing but brown, a full pot. Full pots can be mis-leading, like a big box at Christmas, not always filled with things you want. They have to be male, all females get thrown back to make more crab.  They also need to be at least 6 inches across the shell to be large enough to keep.  I have had pots with up to 15 crabs and only one or two were “keepers.”  Most of the time there is a mix of male and female, just like everything in life and in my experience about ½ are big enough to keep.  Every once in a while you can pull a pot with 5 crabs and keep ‘em all, that’s a “good spot.”  When I was younger, I was actually quite afraid of these tasty dudes, with their funky eyes, barbed legs and claws. They are pretty intimidating looking and getting your finger in the way of their pinchers can leave a distinctive bruise.  Throwing back the females and too small to harvest crabs requires some nerve and very careful movements.

Harvest time, after sorting them out, freeing the women and children, counting all my fingers to make sure nothing was lost along the way, it was time to share the harvest.  Crabs need to be cooked alive, so as soon as I got back to shore, I filled a bucket with salt water, brought it to a boil, put the crabs in and cooked them for approximately 12 minutes (7 minutes per pound) with a lid slightly open for circulation. Look the crab in the eye, lie to them, tell them it is a hot tub party.  Drop them down head first into boiling water; they won’t know what hit ‘em.   Don’t try to cook too many at a time.  And if you are serving cold, put them in an ice bath as soon as you take them out of the crab pot.  We always served them cold.  Icing them down, cleaning them and serving with melted butter.  When we had company we might have served with fresh garlic or lemon in the butter, but for me, not necessary.  Part of the fun was spreading newspapers out, giving everyone a hammer to crack shells and just go for it. Wine was served to anybody that wanted it.  These days I would recommend a good crisp Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc.  Back then, I remember a box of white but we’re all grown up now.  That, along with the fish caught (usually made into Fish and Chips), a good tartar and cocktail sauce was our little ship of heaven.

Crab Month at Dukes runs between March 21^st and May 8^th.  We are offering 10 delicious ways of enjoying these sweet, firm crabs.  Whole cooked and chilled, by the ½ or full crab or share a whole crab with salads and chowders.  Of course, we are featuring our “Un”Cakes (all crab, cake not so much) as an appetizer or dinner entrée.  You can also enjoy a crab “Un”Cake with Weathervane Scallops and marinated Wild Mexican White Shrimp.  Don’t forget about Crab and Prawn Cocktails served with Dukes Vodka Cocktail sauce.  Crab and Prawn Gnocchi is another favorite, served with a Rose sauce. There are many other too numerous to mention. But I promise a very crabby party.

So I want to thank all the crabs in the past and all that pass my lips soon, I’ve really enjoyed you.

Chef Bill

The following is a talk that I am giving to restaurant goers, people who dine out.

“At Duke’s we have an approach to food, most especially Seafood, that is not duplicated by any of our competitors. Other restaurant owners would like to be able to say that they do what we do but they can’t. Why not? Because no other restaurant person goes to Alaska or meets with fishermen or fishes with them. For instance, when our team met with the Scallops boat captains and treated them to lunch at Duke’s Green Lake, they were thrilled. Why? Because no other restaurant owner was interested in talking to them EVER. They told us their secrets – no restaurant person had ever asked. When I fished with our fishermen in Copper River, I learned the tricks to making fish taste as good as it can. I am not sure that restaurant guests really understand what it takes to produce great tasting food. It starts with the sourcing. Ours is a unique approach to drill down to the boats, listen to the people who do it right, insist on the quality and follow through to make sure it happens. Name another restaurant that does this. Come on, name one! I want you to get this because it makes a difference in your experience dining. I think it is a big deal. I know it is a big deal. The good fishermen know it. The dining public needs to know it so you as a diner can have the best experience possible. Do you know where your seafood comes from? No, you probably don’t. Does the restaurant you are dining at know it? No, they probably don’t. Does it matter? If you’re paying for Chilean Sea Bass and getting red snapper, it sure does. Do the consumers care? I believe that they do. There are studies that have been done on mislabeling fish. Anywhere from 39% to 65% is mislabeled. It’s a big problem. We have the solution.

Do you know when it was caught? No, you probably don’t. Do other restaurants know? No, they just call their distributor and order fish. Does it matter? It does if you like the wonderful taste of really fresh versus the smell of many days old fish. Do you know how the fish were handled after they were caught? No, you probably don’t. Do other restaurants know that? No, probably not. Does it matter? If you like the pristine flavors from fish that was bled immediately after capture, it sure does. Blood that seeps in to the flesh of a fish degrades quickly and alters the taste in a bad way.

Halibut is a good example. Almost every restaurant that buys halibut cannot document what they are buying. They don’t know where it comes from, who caught the fish, whether it was bled right away, cleaned right away, how they handled it, how it was processed and shipped to its back door. They might be getting fish that was frozen twice. They might get fish with freezer burn. They might get fish that is 15-20 days old. They just don’t know. Does that affect the taste? You bet. It’s why we took Halibut off the menu for the winter because we could not figure out why it dried out and was tasteless. We found out why that happened. In doing so, we now have a plan that guarantees we don’t experience the above conditions.

And do you know that fish that is frozen properly are just as tasty as fresh. No, you probably don’t. Does it matter? Yes, if you want to taste fabulous fish year round. Fish aren’t available fresh in abundance all the time. Well handled frozen fish is incredible.

Do other restaurants know this information? Unfortunately, most do not. If they did, they would be in Alaska with me. None of them show up. You cannot know this about the fish if you don’t go there and find the best fish handling by the best fishermen.

Duke Moscrip tracks down “OMG” Alaska Weathervane Scallops

A local restaurateur’s drive for sustainable seafood.

By Ronald Holden

A former Bothell High basketball star, stock broker and one of the original owners of Ray’s Boathouse, Duke Moscrip has been at the helm of Duke’s Chowderhouse for 35 years. During that time, Moscrip has become an evangelist for sustainable seafood. “Nobody else drills down like this,” Duke admits. It’s almost an indulgence, this intense level of personal, on-site research. Moscrip’s latest indulgence is the Alaska Weathervane Scallop.

The scallop is a hermaphrodite marine mollusc with primitive eyes that discern light and dark, and a strong, meaty (and succulent) adductor muscle. Like its cousins the oyster, the clam and the mussel, the scallop filter-feeds on plankton. Unlike most bivalves in the wild though, it can propel itself through the water to avoid predators like crabs and starfish.

Commercial scallop fishing on the west coast of North America didn’t start until the 1950s, when boatmen from the over-fished east coast moved across the continent. The American industry has grown quickly. Today, some 90 percent of the world’s scallops are commercially farmed, mostly in China and Japan, over a million metric tons a year. But the best, by all accounts, are the wild Alaska Weathervane Scallops from a small fishery in the vast waters between Yakutat and the Aleutians. They even have their own Facebook page.

“Nobody goes to Alaska,” says Duke Moscrip, owner of the six Duke’s Chowder House restaurants that bear his name. “The fishermen never see any of their buyers.”

But Duke goes. He goes to Westport on the Washington coast to check on the shrimp and crab operations on the Washington coast (which I wrote about on my blog Cornichon back in August. He goes to Alaska for the salmon, the halibut and the scallops, and he’s found three scallop boats (with their own website, even) that will handle the catch his way.

The Ocean Hunter, the Arctic Hunter and the Provider: small lots, hand-shucked and frozen on board immediately after they are pulled from the icy Gulf, then packed in five-pound boxes clearly marked with name and date to ensure traceability. Each boat has an independent, at-sea observer on board to ensure that Alaska’s rigorous practices of sustainability are followed. Unlike other scallops on the market, the weathervanes are free of phosphates, preservatives and unwanted chemicals.

The scallops served at Duke’s weigh in at just under an ounce a piece. Over lunch at the Lake Union store, Duke calls them his “Oh My God” scallops. “The product is incredible,” he brags. “There’s nothing like them. We sear them to a caramelized golden brown, and then we stop. They don’t need a tricky sauce, and they certainly don’t need overcooking.” The menu currently features scallop sliders, scallops and prawns in a chop chop salad, scallops atop pumpkin ravioli, bacon-scallop tacos, scallops with melon, a scallops and prawns mixed grill and a scallops and baby back ribs combo.

Moscrip certainly wouldn’t have time for his sustainability forays if he didn’t have his son John, now 36, running the company’s day-to-day operations as well as a fanatically loyal corporate chef, Bill Ranniger. They’ve had a lock on the chowder market for several decades (using IQF clams from Chesapeake Bay, another in-person inspection) in a recipe executed at the Duke’s commissary in Woodinville.

What’s remarkable is that Duke’s Chowderhouse isn’t some fancy-pants dinner house but solidly mid-market and unpretentious. A three-course dinner special goes for $21.30.

Food writers sometimes forget that, while Seattle might have a couple of thousand serious, self-described “foodies” who buzz around a handful of trendy bistros, the restaurant industry includes well over 4,000 restaurants to feed a populace of over half a million. Duke’s six restaurants seat over 900 indoors, with fair-weather outdoor seating for another 500, and employ a peak staff of 300. The company grosses $15 million a year, a number that is roughly the same dollar volume as the Space Needle and Salty’s, but harder to do when the average check is $25 rather than $50 (Salty’s) or $60 (Needle), let alone $200+ (Canlis).

Duke’s maintains a strong mailing list (40,000 names) to get the word out to his regulars about specials like the weathervane scallops, a three-month fishery. He and chef Ranniger are also regular bloggers on topics that range from environmental sustainability to culinary (chowder recipes) to political (minimum wage versus tip credit).

What else is on Duke’s corporate horizon? A revolutionary way to treat halibut, bringing in frozen-at-sea filets to Seattle. Line-caught rock fish. Something with razor clams. Mexican white shrimp, wild-caught in the Sea of Cortez, because the Gulf of Mexico is too polluted with iodine-laden runoff from the Mississippi.

There’s a famous spot in New York, P.J. Clarke’s, that serves upscale pub food on red checkered tablecloths, a decor that inspired Duke’s. But on a recent trip to the Big Apple it was Soho’s yacht-themed Lure Fishbar that reeled in the Moscrips, father and son. “Mutiny by a bounty of relishes,” complained Frank Bruni’s snarky review in the NYTimes.

Duke asked about the “Roasted Atlantic Salmon” ($28) and was appalled that the server didn’t know the fish was farmed. Worst of all, the chefs he talked to didn’t realize there was an alternative, the environmentally sustainable wild salmon runs of Alaska. (His own menu reads “Duke personally supervised the catch of salmon in Alaska. No farmed salmon ever!”)

“Nobody in New York has our level of sourcing, of environmental awareness,” Duke contends. For that matter, it would be hard to find folks in Seattle with that sense of commitment. The 22-unit Anthony’s chain was forced to launch its own seafood company 30 years ago to ensure a steady supply of decent fish. McCormick & Schmick has just been sold to a Texas chain not known for its commitment to seafood. Ivar’s has expanded to 25 quick-serve units and sells its chowder in supermarkets. Duke is convinced he’s got an edge on his competitors because he doesn’t treat his seafood like a commodity.

“Our story is so compelling,” he says. Then he takes off his glasses and looks out the window at the sailboats in the marina. Dreaming a bit, perhaps, he wonders, “Can you imagine what would happen if we brought our products to New York?”

If you go: Duke’s Chowderhouse, multiple locations, www.dukeschowderhouse.com.

SEATTLE, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Duke’s Chowder House of Seattle is now proudly featuring Alaska’s Weathervane Scallops on their menus. Duke Moscrip, the restaurant’s owner, is thrilled to be carrying these unique wild scallops because he appreciates the fact that they are harvested in relatively small quantities, handled carefully, and processed so quickly after harvest. Duke has dubbed these the OMG Scallops.

Weathervanes are coveted for their large meaty adductor muscle and are harvested from the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. Unlike other scallops on the market, which are treated with unwanted and unnecessary preservatives such as phosphate, Alaska Weathervane Scallops are free of preservatives and chemicals. Hand-shucked and frozen on board immediately after they are pulled from the clean icy waters of Alaska, these domestic sustainable wild scallops are naturally low in fat and are prized for their ultra-fresh taste and sublime sweet flavor.

Duke buys the scallops from three boats—the Ocean Hunter, the Arctic Hunter, and the Provider.  Each of these vessels harvests according to the strict standards and regulations set forth by Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game and each has an independent At-Sea Observer onboard to ensure that sustainable practices are followed and that the bycatch of any crab is carefully monitored as well. The scallops are sold in five pound boxes and each box ensures traceability to the source because the vessel and date of harvest are clearly marked on the box.

Duke declares Oh My God (OMG) and explains, “The product is incredible. They are really clean. The sweetness, the tenderness, and the end flavor are totally unique. There’s nothing like them and these particular scallops have a better taste than any other scallop I’ve ever tasted. In the restaurant we are searing them to a caramelized golden brown and are focusing on simplicity in the preparation to highlight an item that doesn’t need to be overdone with some tricky sauce. These scallops scream for simplicity. They say, ‘Don’t mess me up. Don’t overcook me.’”

With that in mind, the restaurant’s Executive Chef, Bill Ranniger, has been charged with the task of creating and serving the restaurant’s new Weathervane Scallop dishes—Pumpkin Ravioli with Pan Seared Weathervanes, Duke’s Scallop Sliders, Bacon Scallop Tacos, and Chop Chop Salad with Broiled Weathervanes. Ranniger says, “For me as a chef, these scallops are the best of the best. To be able to use these scallops, it’s a pleasure… When you start with the best ingredients in the world you can make the best dishes…and by buying these Weathervane scallops, we are giving our team the tools they need to make phenomenal food for our guests. At Duke’s, that’s what we do.”

About Duke’s Chowder House: Dedicated to bringing its guests the best every day, Duke’s Chowder House has six locations throughout the Puget Sound region. Owner Duke Moscrip has been at the helm for thirty five years and prides himself on finding the best possible ingredients for his menu.

For additional information contact:
Tamara Wilson
1-206-409-6735
tamaraw@tamarawilson.com

Tips for Making a Good Clam Chowder

Plus Free Chowder on November 13th at Duke’s Chowder House in Seattle

SEATTLE, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — On November 13th from 11 am to 10 pm, all six locations of Duke’s Chowder House will be giving away small bowls of their renowned all-natural clam chowder in order to celebrate International Chowder Day. Made with domestic clams and free of additives and preservatives, Duke’s clam chowder more than tows the line when it comes to authenticity and tradition.

Duke Moscrip, the restaurant’s owner and founder, is pleased to share his signature specialty with chowder enthusiasts. A restaurateur for more than 40 years, Duke first developed a taste for clams at his New England grandfather’s dinner table. Duke didn’t particularly love grandpa’s chowder, which was brothy and full of robust clam flavors, but Grandpa made it clear that if Duke wanted the chocolate éclairs sitting in the middle of the dinner table then he’d eat that chowder and learn to like it. Indeed, Duke developed an astute taste for clams back then. Many years later, when Seattle was hosting a massive chowder competition in the 1980s, Duke and his then chef rose to the challenge and submitted their carefully crafted chowder.

Duke’s clam chowder won that competition by a landslide three years in a row. The creamy clam chowder has been a fixture on his menus ever since. Naturally, Duke has some rock solid opinions on how to make a good clam chowder. Here are a few that form the foundation:

Use Good All Natural Clams—Duke is a stickler for ingredients and goes to great lengths to keep additives and preservatives out of his chowder. Canned clams, which are full of tri polyphosphates, are out of the question. Hence, he purchases domestic clams that are processed, flash frozen and shipped directly to him. These all-natural clams have superior flavor and aroma and form the backbone of his chowder.
Learn to Make a Roux—Duke says it’s important to learn to make a roux, which is a mixture of flour and butter and acts as a thickener. If the roux isn’t cooked properly at the beginning, then the chowder will be a mucky pasty mess. He also explained that if the roux breaks, then the whole thing is a flop.
Balance the Flavors and Ditch the Carrots—Duke knows that clam has to be the dominant flavor and nothing should overpower that. He also says to ditch the carrots—they have no place in chowder and their sweetness adds the wrong accent. Celery is okay because it adds a little crunch, which you want.
Choose the Correct Potato—The choice of potato can make or break the results. Duke likes red potatoes because they don’t give off too much starch and bleed into the chowder.
Know your Herbs-After much experimentation, Duke knows that basil, dill, marjoram, parsley, and thyme are the essential herbs in his chowder, adding a subtle accent to the dish.
Give it Time—Duke believes in the power of curing the chowder, which basically means that the chowder cools and is kept overnight in the fridge. He says, “The second day is dramatically better than the first. The flavors bloom during a cure. They get more pronounced.”

So, if you need a chowder fix and happen to be in the Seattle area on November 13th, head to Duke’s for a free sample and some lively chowder chat!

About Duke’s Chowder House: Dedicated to bringing its customers the best every day, Duke’s Chowder House has six locations throughout the Puget Sound region. Owner Duke Moscrip has been at the helm for thirty five years and prides himself on finding the best possible ingredients for his menu. For additional information contact:

Tamara Wilson
1-206-409-6735
tamaraw@tamarawilson.com

SOURCE Duke’s Chowder House

Savor Wild Copper River Salmon in the Off Season
Tips for Using Plus A Chowder Recipe

October 23, 2012—Cordova, Alaska/PR NEWSWIRE—

Alaska’s Copper River salmon season is wrapped up for this year, but salmon lovers don’t need to be left high and dry at the seafood counter. Sustainability harvested from the pristine waters of the Gulf of Alaska, this salmon is a flavor and nutrition powerhouse that is available all winter in canned, frozen, and smoked forms. For those who think salmon is only worth eating fresh, think again. Frozen, canned and smoked salmon are perfect for incorporating into all of your favorite salmon recipes from the winter grill and warming chowders to pasta dishes and kid-friendly sandwiches.

“Many people think that since the fresh season is over they have to wait until spring to enjoy wild Alaska salmon,” says Beth Poole, Executive Director of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association.. “Our fishermen all stock their freezers and pantries with vacuum sealed fillets, cans and smoked jars to sustain them all winter, and so can everyone else.”

Eat Like a Fisherman

Danny Carpenter, captain of the F/V The Quicksilver, has fished the Copper River region for 27 years. He doesn’t get to eat very much salmon during the summer because he’s too busy catching it. During the winter, however, he uses canned and frozen salmon for family meals. He often makes salmon salad sandwiches with the canned for a quick lunch and he regularly defrosts individual fillets for healthy dinners during the winter. He said, “There are all kinds of ways to use these products. It’s fun to experiment and play around. You can definitely use salmon year round and it’s all good.”

At the Seafood Counter

Will Martin is the Seafood Manager of the Denver-based Seattle Fish Co, which distributed over 15,000 pounds of Copper River sockeye to area markets this season. A loyal Copper River customer, Martin just sold his last wild Alaska coho catch and is rolling right into selling frozen at the seafood counter. “Our stores are making the switch over to frozen Wild Alaska salmon and we’ve definitely seen more consumer interest in frozen as they learn more about how easy it is thaw and use.” At the sales counter, Martin and his staff tell seafood lovers that frozen is a great alternative to fresh and they can’t go wrong with smoked or canned salmon either. CookItFrozen.com is an excellent source for recipes and techniques for cooking and enjoying frozen seafood.

From A Chowder Guy

Duke Moscrip, owner of Duke’s Chowder House in Seattle, is a huge fan of Copper River salmon and each year he visits Cordova to carefully select and purchase more than 50,000 pounds for his restaurants. He buys some of the salmon fresh, but the majority is frozen and Duke says his restaurants have had phenomenal success using frozen fillets. He’s also a fan of smoked salmon and added, “If you like Copper River, wait ‘til you taste the Smoked Copper River Salmon. It’s to die for!”This fall, Duke’s will be featuring smoked Copper River Salmon in a new pasta dish and in Duke’s signature Copper River Smoked Salmon Chowder, which Duke was kind enough to share his recipe for.

Quick and simple, it’s just one rich and flavorful way to enjoy Copper River salmon during the chillier months this winter.

DUKE’S COPPER RIVER SMOKED SALMON CHOWDER

1. In a large heavy pan or Dutch oven melt the butter and cook the leek, fennel, and celery over moderate heat, stirring for about five minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.
2. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, for about five minutes. Add the warm vegetable broth slowly, whisking constantly. Simmer the mixture over moderate heat for about four minutes but do not boil (180 degrees if you have a thermometer).
3. Reduce the heat and add the cooked fingerlings and Old Bay seasoning. Stir in the cream and the salmon, being careful to keep the chowder over a moderately low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Serve in bowls and garnish with chopped green onions.
5. Makes about eight one-cup servings.

–Recipe courtesy of Duke Moscrip of Duke’s Chowder House, Seattle

For additional information contact:
Beth Poole, Executive Director
Copper River/PWS Marketing Association
Box 199, Cordova, Alaska 99574
t: 907.424.3459:: f: 907.424-3430
www.copperriversalmon.org

http://www.mgfalaska.com/salmon-spawning.html

Can never happen at Dukes. Each and every fish (that’s right everyone) has a source code: we know where it’s from, where it was processed, and often the exact area and often the boat that caught it.

When we say we know seafood we mean we know it intimately.

I just returned from Copper River where I fished with one of our selected fishermen, Bill Webber. We caught some Wild Cohos (also known as Silvers) at the mouth of the Copper River. These fish are beautiful, bright and healthy. The color of the meat is a wonderful light red. I have secured our fish for this winter and made arrangements to have the best fish next year from fishermen that follow the highest standards set by the best fishermen in Copper River. See article on the criteria for great fish.

It can be dangerous just to put your line in the water!!!

One thing people don’t know and don’t appreciate is how dangerous it is to fish in Copper River. The weather gets nasty at times, especially in the late season when the Cohos are running. One of the days I was scheduled to go fishing with Bill Webber, it blew 80 miles per hour and there were 28 foot seas. Needless to say, I didn’t go out. Nobody else did either. Storms can come up suddenly, though, and there is nothing that can be done if a fisherman is caught out in a storm. All they can do is pray and hope they make it back. Many have died over the years making Copper River Coho kind of the Second Deadliest Catch.

King vs Silver?

After buying Copper River King Salmon for over 25 years, we discovered that our guests like Copper River Coho (Silver) just as well. What’s more, they are less expensive. Instead of a $45 entrée price for King, we can serve Coho for $20-$26 depending on the portion. Same Omega 3s so it is just as healthy. And I believe that Duke’s is the only restaurant that will have Copper River Cohos in the coming months. If you find it somewhere else, let me know. It is a rare treat for sure.