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UNIQUE Featured Chef and Recipe: Willows Inn – Lummi Island, WA
CHEF: Craig Miller

WITH THE INN SINCE: 2004

STARTED IN THE KITCHEN: At 21 as an assistant to the chef at “Saddlepeak Lodge” in Calabasas, California, while studying theatre at Pepperdine University.

TRAINING/EXPERIENCE: Both kitchen and front-of-house experience in a variety of restaurants specializing in either French cuisine or seafood. I’ve had great teachers and I read great books.

FAVORITE INGREDIENT: Citrus zest: I put it in everything containing citrus in order to back up the acidity. It’s the best part of the fruit and it usually ends up in the trash.

FOOD PHILOSOPHY: Food is religion.

INSPIRATION: I look out my kitchen window and I see Puget Sound where we catch our own sockeye salmon. If I need leeks, I walk up the street and pull them out of the ground at our own Nettles Farm. To find my inspiration, I needn’t look far.

ANYTHING ELSE? Get involved locally with your food. Find out where it comes from and support those that bring it to you.

Salmon Mieko 
Serves 4

2 lbs. escallops of sockeye salmon
(slice salmon to uniform 1/2” thickness for escallops)
4 egg yolks
4 cloves minced garlic
2 T curry powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 T soy sauce
3 T sake
1 C flour
1/4 C canola oil
lemon
black sesame seeds

-combine yolks, garlic, curry, salt, sugar, soy and sake
-heat oil in sauté pan over medium/high heat
-toss escallops of salmon and evenly cover with marinade
-shake off excess marinade and dust with flour
-when oil is quite hot add salmon and sauté very briefly
  (about 20 seconds) on each side
-serve immediately with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a wedge of lemon
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