Florida-based Josh Greer embodies the positive outlook, open-minded inquisitiveness and compassion that it takes to help steer our WAC ship and member-ship on course as a Member Experience Team Lead. We’re proud to have Josh on board, and were thrilled to connect with him this week to kick off Pride Month with a little chat about love and food.
As a celebration of Pride Month, Josh offered to recreate his “no-recipe” recipe for Brown Sugar Glazed Coho to share with the WAC fam. The recipe features a few pantry staples that come together beautifully even when combined imprecisely, so that you can focus your love and attention on whomever you’re cooking with or for (even if you’re cooking solo as a way to show yourself love and attention).
Josh vividly recalled the first meal he ever made for his partner Jacob — a freeform creation starring a couple fillets of coho salmon. “It was with some sort of glaze we made… and of course we didn't write anything down,” Josh said with a laugh.“We do a lot of ‘little bit of this, little bit of that’ and never keep track of what we're putting in!”
The memorable meal was downright delicious — but more importantly, it was a creative culinary experience that the two had shared early on in their budding romance. And they’ve been cooking together ever since, with or without a recipe to follow.
How did you meet your partner?
Jacob and I technically met online and our first date was at this really cute spot called The Wine Room in Winter Park, FL. It’s basically a tasting room of various wines from all over. We bonded over a love for wine and charcuterie.
On our second date, we went bowling and then grabbed dinner after. Jacob ordered (farmed) salmon, and I explained more about Wild Alaskan Company and about how farmed salmon is not the best choice— and since then it’s been nothing but wild caught seafood!
What do you like most about working at WAC?
There are a lot of different things that I like about working at WAC. If I had to choose one it would be the people that work here. Everyone is incredibly welcoming, genuine and friendly, we really have a great culture here which is hard to find in a lot of work places. For example, at my old job I did everything I could to avoid being my true self, but here I don’t have to.
Now that June is here, what do you want people to know about what Pride Month means? What does it specifically mean to you and your partner?
Overall, Pride Month is really just a grateful reminder and time to feel a part of a bigger community of people, one that isn’t always welcomed or heard but often more “tolerated” in some respects. I really try to focus on the positives that come with Pride Month especially in a world with so much negative energy. and do think it is a month of love whether it’s self-love, love for another person or anything of the sort. For myself, Pride Month has a special meaning. I remember I came out to my parents at the end of May, and that June was the very first time I truly embraced who I was and felt comfortable.
Speaking of love, tell us about the first meal you cooked with your partner.
The first meal I cooked with Jacob starred coho salmon. We did a little stay in and cook date rather than go out somewhere. We created this marinade that featured a whole mixture of “whatever was in the pantry.” I know it had brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and I want to say spicy dijon mustard with some other spices that still evade me! I remember it came out great. We had asparagus and wild rice for sides, so nothing crazy, but it was probably the best salmon I’ve had!
Who cooks, who cleans up? Or is it a joint effort?
It’s pretty much a joint effort! We both get involved with cooking and we both help clean up after! There are definitely those friendly “out of my way moments” in the kitchen when we’re both in there working on something. But otherwise the dynamic is usually one of us will cook the protein, the other will work on the sides or veggies, and we take it from there.
What do you like to cook together?
We make most meals together, but we experiment the most with our Wild Alaskan Company. So far, our favorites are Pacific halibut, rockfish and coho. We have to get better at writing recipes down because we try so many different things and have definitely had some blunders — but also some really good marinades and spice mixes that are so delicious, and then we can never recreate them!
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Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the improvised spices, but here’s Josh and Jacob’s “no-recipe” recipe for Brown Sugar Glazed Coho for two:
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Preheat an oven to 450F.
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Whisk together balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, honey and extra-virgin olive oil (enough to cover two fillets of coho salmon) along with a pinch of brown sugar, sea salt and ground pepper. Adjust amounts to your taste.
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Marinate two fillets of coho in the mixture while the oven preheats, or up to 3 hours in the fridge. Once marinated, place them on a lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes alongside asparagus tossed in minced garlic, sea salt and olive oil.
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After 10 minutes, check the internal temperature of the fillets — Josh and Jacob enjoy their salmon medium-rare at a nice 120F. Cook longer if desired, then serve immediately.
Live Wild,
Monica
Pictured above: WAC Member Experience Team Lead Josh (left) and his partner Jacob (right) at the St. Louis Arch — when they’re not exploring new culinary territory together at home, they’re exploring new places in their travels.
