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In the 42 years we have been married we have spent about 35 of those years having Thanksgiving dinner with just the 2 of us. This year will be no different as our nearest relatives are in either San Diego or Anchorage. Since we are a non-traditional family (no children or grandchildren) we have always done things just a little different than the usual family turkey dinner. Stuff we like has always dominated the dinner table ie. Porterhouse or T-bone steaks over charcoal, beer can chicken, sometimes just pizza and ale, maybe a grilled turkey breast etc. And cranberries. Always cranberries. I can eat cranberries 3 meals a day if given the opportunity.
This year we decided it would be nice to have a big plate of crappie fillets dredged in beer batter, buttermilk cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet in a pool of butter, some corn on the cob rubbed in olive oil and grilled over charcoal and a tossed green salad. Some ales and perhaps a nice bottle of chardonnay. Later in the day a rhubarb/strawberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream. And of course cranberries.
The first step is complete. I went to a local lake this week to catch the required crappies. Using my pram and the depth finder I visited all of the usual spots I expected them to be but they were not there. The wind was bothersome for rowing but eventually I found where they were hanging out. In 27 to 29 feet of water surprisingly but only down about 12 feet in the water column. Hard to reach and I had left my Type VI line at home and brought the Type IV by mistake. Add to that my anchor rope was only 22' long so I couldn't stop where I wanted to. What ensued was what amounted to a series of drive-by shootings. I would get upwind of the honey hole then drift through the school and try to do my business. On one pass I scored a double and was pretty happy to hook fish on each fly. Eventually I got enough for the big feed on November 25.
If you ever plan to freeze any warmwater fish fillets here is my decades old method of doing it: Fillet the fish with a truly sharp filleting knife then take the skin off of the fillets by pressing the knife flat against the cutting board and cutting the meat off of the skin. In a bowl with about 6 cups of icewater dissolve about 2 tbls of salt. Place the skinned fillets in the icewater for a few minutes while you lay down some paper towels on the counter. Remove the fillets and place them on the paper towels. Take another strip of paper towels and pat the tops dry. Then immediately start rolling them in waxed paper-not plastic. Roll the fillets so they never touch each other. This will result in a tube that is open on both ends. Take another sheet of waxed paper and roll it over the ends to seal. If you have butcher paper wrap the whole package in it and place in the freezer. If not, just put them in a zip lock and squeeze all of the air out before sealing. Take them out of the freezer the night before you intend to eat them and let them thaw slowly in the fridge. The result should be fish that is almost indistinguishable from fresh and will be very good table fare indeed.
I only mention this in detail because I see so many people mishandling fish after they are caught. Catching trout in 75 degree water then dragging the dead fish around on a stringer and soaking them all day in that same water would be my recipe for Bad Eats. We all know the difference between supermarket salmon and one we just caught this morning. Catch 'em, ice em', clean em'. Soaking them in luke warm water is not in the script.
Ive
This year we decided it would be nice to have a big plate of crappie fillets dredged in beer batter, buttermilk cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet in a pool of butter, some corn on the cob rubbed in olive oil and grilled over charcoal and a tossed green salad. Some ales and perhaps a nice bottle of chardonnay. Later in the day a rhubarb/strawberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream. And of course cranberries.
The first step is complete. I went to a local lake this week to catch the required crappies. Using my pram and the depth finder I visited all of the usual spots I expected them to be but they were not there. The wind was bothersome for rowing but eventually I found where they were hanging out. In 27 to 29 feet of water surprisingly but only down about 12 feet in the water column. Hard to reach and I had left my Type VI line at home and brought the Type IV by mistake. Add to that my anchor rope was only 22' long so I couldn't stop where I wanted to. What ensued was what amounted to a series of drive-by shootings. I would get upwind of the honey hole then drift through the school and try to do my business. On one pass I scored a double and was pretty happy to hook fish on each fly. Eventually I got enough for the big feed on November 25.
If you ever plan to freeze any warmwater fish fillets here is my decades old method of doing it: Fillet the fish with a truly sharp filleting knife then take the skin off of the fillets by pressing the knife flat against the cutting board and cutting the meat off of the skin. In a bowl with about 6 cups of icewater dissolve about 2 tbls of salt. Place the skinned fillets in the icewater for a few minutes while you lay down some paper towels on the counter. Remove the fillets and place them on the paper towels. Take another strip of paper towels and pat the tops dry. Then immediately start rolling them in waxed paper-not plastic. Roll the fillets so they never touch each other. This will result in a tube that is open on both ends. Take another sheet of waxed paper and roll it over the ends to seal. If you have butcher paper wrap the whole package in it and place in the freezer. If not, just put them in a zip lock and squeeze all of the air out before sealing. Take them out of the freezer the night before you intend to eat them and let them thaw slowly in the fridge. The result should be fish that is almost indistinguishable from fresh and will be very good table fare indeed.
I only mention this in detail because I see so many people mishandling fish after they are caught. Catching trout in 75 degree water then dragging the dead fish around on a stringer and soaking them all day in that same water would be my recipe for Bad Eats. We all know the difference between supermarket salmon and one we just caught this morning. Catch 'em, ice em', clean em'. Soaking them in luke warm water is not in the script.
Ive
