My plans for today were a little turned upside down once I made it to my folk’s house. My Dad was all set for us to go fishing! Hooray! We had been planning on it, but I didn’t realize it would be day one hour one that I was home. I’m sorry for the late post, but it worked out really well because the experience gave me a great idea for today’s post (well, tonight’s really).
(my dad setting up his fishing pole)
I used to fish all the time with my dad, it seemed like to me in my memory anyway, just about every week in the summer. Fresh fish all summer long, frozen fish all winter. So delicious and good and wonderful! Believe it or not I can still fillet a fish pretty well. My dad used to pay me a quarter a fish when I was a kid… and we would catch anywhere from 4 – 14! Lots of practice. My dad is quite a good fisherman, come home with a catch just about every time. I know that fishing isn’t for everyone, but I actually really enjoy it and now that I’m out of school I asked my dad to get me back into the swing of it…. it’s been quite some time since I’ve gone. If you already have a pole, and you know where to find the fish, it’s actually a really great local food to eat. And I guess that’s where I’m going with this.
(one of the walleye we had to toss back because it was in the 20-26 inch range)
I caught a perch (back into the river it went) and he caught a perch, a stripey, and 4 walleye (2 were in the 15 – 19 inch range that we could keep). I have much to relearn.
Anyway we brought the 2 keepers home, filleted them and then prepped them for cooking.
We decided to make two pouches for the fish and make each one a different way. I coated them both with butter, then sprinkled them with salt and pepper. On the one with the lemons I added a handful of fresh winter savory from my folks’ garden, lemon zest of one lemon, then layered the lemon slices on top. On the other one I put some honey on each fillet, then sprinkled it with chopped dried chilies. I sealed up both aluminum foil pouches and let them sit for awhile.
In the meantime my dad started a fire in the fire pit in the back yard and broke apart the logs to get a nice layer of embers. We tossed the pouches on the embers and let them cook for about 20 mins; rotating them about halfway through. We also cooked some leftover potatoes in the pouch as a side dish.
It was delicious! Everything was so fresh and wonderful tasting. I think I did get a little carried away with the dried chilies though as my mom said that she couldn’t even taste the fish because her mouth was burning so bad (I used 4 on two halves of one fillet).
If you know someone who fishes or hunts or gardens, hit them up for some game meat and fresh veggies and herbs. It’s really the best food that you can get your hands on. Pay them, thank them, cook for them, anything to get some. I personally will never be able to go hunting more than fishing, nor could my dad he admitted to me today. But some of Jason’s and my friends (including my Uncle) really like hunting deer and rabbits and such and there is a need for that so they give us some and we cook for them and help them with things around the house (like putting up fences and siding and etc). I really don’t eat a lot of meat, but when I do, I try my best to get it locally and if I can to know exactly who and where it comes from.
That’s all for today. On Wednesday I’ll talk more about the farmer’s market side of local food and maybe some on co ops and farm shares…. and of course a recipe and/or some related projects!
Have a good night!
Kristin
“Jason’s and my friends” …. please.
Otherwise, loved the fish story. Sounds fabulous.