This week’s topics include more fish than one person should have in his freezer, homemade fish sticks, the Wannabe Foodie tries out his deckhand skills on a boat, the best cocktail I’ve had in a long time, and the ugly American traveler (on a Southwest flight!).
What am I working on? Fish! First, the backstory. This is a mess ‘o King and Chinook salmon which my brother and I caught on a boat in Sitka, Alaska.
This is what my freezer now looks like. It’s filled with 200 lbs. of fillets of salmon, halibut, black bass, Pacific cod, and miscellaneous rock fish. The first dish I made with my new-found bounty? Fish sticks made from Alaskan black bass I caught two days ago.
I put the fillets in for a very quick brine of 1 part kosher salt to 10 parts water. I’m not trying to impart any complex flavors. Just perk up the fish meat a bit. 3-5 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the fillets, and then a thorough rinse.
I then cut them into mostly even pieces. Quick egg and milk wash, rolled in Panko bread crumbs, and set aside on a rack for everything to dry out a bit before frying.
Fried them in my fryer for about 5 minutes at about 340 until they were golden brown. Yes, I have a fryer. Does that surprise you? Here they are. Served with lemon slices and/or vinegar, rice pilaf, and some broccoli.
The review? I sprinkled the first few with a little fine sea salt when they first came out, which is normally the way to go. However, the extra salt made the fish a little salty due to the brine. So, no salt. The remaining pieces were truly delicious. Crunchy, light, and just enough salt coming through from the inside of the meat from the brine. This bass is an amazing white fish that flakes nicely when you bite into it. Perfect for frying.
This is what fish sticks should taste like! Makes me wonder if all those fish sticks I had as a kid were actually ‘fish’….. .
What’s next? I’m going to work on a good brine to smoke some of the salmon. Then grilling, searing in my cast iron, searing on my slab o’ Himalayan salt (more on that in a future blog), frying, soups, and pasta. Frankly, I’m going to prepare this fish every way imaginable. Lord knows I have enough to experiment.
You want to learn to fillet fish? On the last day of our fishing trip, I asked the captain if I could fillet some of the mess ‘o fish we caught. He probably thought I was nuts. But, I figured this was my golden opportunity to learn to fillet properly. Let’s face it. These guys fillet hundreds of fish per week, so who better to learn from?
So, I filleted 25-30 whole fish that afternoon on the boat. The resulting fillets were certainly not as good as the skipper would have cut, but not bad and it was a great learning experience.
Butchering your own proteins is clearly one of the best ways to produce high quality food at home. This experience was a step in the direction of the Wannabe Foodie being able to do so.
Best cocktail I've had in quite a while. The screwdriver at Crosby's in Incline Village, Nevada. Before you say it, I know what you're thinking. "Wannabe Foodie - it's just vodka and oj! How impressive can it be?!"
Very impressive is the answer. Ralph, the bartender, squeezes the orange juice fresh from this big pile of oranges at the bar. He fills the glass with ice and roughly half orange juice and half skyy vodka. I think he might put crack in them as well, but I can't be sure of that.
I've drank my share of screwdrivers. These are special. Went there for breakfast with a friend and we only had one screwdriver. At a time.
The Red had to come pick us up and drive my car back. I'm a weak man and these were just too good.
The Ugly American Traveler. I travel a fair amount for work and I am consistently amazed how often I come across the Ugly American Traveler, in the United States.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, stroll through the airport on your next trip. He’ll be the guy yelling at the gate attendant about his upgrade, not speaking to or making eye contact with the person serving his coffee, rolling a bag the size of a small car onto the plane and yelling at the flight attendant because it won’t fit, or, and my personal favorite, completely ignoring the flight attendant while she repeatedly tells him to end his cell phone conversation as we’re driving down the runway about to take off.
I saw this particular play in person. It finally ended with “Sir. End your call now and turn off your cell phone. If you don’t, the captain has informed me that we will return to the gate and you will be removed from this flight. We have already informed the airport police.” I wish I could have seen that! Well worth a delay.
God knows I don’t agree with the asinine rules the airlines and the TSA impose on air travelers. I’m pretty sure that my Kindle without the wireless turned on is not a security risk. Nor is my iPod. I'm not convinced my cell phone is. Stupid rules. However, arguing with the flight attendants while onboard a flying tin can is not the answer.
Don’t be that guy.
Happy cooking.
WF
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