!st Real Day of Summer

Finally a summer day which I have applauded with a Mn Gumbo that included pepper jack brats( from Thielen's in Pierz) and largemouth bass, plus the usual suspects ( onions, green peppers, red too, and celery). I sauteed the veggies till half done in olive oil, added the raw brats and cooked slow till all were done , add enough flour to absorb the oil, added garlic( plenty),paprika, crushed red pepper, bay leaf, fresh basil, oregano, thyme in average amounts, and then water, chicken bouillon and v-8 juice, and finally the bass filets. The bass are the last - they only take a few minutes to poach in the special slightly thickened broth of the gumbo.

Cook brown rice on the side. Place cooked rice in individual serving bowls, ladle gumbo over, strew with a mix of the same fresh chopped herbs.

Note: Do the onions, peppers, celery slowly, as well as the brats. It's about a 20 minute to a half hour process. Enjoy it. Have a glass of wine or your favorite beer. Sing along. Talk with your 14 yr old daughter about the summer play that she is in. Stir it all in the pan, get outside and throw the ball for your pooch to fetch. Get back in and stir again, humming along.

Recall that you have leftover polenta from last night's supper. Heat that up in the microwave. and serve as the surprise side. It is so great.

The Bowstring Boogie

Fished on Bowstring the last couple of days with lifelong buddies, an annual trip that I do not make annually, which makes it even more special for me. Usually in Canada, but not this time. This trip was close, accommodating, and affordable.

Not great fishing but decent with walleyes from Bowstring and Winnie. Plenty to pack plus to fry - including northern and perch and a dandy tullibie, which I threw back and regret that action as now I would like to pan-smoke it and eat it with mustard and orange marmalade or apricot preserves., with the addition of garlic, red or jalapeno pepper, and cilantro as a basting and/or dipping sauce.

Dang, those sweet hot spiced plenty of garic sauces are good on smoked goods. Add green onion and parsley too. Whoee!

Floured fish deep fried, calico beans with jalapeno peppers, and boiled red potatoes with butter and garlic had us in Bowstring heaven. Sweat running down Kurt's face and chest and others whooping and hollering - we knew that we were eating for sure, and that it was dam good.

Geiger's Trails End Resort on the north end of Bowstring.Exceptional efficiency, housekeeping cabins, cook your own. The real deal. Best fish cleaning house I've ever seen or used.

A Sock in the Eye

Supper tonight wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon poached med rare to med in white wine - a Riesling - somewhat sweet, served with a fresh fruit salsa involving equal amounts of strawberries, avocado, orange, green onion seasoned w/ garlic, red pepper, and dill, salt and black pepper to taste. Oh, and some apricot preserves. Excellent.

Never overcook salmon. It jumps a step between cooking and eating - for example if you cook it to med rare it will be med when you eat it, and so on. Salmon gets dry and loses flavor when it is cooked beyond medium.

Sockeye this time of the year is " Copper River Red," probably the best Salmon in the world, especially if you have your own local source like a good friend who fishes them or a trusted market.

It tastes of itself and of the sea. You can eat it raw sushi style, or salt and sugar cured lox style; add dill and it is Scandinavian.