Shore Lunch - The Fish - Walleye, Northern Pike, Bass or Bluegill, etc

         Season your filets with salt and pepper and scant cayenne and pan fry in olive oil over medium high heat till golden, turn over and do it again. A general rule of thumb for cooking fish is 7 minutes per inch of thickness of the filet in order to get it completely cooked and safe, which is imperative with freshwater white fish.  Do the math. A bluegill filet will cook much quicker than a fat bass , for example. With a larger filet, reduce the heat by half after you flip it over. It needs more time to get done without burning.
      

Shorelunch - The Beans

          Sweat chopped onions and sweet and hot peppers in olive or vegetable oil and add canned beans of your choice. To sweat is to slowly cook the covered vegetables in a small amount of oil until they are soft. If you are not using sweet beans ( baked), add a little brown sugar or maple syrup. The sweet hot thing is irresistible even to Midwesterners. Make sure you marry the beans and fried potatoes on your fork as you eat.
          You can add diced, cooked bacon or ham or best of all, venison summer sausage to the beans, also.
         

Shore Lunch - The Panfried Potatoes

           Start with cut up boiled potatoes and diced onions. Pan fry in olive oil over medium heat in a black cast iron pan. Season with salt, pepper and garlic. Add crushed red pepper or cayenne as desired. The main thing is to get them crisp. Texture is important with fried potatoes. This along with beans and fish is one part of the holy trinity of a shore lunch on a Minnesota lake.
           Pay attention, make them perfect because if you don't get fish, you are down to potatoes and beans, which isn't too bad if they are good. 

Vegetable Beef Soup with Orecchiette and Pot Roast

           What I like about eating  orecchiette [ oh-rayk-kee-EHT-teh] in a soup is that each "little ear" holds some broth, especially in this recipe which is rich with the flavors of pot roast, root vegetables, mushrooms, red wine, garlic and herbs de Provence.
           Dice equal amounts of onions, sweet peppers, carrots, celery, and mushrooms and sweat in olive oil in a pan. To sweat is to cook in a covered pan in a small amount of fat( oil ) over low heat. The vegetables cook in their own juices and do not brown, according to the "Food Lover's Companion," which is a great reference book for all things food and also shows pronunciation for French and Italian words that some of us would never even get close.
           Add diced leftover pot roast, red wine ,garlic, bay leaves, herbs de Provence, beef broth  and pasta to the vegetables and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Serve with artisanal bread for dunking. Yup, this is good zuppa.    

 

Pot Roast

               There is nothing like an old fashioned 3 hour pot roast in the dead of winter. Deep and  rich and luscious. The pan juice is sweetened with carrots and onions. Garlic, red wine and herbs de Provence add character and complexity. The meat is a chuck or blade roast( same thing), which requires hours of cooking in order to become tender. It is perhaps the most flavorful cut of beef because of the amount of fat and connective tissue, which melts and dissolves during the roasting process. Done correctly, the meat is tender and juicy and melts in your mouth. The rich broth is great on the vegetables and for dunking artisanal bread.

Ingredients for roast: feeds 4 to 6 people

chuck roast - 3 to 4 lb
salt and pepper
3 cups water
1 cup red wine
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons herbs de Provence
oil for browning meat
             1) Salt and pepper the meat and brown on both sides in oil in a black cast iron pan.
             2) Add water, wine, garlic, bay leaves and herbs de Provence.
             3) Cover pan with foil and place in 350 degree oven. Check every hour and add water as necessary. You do not want the broth to boil dry. Add cut up vegetables after 2 hours.

Vegetable ingredients:
              4-6 quartered potatoes
              2 med large yellow onions, quartered
              4-6 med large carrots, quartered
              mushrooms - 1/2 lb or more, halved
Method for vegetables
               1) Salt and pepper vegetables and add to roasting pan after 2 hours, checking broth level. Add water if necessary. Cook 1 more hour, remove pan from oven and test meat and vegetables with a fork to ensure tenderness. Remove what is done and cook what is not done until done.
                2) Serve family style with artisanal bread or hard rolls and butter to dunk in the pan jus.

Classic midwestern goodness .An all time favorite recipe.
















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Spaghetti Pie

 

             

         

               My daughter had spaghetti pie at an Old Chicago restaurant in the old town waterfront area of  Duluth Mn last fall. An easy recipe to figure out. Cook your pasta, angel hair here, drain w/o rinsing and place in an olive oiled glass pie dish. Press down pasta and top with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is melted -  15 or 20 minutes. Or top with spinach in an alfredo sauce. Endless combinations of pastas and toppings are possible. Great for leftovers, too, by the slice.