Panfried Sunfish w/ Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic and Wine

             If you grew up in the Midwest it is likely that your earliest fishing memories involve a worm and a bobber and a sunfish. Watching your bobber was more interesting than not watching it.  If you caught fish, it was way more interesting.

              As you matured you did other things to keep fishing interesting, like shooting leeches with a bb gun as they were attached and hung vertically from the palms of the hands of your siblings or  friends on the shore of Lake Winnibigosh. Later on would come minnow eating contests, and twin brother Jim attempting to swallow a frog on a bet. He wanted the 35 cents to buy a pack of smokes. The frog kept jumping out of his mouth. I think we were drinking beer by then.

               Then, as an adult, Sally drank down 4 leeches, unbeknownst to her, in successive Black  Russians while on our fishing launch on Lake Mille Lacs. It was after dark and the Black Russians were as dark as the leeches. She never saw them. It was a perfect storm. Sally was pissed the next day when the story was leaked. Non the worse for it though, but wiser from the experience.

                No matter what your age, you should season your fish filets with lemon pepper, dredge in flour and pan fry them in oil or butter a couple of minutes on each side till bronze. Remove filets from pan( black cast iron skillet ) and add halved cherry tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, chives and white wine like chardonnay to the pan and reduce and add a couple of pats of butter. Pour over filets.

               Exquisite. As good as childhood or adolescence ever was, these days.          

Grilled Salmon w/ Fresh Fruit Salsa

         I caught a 5 lb freshwater coho salmon once while shore casting with a big rainbow Rapala and then a 10 lb steelhead twenty minutes later. That was at Lutsen Resort out of the mouth of the Poplar River in Lake Superior. Perhaps the signature day of fishing in my long, modest and distinctly amateur career as a fisherman. I was with my oldest son, Alex, while he was on summer break from college. We cooked the stuffed whole coho in foil in the embers of a lakeside fire on that early summer evening. The next day we caught plenty of walleyes on Poplar Lake on the Gunflint Trail.  I've had some lucky days.

        Use wild caught Alaskan salmon if possible or even better,  your own catch of Great Lakes
 salmon or trout. Brine the fish filets in a solution of 1 / 4 cup sea or pickling salt to 1 qt water for a half hour. Rinse. Brush with olive oil and season liberally with a good  lemon pepper( or make your own ). Grill skin on or off filets on your gas grill or Weber with charcoal or wood, covered, until med rare to medium - 4 to 5 minutes -  and remove from heat. You do not have to turn them over. They will continue cooking a little more and will retain moisture.

         Make your fresh fruit salsa a half hour before you cook your fish. As the fruits macerate with the spices and herbs they all uniquely influence the salsa as they make their own juice. Dice up your favorite fruits - mangos, pineapple or cantaloupe as the base, plus strawberries, kiwis, oranges and/or others ( watermelon) with green onions, sweet and hot red peppers, garlic, chopped parsley, cilantro and lime juice. Stir gently a few times. You could add a little brandy or rum to this, too.

          Place salsa on top of fish and serve family or buffet style with additional salsa.
       

Corned Beef Hash w/ Eggs on Toast

            You've gotta start out with a photo on a food blog but my system is down right now so here's an older photo of a light gumbo or bouillabaisse style soup with shrimp and summer vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, zucchini , etc..., served over rice. I can't wait for spring and summer and the exhuberant ebullience of fresh vegetables and fish simmered in God's own broth.

             But today I am writing of corned beef hash with toast and eggs. To be honest I'd rather have the pictured soup right now, but earlier today I fried onions, sweet and hot peppers. potatoes and corned beef  in my black cast iron pan till tender and crisp and ate it over toast with an over easy egg on top. Irish heaven on the day before St Pat"s. 

          
        

Corned Beef Sandwiches

             The tender fatty succulence of a just cooked and sliced corned beef brisket on bread is the very definition of a sandwich. A pungent mustard and/or a horse radish mayonnaise makes it the perfect accompaniment to tonight's Mn state high school boy's basketball tournament.
  
             Brine your own brisket( BYOB) or get one already brined and packaged. The brisket will usually weigh from just over 2 lbs to just over 4 lbs. Rinse well, cover and simmer in water on the stove top or in the oven for an hour per pound at 300 degrees until fork tender. Luscious.
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Cooking with Vaseline

No photo for this one, but I flunked cooking merit badge as a boy scout when I cooked pork chops in vaseline petroleum jelly while on a canoe trip. I forgot the cooking oil and figured vaseline was slippery like the oil so I put some in the pan.  Hind sight says I should have roasted them on a stick over the fire or done them on a grill grate. I was 13 yrs old. I boiled coffee grounds in water for a half hour to make coffee. The counselor spit it out. He was attempting to reduce the taste of burnt vaseline ( tar ) from his mouth. It didn't work. I flunked.    

Pizza Margherita

          Tomato sauce or sliced tomatoes, garden basil and fresh mozzarella.. Done in the oven or on the Weber. Can't wait for summer. Having a hamburger and root vegetable stew tonight over smashed boiled red potatoes. Still over 2 ft of snow on the ground. Nati flies to San Diego tomorrow  to see sister Karis ( "her can't cook") and brother Johnny, sous chef at the Top of the Market. Wish I could go, too, and eat like they will eat.
          They don't have fresh seafood and sushi in Hillman and I'm 75 miles from a good pizza. What am I doing here? History, habit, good venison, gamebirds and fish, I guess. Not next winter after this long and brutal one. Winters like this can kill you as it did 21 or more this time around.

Grilled Salmon with Melted Butter, Dill and Chopped Hard Boiled Eggs

           I often  refer to this recipe involving chopped hard boiled eggs and melted butter as Norwegian hollandaise sauce. Tongue in cheek, of course. Add plenty of dill weed and some lemon juice to the butter and eggs and ladle over grilled salmon filets or steaks. It is luscious.Dill is such a natural with salmon. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, or Worcestershire sauce and capers to the basic sauce according to taste and inclination.
           Get wild caught Alaskan salmon, if possible, skin on or off. Soak in a solution of 1/4 cup salt to 1 quart of water for a half hour. This will remove the sometimes excessive "salmon" flavor and make it more family friendly. Rinse. Dry with paper towels. Paint with olive oil, season liberally with lemon pepper. Grill to a warm medium rare or medium and remove from heat. It will continue to cook a little. Mostly, you don't want to overcook salmon. The general rule of thumb for cooking  salmon is 7 minutes per inch of thickness to get it fully cooked. Do the math, and grill accordingly. If you get it right, it melts like butter in your mouth.
           You could also do this recipe with oven baked or broiled  salmon.
               

Shore Lunch - The Full Monty

          The potatoes, the beans, the fish all together. It is as good to eat as it is to go fishing. Every recipe has a history, every taste a memory. The largemouth bass that Dad fried in the cottage kitchen on Pleasant Lake, a flying squirrel sitting on his shoulder. Bass is still  my favorite fish 50 years later. It was also the first fish I learned to catch with proficiency, thanks to Dad; Live frogs in those days. The walleye at Balsam Grove Lodge on the Gunflint Trail, caught by 9 yr old twin boys with an old timer guide, Carl Brandt Sr, the owner of the resort. Mom hated fish, but she sure cooked it good that time. Innumerable walleye at Headquarters Lodge at all times of the day with family and friends all those years. Come on down, we'd say, we caught some and we're cooking walleye. Fried potatoes and corn relish, hush puppies. Tarter sauce. Broiled with Jamaican spices. Blackened. Deep fried crispy in a wine batter. Later I would learn to saute' the filets and finish them off with reduced wine and butter and herbs in the French way, the best of all.