Give Me The Money , I'll spend it at the Bar

I went to a wedding last Friday at The Refuge in Oak Grove. Beautiful weather, great preacher that really personalized relevant scripture to the soon to be bride and groom, verdant landscape, geese in the distance, lowering sun, etc... . Ceremony not too long. Perfect.

Reception, dinner and dance immediately following in a spectacular post and beam constructed lodge type bldg reminiscent of Lutsen on the N shore of Lake Superior. I was impressed.

And then came the food. Iceberg lettuce - the bagged pre-prepared foodservice kind w/ the shredded carrots and red cabbage - plastic tomato wedges and of course, ranch dressing. Accompanied by a super market soft wheat roll.

Um - where's the dixie cup w/ the peanuts and mints was my first thought and then I went oh oh remembering that I ordered salmon.

Worse than expected. Way overcooked dry as a dead stick salmon topped w/ a cucumber dill creamy salad dressing. Under cooked carrots, decent skin on mashed potatoes, which I used to envelope the salmon so I could swallow it. The plate probably cost the father of the bride 20 or 30 bucks or more.

I would rather spend the 20 or 30 bucks at the bar. A relative, Jim, said he'd had worse food at weddings. He also said that in the south burbs its better, but as you get north the food gets worse. Even at these fancy places. Millions on the bldg and grounds and a pittance for the food and chef/cooks.Sad. Inexcusable, embarrassing, pathetic.

Family Friendly Chili

If you are going to make chili for your family and you have kids and they don't like beans like most kids these days it seems, use refried beans - your own or canned( w/o lard). They will not identify them by sight, yet you get the wonderful depth and heartiness of flavor as well as the health benefits of beans. Good for both of you. A twofer.

Serve the chili over brown rice or angel hair pasta. If you serve it over pasta, add allspice to the chili , as well as the usual suspects of chili powder, garlic, red pepper, bayleaf and parsley. Garnish w/ grated or canned parmesan cheese.

As a special treat serve it over polenta - seasoned corn meal mush - recipe on the carton of Quaker cornmeal - but add garlic and parmesan cheese to it. Simple, family friendly, delicious.

Perfect w/ a cabernet or shiraz or zinfandel or your favorite beer.

Salmon and Fresh Fruit Salsa Celebration

My sister is visiting from S California so I am cooking up a summer thunderstorm for her.

Wild caught Alaskan salmon is on the menu.I do it in the Weber. I use red oak, rather than charcoal.Oak is abundant here so why would I pay an exhorbitant price for Kingsford charcoal.

Start your fire in the Weber with birchbark - birch abounds hereabouts - and small pine branch kindling - if you live amongst tall pines as I do there will be plenty of small dead branches of pine on the ground. Add small and medium split oak and let the fire roar till you have a bed of red and white hot coals. Just like charcoal.

Finely dice fresh mango, strawberries, an orange, sweet red and green peppers and green onions. Add salt, black pepper, red pepper, garlic,chopped fresh parsley, cilantro and mint to the fruit. Add lime juice, balsamic vinegar and honey. This makes it a little sweet and sour. You can add any other fresh fruits that you have like kiwi, papaya,cantalope, honeydew, raspberries,etc... .

Put salt, black pepper and olive oil on the salmon filet(s).Grill over wood coals in the Weber for 2 or 3 minutes and turn, grilling for 2 or 3 more minutes. You do not want to overcook the salmon filets - med rare to med is fine. A general rule of thumb is 7 minutes per inch of thickness of fish till well done. Do not overcook. Err on the side of underdone.

Serve with fresh garden vegetables like green beans and zucchini sauteed with salt, pepper and garlic, and brown rice. Put plenty of the fruit salsa on the salmon and the brown rice.

Bruschetta - Year Round Summer Treat

If your tomatoes are not ripe yet and you are craving bruschetta with a tomato, basil, garlic and olive oil topping, use canned stewed tomatoes. If you dice them on a cutting board and lift them up off the cutting board with the french knife you have been chopping them with, they will not be too wet.

Place them in a bowl, add salt and pepper, minced fresh garlic, chopped fresh basil; stir, drizzle w/ olive oil.Serve w/ toasted french bread rounds that have been brushed w/ olive oil, garliced and toasted in the oven or on your grill.You may top them w/ finely grated parmesan cheese.

Stewed tomatoes are made with ripe harvested tomatoes and thus have that deep, rich round umami part of taste.We only get real ripe, tomato tasting tomatoes one month of the year in Mn.

Do you and yours' a favor and try it w/ stewed tomatoes. Luscious.

!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.