Here’s the story of what happened with the food on the drinking fishing trip…
We had easy-access to the tiki bar right off the back porch
Day 1: Arrival (Thursday, May 14, 2015)
Dinner: Chili
- Delicious, as you knew it would be. Not too spicy. Topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and oyster crackers. In the middle of the night and the next morning, there were two casualties, but I think that was more from the drinking than from the chili.
Day 2: Fishing and Drinking (Friday, May 15, 2015)
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
- Perfect. I forgot to bring the shortening, so these were all-butter biscuits, which was fine. I forgot to bring the biscuit cutter, so I improvised with a measuring cup, which worked ok. I forgot to bring a whisk, which made the roux-making a little more difficult than usual, but that worked-out ok too. In the end, we were all filled-up and ready for a day of sitting on a boat fishing and drinking.
Lunch: I don’t remember lunch… Beer maybe?
Steak + bake. Part of the picture is blurry, but to me, the whole trip looked like this. Thanks, bourbon.
Dinner: Steak and Bake
- Instead of cooking the steaks in a cast iron skillet, like the recipe suggests, these were charcoal-grilled steaks. If you do it right, they are just as good (and can sometimes be better) than a skillet steak. The key is super-high heat, just like in the iron skillet! There were 5 of us, so 3 medium-rare, 1 medium, and 1 medium-well for our special lady friend 🙂
- In addition to the steaks, there were baked potatoes. How? Baked potatoes are easy:
- 1) Wash and dry the potatoes. 2) Pierce with a fork or sharp knife. 3) Rub-on some canola, or other neutral, high-heat cooking oil. 4) Sprinkle with kosher salt. 5) Bake in a 400 degree oven, directly on the rack, for 60 minutes. 6) Done and done.
- I made 10 potatoes: 5 for dinner and 5 for the following breakfast. Cook smart, dumbass!
- Plus frozen corn cooked in the microwave
Day 3: Drinking and Fishing (Saturday, May 16, 2015)
Mise en place: it’s a fancy French phrase for “getting all your shit together.” While I was making the omelets, I was preparing the filling for that night’s lasagna. Why? Because I’m a goddamn pro.
Put all the fixins’ in the pan (except the cheese) and cook in some butter until warmed-through and softened. THEN add the eggs and make the omelet.
Breakfast: Omelets to order + home fries + breakfast beer
- Omelet:
- For the omelets, I wanted the ability to make a Denver omelet, so I had ham, green pepper, onion, tomato, and mushrooms ready to go – plus cheese, but “cheese” isn’t a standard Denver omelet ingredient.
- I cut the omelet fixins’ into small pieces and segregated them into bowls – mise en place, bitches!
- When a fisherman was ready to eat, I asked, “What’ll you have?” Then tossed those ingredients into a shitty non-stick frying pan with some butter. After 30-60 seconds, enough time for the ingredients to take-on a little heat, I ladled-on some eggs (these were 3-egg omelets). Let the eggs set in the pan (~2 mins), use your heat-proof spatula to lift the edges and allow some egg mix to find its way to the pan to cook the omelet faster. When the omelet is ready, add cheese if they like, then fold in-half, carefully. Let cook on that side for ~45 seconds and flip. Cook on second side for another 45 secs, then evacuate to a plate. Voila, omelet. Repeat for the other gentlemen.
- Home Fries:
- Basically, “home fries” are just potatoes fried-up in a pan with some onion and green pepper. I used the pre-cooked potatoes from the night before (remember the bumper-crop of baked potatoes I made?)
- Cut those into bite-sized chunks. Use some of the onion and green pepper you prepared for omelets (probably 1/2 onion and 1/2 green pepper)
- In a large non-stick skillet, cook the potatoes in a little oil/butter until they are getting slightly crisp. Add the onion and green pepper and continue cooking and flipping, flipping and cooking until the potatoes look good-enough to eat. I like ’em crisp, but I also like tender centers. I am an enigma.
Good way to get your vitamins
- Juice? No one wanted to bother with bringing/drinking orange juice, so we had Orange Shandys. If I had to choose a breakfast beer, it’s this one.
Lunch: Sammies in the boat.
Sammies in the boat
Dinner: Lasagna + salad + garlic bread
- Lasagna:
- I made the sauce at home before we left. Fun fact: I finished the sauce at 4:30 in the morning the morning we left. I made a double-batch – that way I’d have one pan of lasagna for the gentlemen up north and leave one pan with the family so they wouldn’t starve in my absence.
- Pro tip: make the lasagna in a disposable foil pan. Full flavor, no clean-up.
- Lasagna turned-out awesome.
- Salad:
- Simple salad: romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and shredded red cabbage (it’ll help you stay regular)
- Garlic bread:
- Bought a frozen load of bread from the grocery store – don’t over-complicate things
DAY 4: FISHING AND DRINKING (Sunday, May 17, 2015)
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs w/ bacon
- For the final breakfast, just keep it simple. Cook-up some bacon in small pieces – set aside. Cook-up some scrambled eggs. When the eggs are mostly set, stir-in the cooked bacon and finish cooking the eggs. Done and done – on to better things.
Lunch: Beer & cigars
- Sunday was a rainy day – I think much of the cigar smoking was curtailed, but there were plenty of beers.
Dinner: Mixed grill & walleye + beans
- The plan was to cook-up the fish we had caught: the burgers and brats were just in-case. In the end, we had too many cocktails to safely filet the fish we caught – it was burgers and brats and beans.
- The next morning, before leaving for home, the fish were given their freedom – I will catch them again next year (probably).
Cocktail Summary
We sacrificed a portion of the kitchen counter for space at the bar
Last year, we focused on Manhattans – and had a great time. This year, we wanted to continue the tradition, but augment the good times:
- Bourbons:
- Woodford Reserve: complete
- Blanton’s: complete
- Eagle Rare: complete
- Knob Creek: complete
- Gentleman Jack: complete
- Jack Daniel’s (375ml): complete
- Rye:
- Templeton Rye: complete
- Scotch:
Boston shaker: ice + booze. Shake shake shake. Done.
- The Macallan: 2/3 complete
- Gin:
- Bombay Sapphire (king size): 2/3 complete
- Vermouth:
- Carpano Antica Formula (375ml): complete
- Carpano Antica Formula (750ml): 2/3 complete
- Noilly Prat: just a little was used for gin martinis
- Beer:
- Coors light (case): complete
- Summer Shandy sampler (case): complete
- Home-made beers: 12-pack, or so, complete
We were in no danger of dying of thirst…
I was in-charge of bringing the cocktail shaker, which I forgot. So, I made a ghetto northwoods Boston shaker out of two plastic cups from a restaurant. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Cook Like a Badass 