4.5 days of fishing, drinking, and eating are complete. Burp. Let’s revisit before I forget the details:
If you catch a fish, remember to choke the shit out of it!
DAY 1: DRIVE-UP (Wednesday, May 16, 2018)
DINNER: Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce
- Sauce: I cooked the sauce ahead of time, froze, and brought in 4-cup plastic containers (1/2 gallon total) – worked perfectly. Bonus – the frozen meat sauce acted as ice packs in the cooler.
- Salad: I also brought-up prepared salad (romaine, cucumber, red cabbage, and grape tomatoes) in a bag ready to serve.
- Others: At the place, I cooked noodles and baked frozen garlic bread. Welcome to the northwoods, delicious Italian food! Afterward, we fished a bit – then there were cocktails.
DAY 2: FISHING AND DRINKING (Thursday, May 17, 2018)
BREAKFAST: Biscuits and Gravy
- Biscuits: I ended-up bringing half my kitchen up to the cabin because I didn’t
Biscuits and gravy taste good
know what they’d have. Turns-out, they were relatively well-equipped, but I’m glad I brought a pastry blender, biscuit cutter, sheet pan, parchment paper, chef’s knife, etc. I made homemade biscuits there, which tasted great, but the oven was producing some soot: there was a grayish/blackish dust on the biscuits. By the end of the week, we worked-it-out, but weird patina on biscuits.
- Gravy: At home, I have a kick-ass six-burner monster stove. I forget how you little people have to cook sometimes; the gravy took a little longer than usual to complete.
- Scrambled eggs: Because two biscuits slathered in gravy isn’t enough, I made a dozen scrambled eggs. With half & half instead of milk – better tasting and better for you? Who cares.
LUNCH: Sammies on the boat.
DINNER: Cassoulet
Cassoulet: The polenta soaks-up the juice
- Another “make at home” dish – I prepared the cassoulet Monday night and put into two gallon-sized zip-to bags (each double-bagged for safety). I just had to reheat – easy! I served over a helping of creamy polenta. Awesome!
DAY 3: DRINKING AND FISHING (Friday, May 18, 2018)
BREAKFAST: Scrambled Eggs w/ Bacon
- I have made the same three breakfasts for the past three fishing trips – because they all work and are the pinnacle of breakfasts. If the trip were longer, I’d make individual quiches as the fourth option – but for now, no one is interested in switching-out one of the tried and true top three.
LUNCH: Cigars and Orange Shandys
- Steak: These were prime rib eyes (omigod!), so the fat was well marbled throughout.
I miss this steak
We rubbed with a little canola oil and sprinkled-on “stolen*” Gibson’s Steak House seasoning mix – let sit for about 30-45 minutes. Cooked on a small Weber kettle until done – most prefer medium rare, but two wanted them burnt to a crisp (medium – which may as well be burnt).
- Bake: There were five of us, so I cooked 10 potatoes (5 for now, 5 for breakfast tomorrow). The oven was still sooting, a bit, so the potatoes were slightly darker than usual. I think the 400 degrees for 60 minutes eventually fixed-up the problem (you’re welcome, cabin owner)
- Corn: You like corn? Good, because a cooked 2 lbs of it. Frozen corn in a pot with a small amount of water. Heat, drain, butter, salt, eat.
- Onions & Mushrooms:
- Onions: I sliced three white onions and sauteed, in butter, for 45 minutes. They were great – I wanted a little more color (15 more minutes, perhaps), but they were great alongside the steak.
- Mushrooms: I sliced the mushrooms thick (3/16″) and sauteed them in some butter – in a skillet. They browned but retained their texture – another great addition.
- Béarnaise sauce: HOLY SHIT! Disclaimer: I had never eaten Béarnaise sauce… Now, I must have it all the time. What a perfect buttery, tangy, creamy thing! Get yourself into some Béarnaise sauce this instant! Pour some Béarnaise on your steak – and your potato while you’re at it (and then, all over your body… wait, what?!?)
DAY 4: FISHING AND DRINKING (Saturday, May 19, 2018)
BREAKFAST: Omelets to order + home fries
Omelet and home fries – cooking together – like brothers
- Omelet: I brought an 8″ non-stick skillet this year. Usually, I cook omelets in a 10″ skillet, but watched the omelet maker at the resort in Jamaica last December – she used a smaller skillet, and it made a faster/easier omelet. I can learn. I prepared ham, onions, green pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese in advance, and was ready to assemble custom omelets as needed.
- Home fries: Those 5 cooked potatoes from the previous night were diced and fried in a non-stick skillet – in a little butter and oil. When they took-on some color and texture, I added 1/2 onion and 1/2 green pepper – cooked until the vegetables were tender. Fry time!
LUNCH: Sammies on the boat + G&T
DINNER: Boeuf Bourguignon (or Beef Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy)
It was heaven
- Boeuf: Another dish made at home – double-bagged for safety. Reheat. Easy.
- Mashed potatoes: The recipe calls for egg noodles, rice, or boiled potatoes as the base – I like mashed potatoes. It was the perfect substrate, and that’s now the only way I’ll make and eat this dish. Awesome!
DAY 5: LEAVING (Sunday, May 20, 2018)
Time to go. Breakfast at Taco Bell – friggin’ culture shock.
COCKTAIL SUMMARY
Sure, this is a fishing trip, but I can only control two things: what we eat and what we drink. Might as well make them great!
- Bourbons:
- Woodford Reserve big bottle: we started with the biggest bottle – like punching the biggest inmate your first day in prison: you either get respect or get knocked down
- Maker’s 46: better than traditional “Maker’s Mark”
- Jefferson’s Straight Bourbon Very Small Batch: celebrate our 3rd president properly – with a cocktail. Also, it’s straight – good for heteros
- Russell’s Reserve: good for Manhattans – probably not alone
- Colonel E.H. Taylor: comes in a tube – great fun and 100 proof – yes, sir!
- Breckenridge Colorado Bourbon: smuggled across state lines, but we only finished half of this bottle 😦
- Vermouth:
- Carpano Antica Big & Little: I could have bought 2 big bottles, but that’s $80, and we didn’t need that much vermouth for the tip. Note: we almost ran-out…
- Gin:
- Bombay Sapphire: we used this to make G&Ts. With a lime wheel – nothing
Gin & Tonic – on a boat. A fishing boat.
better on a boat in the early evening. Fun fact: a 750 ml bottle is $22.99, but a 1.75L bottle is only $7 more
- Bombay Sapphire: we used this to make G&Ts. With a lime wheel – nothing
- Beer:
- Leinenkugel’s Shandy Sampler: contained Summer/lemon (traditional), Orange (preferred), Grapefruit (also nice), and Watermelon (too sweet – a good way to introduce children to beer – which you should never do!).
- Founder’s All Day IPA: false advertising – they don’t last all day – only about 15 minutes
- Shots:
- Fireball: we had ten (10) 99-cent Fireball shooters – mmm, cinnamon!
Quite a lineup for 2018
I’ll count this year as a 100% success – I didn’t forget anything at home, and all the food & drink were delicious. This will be a tough menu to top, but I’ll think of something for next year…
FAQs
- Why is the Gibson’s steak seasoning “stolen?” >> A few months ago, we went to dinner at Gibson’s in Chicago (awesome). They sell bottles of the steak seasoning in the front of the restaurant, but they also have a shaker on each table. Rather than spend $3, one of us stole the shaker. But, because he’s a doofus, the steak seasoning fell out of his jacket as we were leaving in clear-view of the hostesses and other front-of-the-house staff. Perfect crime failure.
It shouldn’t have been that difficult
Cook Like a Badass 