Fishing trip complete, liver stabilized, let’s recap the trip.
Check-out that monster – and the big fish too!
Meals
Day 1 Dinner: Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread
Excellent. I prepared the lasagna sauce at home, but assembled casserole up at the place. Why? Because my fridge at home is too small to hold an over-sized pan of lasagna. I did; however, make an additional lasagna to leave at home to feed my family during my absence. Hero. There was also salad that I prepared and bagged at home – to be served at the place. Also frozen garlic bread that was heated in the oven. Full meal to begin the escapade.
Day 2 Breakfast: Biscuits & Gravy & Scrambled Eggs
This is the most favorite of all the breakfasts; no wonder it’s served first. Last year, the oven was producing soot, which negatively affected the biscuits (appearance, not taste). This year, the oven was operating properly and there was no soot. I pre-measured the baking soda and powder at home and brought in a little container – little steps make the whole thing easier… The biscuits turned-out great – maybe even better than most home batches. The gravy was excellent – per usual. I always serve scrambled eggs with biscuits & gravy, you know, to make sure you don’t leave the table hungry. No chance – we had plenty of energy to fish and drink all day. Mission accomplished.
Day 2 Lunch: Sammies on the boat
I usually can’t be bothered to make lunch, and day 2 was no exception. Another fisherman made sandwiches for all. But really, most of us kept full with beer.
Day 2 Dinner: Soup Sandwich (Cubanos & Chicken Soup)
Chicken soup was easy – I made it ahead of time, froze it, and brought-up frozen soup. Bonus: those blocks of ice kept the other foods cold on the 6-hour drive. I had never made Cuban sandwiches, though, and it was a fun experiment. A Cuban sandwich is ham, pork roast, Swiss, pickles, and mustard on a long roll cooked like a panini, but not necessarily with the grooves of a typical panini. I bought pork shoulder at Walmart in Wausau, WI and slow-cooked it all day (6+ hours) in a slow cooker that I brought from home, then shredded with two forks. Most Cuban sandwich recipes call for Cuban bread – go figure. That’s an impossibility in Northern Wisconsin, so I bought four soft french bread loaves and cut them in-half to feed seven fishermen. Split down the middle, slathered with mustard, few slices of honey ham, a sprinkling of the shredded pork, and a few slices of Swiss. I cooked them on a panini press that I brought from home. Fun fact: as I was packing, I dropped the panini press on the concrete basement floor and broke the bracket. Oops. The press still cooked ok, but the broken hinge made it difficult to operate. I threw it away afterward. Sad. The sandwiches turned-out great – definitely a worthy addition to the repertoire. Fun fact 2: we left the remaining soup in the pot while we went-out fishing at night. It was so fucking cold on the return, that I reheated the soup and served in mugs to warm us up. Then there were Manhattans.
Soup & Cubano staging on the stove – turned-out great!
Day 3 Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs w/ Bacon
Another great fishing trip staple: scrambled eggs combined with cooked bacon throughout. This was served with frozen hash brown patties cooked in the oven until crispy. Another meal designed to fuel the intense activity that is fishing & drinking.
Day 3 Lunch: Chips
Some of the sandwiches prepared the day before were eaten this day. Otherwise, there were chips and cheez crackers and other whatnots.
The perennial pinnacle of fishing trip dinners: the steak night. This time, I tried a new butcher shop: Kalck’s in Crystal Lake, IL. I ordered seven 20 oz rib eyes. EXCELLENT! They grilled-up great and were cooked to order (two medium+, two medium, and three correct – medium-rare). I also made baked potatoes. One per fisherman plus an additional one per fisherman for the following day’s breakfast. The was also cooked frozen corn (easy), sauteed onions (awesome), and sauteed mushrooms (also awesome). Like last year, I made Béarnaise sauce. But this year, it wasn’t my rookie season. Fresh tarragon was on my list of items that still needed to be bought. But, the Walmart in Wausau, WI didn’t have any. WTF do those cheeseheads eat?!? I bought dried tarragon and hoped for the best. In the end, it was a good sauce, but maybe a shade below last year’s appearance. Still excellent, and your feeble abilities wouldn’t have noticed a difference, but I cook for me. Next year, I’ll make the vinegar reduction at home, with top-shelf materials, and bring it together in the cabin. Problem to be solved!
Day 4 Breakfast: Omelets to order + Home Fries
The hardest part of making omelets is the mise en place – the preparation of all the fixins that can, potentially, be included in your breakfast. This year, you could choose onions, green peppers, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese – full Denver*+ treatment. I cut-up five of the seven left-over baked potatoes prepared the night before – seven were too many. I baked those in the oven to make sure they were heated (all night in the fridge) and dried-out. Then cooked in a skillet with 4 Tbs of butter and 1/2 onion and 1/2 green pepper. Delish. Served alongside a custom-made omelet made for a kick-ass breakfast!
Day 4 Lunch: Can’t remember
It rained all this day, so I think we just bummed in the cabin and ate snacks.
Day 4 Dinner: Polish Smorgasbord
Three of the seven fishermen left for home after omelet breakfast, so the smorgasbord was a romantic affair – just like the typical Polish meal. I planned to make Pirogi, but those were not coming-together well the night before leaving, so I said “fuck it!” and we had to make do. Good thing there was plenty of food: golabki, miserable cucumbers, 2 lbs of fresh Polish sausage from the Crystal Lake butcher, sauerkraut, and pickled beets. Everything was great, and the landslide of cabbage was good fiber for digestion. And farting.
Day 5: GTFO
No meals served on day 5 – that’s when we drove home. Stopped at the McDonald’s in Minoqua, WI for predictable breakfast. I think they put sugar in my coffee – shit.
Drinks
For the Lasagna dinner, we brought wine – 2 bottles. Somehow, we only drank one bottle, so had the second with the steaks. Otherwise, this was a beer + Manhattan trip + vodka + gin.
Beers included Coors light and Leinenkugel Shandy Samplers. This is the second year Leinie’s includes the Watermelon Shandy in the sampler – definitely last place. I miss the Ginger from a few years ago – that was decent with a spicy ginger bite at the end.
When the mountains turn blue, pound it down!
For Manhattans, we had an assortment of bourbons: Woodford 1.75L; Russell’s Reserve; Maker’s 46, Four Roses, and two others that I can’t remember. The vermouth was tip-top: Antica. Then there were orange bitters and Luxardo cherries. This year, I pre-mixed the Manhattan (bourbon and vermouth) in a glass bottle with a rubber stopper and chilled in the fridge all day. At Manhattan time, I poured some into the shaker with some ice and added bitters. This was 1) easier and 2) kept the mixture colder and melted less ice. A great idea that I’ll begin implementing in-general.
For vodka, there were a few fishermen making vodka cocktails with ginger ale varieties. Ok. I made a few bloody marys, which were nice in the morning.
For gin, there were a few gin & tonics in the boat – nothing like a G&T on a boat!
Oh, I also brought 21 Fireballs, but we only drank 7. Pathetic.
FAQs
- What’s in an “official” Denver omelet? >> I checked the internet, and it appears that the Denver omelet should include ham, onion, and green pepper. Other sources include mushrooms. I hardly ever see one with cheese in the wild, so I typically order “Denver & cheese omelet” when breakfasting. But “official” and “Denver” don’t travel together since January 2014 – when pot became legal. Good luck on your memories, potheads!
Cook Like a Badass 