Fish Flash

OUT of TROUT

Speckled trout are running along North Carolina's coast, but my fishing line sure didn't snag one. What did I catch while out at Cape Lookout on a gorgeous, warm fall day this week - pre-Ida? A lizard fish.

We were at the beach to celebrate the hubby's birthday, and he loves to fish. His brother offered his boat, the wind was mild, the waves nil, so out the Beaufort Inlet we went, skirting Shackleford Banks to the Bight at Lookout. Along the way, we got up close and personal with a pod of bottlenosed dolphin, who enjoyed "surfing" between the hulls of our catamarin.

We also stopped and fished along the way, as well as within the bight. The Birthday Boy got skunked. I got a lizard fish. Other boats were reeling in speckled trout. We figured we needed cut bait, which we did not have.

I love speckled trout for its mild, sweet flavor, and tender meat. So I figured there is more than one way to catch a trout. On the way home to Raleigh, I stopped at a favorite fishmonger, B & J Seafood on HWY 70 in New Bern (252 637-0483), where Ray filleted two gorgeous specks for me. We discussed baking them whole, but decided that because they were quite big, it would be best to fillet and saute them. They filled my largest saute pan, and when I turned them, I goofed. Thus, I decided the above photo of the newly painted Lookout Lighthouse was more appetizing!

~~~RECIPE ~~~SAUTEED SPECKLED TROUT

No need to feel intimidated at cooking fish. Trout has a very delicate flavor and texture, so its preparation needs to stay simple. My advice is to just leave room in your saute pan to flip the fillets after the first side is browned! You might need to use two pans.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

1/2 cup flour

4 speckled trout filets

lemon

1. Heat equal parts butter and olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan, in a large saute pan over medium high heat.

2. Meanwhile, lay both sides of fillets in flour, then shake off excess. You just want a dusting.

3. When butter/oil is hot and sizzling, lay fillets with skin side up in pan. Saute until golden brown. Turn. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice over each fillet.

4. Continue to cook with the skin side down until fillet is cooked through, meaning no pink color, and flaky. But be careful not to over cook. Trout is very tender.

5. Carefully lift each fillet onto individual plates, and serve with slices of lemon.

WILD HORSES OF SHACKLEFORD BANKS

CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

I am not on a diet, although everyone would love to lose 10 pounds, right?
 I am not even balking at eating sugar.

The reason I haven’t made my famous Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies for a long time is because my dad died.

I made cookies for my ailing father a couple of times a month for the last seven years. He loved them. Hoarded them. Only shared with his visitors - like his granddaughters - when pressed to do so. Even my mother was rationed.

I took my last batch to him in August, the day he didn’t wake up from his nap. As I stood by his beside, I actually said, “But Dad, I brought you cookies.” As if that would make him roll his eyes and say, “just kidding.” Or grab the bag of cookies from me and hide them under his sheet. No, nada response. The cookies were still warm from the oven, unlike his cheek when I pressed my face to his. Sobbing, I took the cookies into the kitchen, where they were later devoured by his mascara-streaked granddaughters who sat in silence around the table.

IT'S ALL HIS FAULT

My dad was no gourmet. He loved fried bologna sandwiches. Boiled eggs. Runny scrambled eggs. Beef roasts with catsup. Steak and potatoes. Fried chicken. Biscuits or store-bought white loaf bread, served in stacks on the table.

When he quit farming but my mom still worked, he sometimes made supper. Like most men, he loved using a Crockpot. Open up any can and throw it in, then add any tough piece of meat without browning or fussing with it. Douse it with salt and pepper, them turn the sucker on high and let it rip.

You have to understand that he was a typical Southern farmer. The boss with a work crew of lazy kids and hard-working tenant farm families who were not allowed to be lazy.

He expected “dinner” at noon, prepared by my sister or me, or our Grandmother. I remember many summer days “topping” tobacco beginning at 7 a.m. and being told about 11:30 to get to the house and help make dinner. I’d throw whatever vegetables and a meat we had leftover onto the stove for a rapid-fire heating. Make a pitcher of sweet tea. Then after everyone else had sat and begun to eat, sitting down to eat myself, just like my grandmother had done before she gave out. Then, after eating, my dad went and stretched out on the floor in the center hall, where he could catch a breeze and a nap. I cleaned up the kitchen and dishes, just in time for him to get everybody back out to the fields.

So in a way, my dad is responsible for my interest in food and cooking. How’s that, given this history?

I decided that if I were going to have to cook for the rest of my life, I might as well have a good time with it. Explore different kinds of food. Become proficient at cooking. Have fun in the kitchen. Set challenges.

What I learned was that good cooking had immediate reinforcement. Folks like to eat well. Praise the Lord and praise my cooking, I’d pray. As I burned less and created more of a repetoire, I introduced some new ideas to the table. My dad put an end to that. Keep it meat and potatoes with a cake on Saturday and pie on Sunday. Thank heavens I married a man who loves whatever I cook for him, with the exception of peas.

COMFORT FOOD

No matter how my dad felt after the cancer started taking its toll, he still ate my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I like to think they offered him some comfort, a little enjoyment when pleasures were few and restricted to a hospital room or a bed.

I never realized how they offered me comfort, too. Those cookies were one way I could “do something” for him when even all of medical science was failing.

After he died, my cookie trays remained in the cabinet for weeks, then months. It didn’t occur to me that I had not made any since that fateful day. But then when we were getting ready to take a sailing trip, I thought I’d make some to take to our sailing buddy. As I creamed the butter and sugar, big old tears welled up in my eyes, catching me off guard. I was sobbing when I added the chocolate chips. By the time the first batch was out of the oven, I had figured out my sorrow. Grief has a way of catching you unawares, I have found.

I think I’ll make a big batch to take to the Finch Pottery Open House in Bailey on Sunday, where I’ll join my sister Amy and her husband, Dan Finch, and do some Christmas shopping and hopefully sell a few copies of THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK. Come and get a cookie.

NC Mountains to the Sea

CHANTERELLES are still in season, being foraged for a few more weeks from mountain forests and believe it or not, front lawns, from Asheville to Charlottesville. In the forthcoming THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, I talked with Asheville's MUSHROOM MAN, Alan Muskat, about searching for these tasty wild specimens, and also Chris Weihs, a former restauranteur from Charleston who now scours his property near Cashiers for all types of mushrooms.

At $29.99 a pound at Whole Foods last week, it'd be so much cheaper if you can find them yourself. Just beware that some wild toadstools are fatally toxic. Know what you're doing, or take a hunt with Muskat who leads folks into the woods to forage all sorts of wild mushrooms.

The above dish of wild mushrooms or just chanterelles with roasted apricots will be featured among 150 recipes in THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK. I'll keep you posted as to when/where it's available - hopefully in March.

In the meantime, purchase just a few ounces and saute them in butter. Yum! What a fall treat.

CAROLINA CRABS STILL HERE

Beautiful swimmers, our Blue Crabs, are still available at seafood markets by the basket or dozen. Or nicely cleaned in one-pound tubs.

Crabmeat is my all time favorite. Best way to cook it? Melt enough butter to moisten the crabmeat well, spritz it with lime or lemon juice, a sprinkle of Old Bay, and heat. Serve with toast points or how about just a fork???? Died and gone to heaven....

GREEN TAIL SHRIMP are still gaining in size and should be showing up in the Pamlico Sound within a few weeks.

I stopped at Atlantic Beach Seafood this past weekend and put in my order for my winter stash. I am all about eating fresh and local - and shrimp does not suffer from freezing, if it's done correctly. In the winter, it's so handy to have one-pound bags of frozen shrimp that do not take long to thaw.

Brown shrimp are still being caught just offshore around Morehead City and Swansboro. They range in size, but all are absolutely firm and delicious. Support NC's shrimping industry, and never, ever, eat imported shrimp!

WALL-EYED

The Carolina Foodie caught the largest wall-eye. Nanny-nanny-boo-boo. How does that sound for a grown-up after spending a week with your sister and brother in the Canadian wilderness of northern Ontario's lake district?

Along with two husbands, we arrived by float plane, 190 miles north of the border, the only folks to inhabit the four-mile long Lake Wilkie at a cabin powered by LP gas and solar panels. All food and drinks had to be flown in, under weight limits... how much does beer weigh?

Once there, we had four aluminum boats to tool around the lake with. Hiking was minimal, due to foot-deep moss which covered ankle-turning stone. But the fishing for wall-eye and Northern pike was terrific.

We had grilled fish five nights out of the seven. We had picnics on huge rocks lining the shore, with ghostly white aspens and firs reflected in the water.

And my siblings and I got to bond well, after our father had died just two weeks prior to leaving. The trip had been planned and paid for about a year in advance. Getting the three of us to commit was major. After Dad's death, we seemed driven to continue with our plans. So under the watch of a full moon, we talked and reminisced and figured things out around dinner and a campfire, re-capturing the bonds that genes had tossed together and left with renewed affection that goes beyond kinship.

Blueberries were prolific around the cabin and lake, so Amy and I gathered bowls full for blueberry pancakes and cobblers.

Limits of two fish per day per person were caught and cleaned, then grilled for our evening dinner, along with canned vegetables - not exactly gourmet.

We were told to take the fish guts out to a rocky point, where not just one, but three bald eagles landed daily and partook of the feast we offered. Later, they began to fly in each morning to stand sentinel in a tall pine, watching and waiting for a handout. Steve and I also saw a carribou cow swimming across the lake twice. During the dimming of the day, we took our boats to the middle of the lake and watched the sun set, then 180 degrees over, the glowing yellow moon rise and be reflected in the water.

We saw no bears, but saw evidence, through their scat, that they enjoyed blueberries, too.

SIMPLY GRILLED FISH

Fillet fish. Wall-eye and pike are full of bones; pike are slimy. Cleaning them is not for the squeamish, so I volunteered to cook. I tossed out this contribution to the task at hand, that if you are going to grill fish, there is no need to scale the skin.

Melted butter

Lemon

Salt and pepper

fresh thyme - yeah, go run out and get that when you're camping!

Preheat grill, and oil the grates with a paper towel swabbed in vegetable oil

Lay fish fillets, skin side down, on the grill. Spoon melted butter over, sprinkle with lemon juice, then salt and pepper to taste.

Close the grill cover, and cook for at least five minutes or more, until fish flakes when poked with a fork.

Eat immediately.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIA

JULIA CHILD is one of my heroes.

So on her birthday today, I'm adding my two-cups worth of butter to her tributes.

I was privileged to not only meet her, but to interact and have conversations with her on four occasions. The last time, as I approached her, she greeted me by name. I was thrilled!

She was in her 80s by the time I met her, and was a bit stooped. But, she loved my height - she also had measured 6 feet 2 inches at one time. Tall women have big feet. Shoes are a problem. So, the first time we met, we had an exchange about where we find shoes. The second time we met, she asked where I found mine, as she did on the third occasion. I later read that when she and her sister were teens, they decided if there was ever a house fire, they'd first throw their shoes out the window before they leapt!

The above photo was taken along with Anne Willan, who owned LaVarenne, the famed cooking school that was in Paris, then later Burgundy, where I was lucky to go one week more than a decade ago. We were at a food writer's conference at The Greenbrier. I had brought a stack of my Julia books for her to sign. When she saw they were all stained and dog-eared, she cooed, "oooh, they've been used! That's a good sign."

I loved watching her sit in front of me at this conference, nodding off while listening to a panel discussion. But then, all of a sudden, she'd pop her head up, raise her hand, wait to be called upon, and ask a question.....most times, to learn something new, not add her two-cents worth. At the time, I was astonished. After all, she was such an icon, and her she was, still learning and asking questions as an 80-something year old. I wanna be like that when I grow up!

And here's another little gem about Julia. I accompanied her to the ladies room once. When she emerged from her stall, she took a look at the counter of sinks. "Women are just so messy," she said. And with that, she grabbed several paper towels and proceeded to wipe down the entire countertop, not stopping until it was dry and gleaming. I was humbled, and to this day, never leave a mess in the restroom!

NEVER ADMIT A MISTAKE

Another time, she gave a cooking demo. Cooking chickens three ways, she roasted one at a very high temp, like Harold McGee had written about. That bird was called "Harooooold." Another was roasted as she writes about in one of her cookbooks, lathered with butter and stuffed with herbs. That one she called "Julia." The third way was cooked on top of the stove, like "Grandme-mere," she called that bird.

She almost did "it." You know, the famous Saturday Night Goof. She almost dropped the chicken on the floor. "OOOOOPs! " She cooed. We were rolling with laughter. "You know, I never did that. But it has been fun," she said, pointing a wooden spoon our way.

When she pulled "Grandme-mere" from the pot on top of the stove, it stuck on the bottom. That scarred breast was set up right on the serving platter. "It looks rather ugly," she tisked. But then she didn't miss a beat. While waving that spoon at us again, she looked straight out at us all, and said, "Never, ever admit a mistake. That's what parsley's for!" and with that, she picked up a bunch of the green stuff and stuck on top of the bird.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

My friend Della Basnight shares August 15th as her birthday, too. So does Princess Anne. When Della told that to Julia at a food/wine meeting, Julia replied, "And do we like her?" Della assured her that when the Princess was in Manteo for the 400th anniversary, she was a delight.

Tonight, I'm roasting some chickens in honor of my hero. My youngest daughter has just returned from a trip to Europe, where she hit six museums in Paris in three days. Hats off to her! And, the nicest woman in Strasbourg helped her late at night when she was lost, getting her husband and baby from bed to give her a ride to another section of the city where their hotel really was.

ROLE MODEL

Julia Child was in her mid to late 50s when her first cookbook was published. So am I.

Julia loved her life, loved exploring food, and loved her husband, Paul. Ditto for me.

Julia kept learning. She kept going when age slowed her down. She had a great sense of humor. I'm working on all of those, especially laughing more. HA!

Go see JULIE & JULIA. I loved it. Meryl Streep "got" her. Amy Adams is great in anything she does. We were all laughing, and I heard sniffles, too. When the movie ended, the audience bust into applause. It just made me so damned hungry!

THE OUTER BANKS

NO HATTERAS BLUES

There's nothing like traveling over 70 miles of highway, mostly surrounded by high sand dunes, live oaks and red cedars, to feel like you're going to the end of the earth. As we left the bustle of Duck, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head, through the Pea Island reserve, past the Bodie Island lighthouse, my pulse was slowing and a smile was showing. After a few pleasant hours signing my book, THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK, and a live broadcast with Moose on the local radio station at Waves, off we went to a favorite respite in Hatteras, right on the marina dock. I like working vacations like this.

The charter boat business has been slower than usual, but some folks are still enjoying a fishing foray to the Gulf Stream, what captains call "The Yellow Brick Road" for the amber sargassum that floats en masse, providing a nice shelter for wahoo and dolphinfish, this weekend's Catch of the Day. Mahi Mahi, Hawaiian for "strong-strong," is the more commercial name for dolphinfish so that it won't be confused with Flipper.

BUY FRESH, EAT LOCAL

Friday, I gave a cooking demonstration at the Duck town park, using mahi mahi in three recipes from my first publication, THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK. We grilled filets and served them with a pineapple salsa. We deep-fried some nuggets, according to a recipe shared with me by Capt Ernie Foster of the Albatross fleet in Hatteras. Then I sauteed some nice chunks in soy sauce, honey and fresh ginger and garlic. All three ways were quite tasty, my audience agreed.

Mahi mahi is a sweet fish. Before it's cleaned, it looks as though it has run into a wall, with a very snubbed nose. Gorgeous rainbow colors glisten along its spine, and those colors change from purple and green in the water to yellow and blue while on the dock.

We found Capt Ernie in his porch swing at his charter house on the dock, reading , as homework, the latest from author Jared Diamond. Ernie had gone to Vancouver to represent the local fishermen and to learn about Canada's ways to regulate the fishing industry. He wasn't too happy with where he sees US and state government regulations headed.

It's more imperative than ever for us, as consumers, to eat local, and buy local. Ask your fishmonger if the fish and shrimp were gathered in waters at least near our state's coast, NOT imported from Asia. Eat at restaurants who still care that the fish they serve is from local waters, caught by local fishermen on day boats, like Basnight's Lone Cedar on the Nags Head Causeway, or Cafe Atlantic or Pony Island on Ocracoke. You can taste the difference in freshness, and eating locally helps the local economy, not some foreign conglomerate.

RECIPE

Try the recipe below. If you buy the fillets already cleaned, it's FAST FOOD, served over orzo or rice.

SWEET GINGER AND SOY GLAZED DOLPHINFISH, from THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK: Recipes & Traditions from NC's Barrier Islands, 2008, ThreeForks, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

1/4 cup soy sauce

juice and zest from 2 limes (about 3 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1-inch cube of fresh gingerroot, minced (about 2 tablepsoons)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

four 4 to 6 ounce dolphinfish filets, skinned (or grouper, wahoo, or tilapia)

1. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, lime juice and zest, honey and cayenne.

2. In a large saute pan, heat both oils. When hot, add ginger and garlic, stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn, for just one minute. Stir in soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil.

3. Carefully add fish filets, skinned-side down, and cover the pan. Cook for abut 4 minutes.

4. Turn the filets over, and cook for an additional 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

5. To serve, place fish on plate over rice or orzo. Drizzle with the sauce, and serve immediately.

Serves four.

ODE TO LARD

ODE TO LARD

Isn't that one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen? A quart of pure, unadulterated, snow white lard, an amazing gift from a gifted baker.

Blasphemous to my quest for healthy living?

I think not. An indulgence, for sure. Lard, however, contains much less cholesterol than butter. Doesn't exactly make it good for you, though, does it? What fat does? As Julia Child said, "moderation." I eat fried chicken maybe twice a year, so big deal.

The big deal with this lard, however,was from whence it came. Fat from a whole pig was rendered low and slow - over two hours - in a baker's huge, outdoor brick bread oven. The pig had spent many happy hours foraging in an open pasture setting, NOT stuffed and fed grain inside a vastly crowded barn. Pasture-raised pigs tend to sport more fat, due in part from their breed and partly from their diet. Thus, there was an abundance of fat for the baker to deal with after he had slow roasted a very succulent loin of pork.

This generous man had prepared jars of this beautifully rendered lard and sold a few at the market, only to be given "cease and desist" orders from the Food Police since he did not have the proper permits for dealing with animals, only baked goods.

So when I visited during the annual Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project's farm tour, he confessed to baking more than bread. After I waxed poetic about flaky pie crusts and lard, he went inside and retrieved the above jar of beautiful lard, and with a wink, gallantly offered it to me. What a gift and an honor.

"Try frying chicken," he said. "It'll be the best you ever had."

So out came my grandmother's cast iron skillet and two plump chickens which I, raised right as a Southern girl, actually remembered how to cut up into frying pieces. I melted the lard, shook the chicken pieces in seasoned flour, and fried away, just like my grandmother had done. A huge after effect was all the grease splatters. I'm still cleaning.

But my Fourth of July chicken was the best ever. Crisp and succulent. My father gave it his blessing.

Now I can't wait to make a pie crust.

SQUASHZINNIE

Okay, so it's not the real name of this half and half veggie, but I can't remember.

But its taste was quite memorable.

Thinly sliced, then sauteed in olive oil until just tender, seasoned with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of fresh thyme and oregano, it was delicious.

Summer squash qualifies, in my book, as FAST FOOD. Quickly slice or chop, then slowly saute. Or, split in halves or quarters and heat over a grill until just tender, which takes less than five minutes. It's amenable to onions, garlic and strong herbs, or just fine with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Easy and fast. And, available at your local farmers market. These were purchased Saturday morning at the North Hills Farmers Market. Maybe it was the bluegrass band playing in the square that the squash responded to.