Along a similar vein, I smoked up some Kokanee salmon that I caught yesterday. Tonight’s dinner will be bagels with these beauties, fully dressed:
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Viet style rice noodle salad with lemongrass beef and pickled vegetables. Mom had trouble with the rice noodles, because they are slippery. Ate about half then insisted she was too full to finish. She had plenty of interest in a dish of salted nuts and chocolate chunks though.
Frustrating day today, but the salad was delicious.
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After reading Jason’s post on artisanal corn dogs, this headline in the local news caught my eye:
ChoriPop: Chorizo by The Herbivorous Butcher dipped in a classic corndog batter, deep-fried on-a-stick with choice of avocado salsa or mole sauce drizzled on top or on the side. Served with Mexican BBQ chips. (Vegan)
(Lots of tasty-sounding new foods for the Fair this year, kind of makes me wish that I was one of those people who enjoy going to the fair.)
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Maybe you can get a task rabbit to go grab you a sampler of offerings? Some of those do sound good. Vegan chorizo corn dog with mole sauce? Yes, please!
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Hey, now that you mention it, one of my best friends and my in-town sibling both love the Fair so much that they each go multiple times each year (except for last year, of course; no Fair)—maybe I could put in an order with one of them 
I have been to the Fair occasionally over the years I’ve lived here, but most years not. Each year the attendance numbers make a new record. Last year for the pandemic, with the Fair itself cancelled, they set up a one-way drive-through involving some of the most-loved food booths, so people could still get their fix of Fair food and support those vendors. This year I can’t help thinking, with the Delta variant surging now, who knows what life will be like by the end of August and whether it will be wise to attend, vaccinated or not.
That chorizo corn dog does sound good, though, doesn’t it? As I recall, @ugh has recommended The Herbivorous Butcher (local Minneapolis makers of the chorizo).
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I’m with you. Last time I went to the Maine Common Ground Fair, which is an amazing, awesome event, the food area was so crowded I could’ve crowd surfed through it. The lines for some of the food stalls are epic. I think some of those vendors might keep their entire farm alive based on that one long weekend. But it’s totally not my scene. If I do go, I stick to the edges - the working dog demonstrations and plant walks and orchard tours.
But back to food - it’s not fair food but I just got my fishing license and a rod and reel today so hoping to be posting some delicious fresh fish in the future. I’m starting from scratch and know nothing, but I’m hopeful. We go out in the canoe so often anyway, I figured I might as well try to catch dinner occasionally.
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so exciting! another fisherperson! can hardly wait to see what you cook up!
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I’ll trade you a delicious hot oil recipe for some freshwater (or just general) fishing tips… 
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my friend down here has a YouTube “catch and cook” (the cook makes this topical) channel where he takes the viewer through baits, lures and how to rig them, to locating, landing and cleaning your catch. then to the kitchen to try out different ways to prepare.
try looking for YT posts using “catch and cook [location]”.
I am looking for my simple, yet wildly flavorful fish poach. will try to amend this post when I find it.
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River or lake?
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Both, but this weekend we’ll be on a little stream out in a boat. Most of our paddling is on lakes, but we’re also right on a river, so I hope to go out there some, too. Thanks for any and all tips! I got a cheapo rod/reel set up since I’m so new and didn’t want to spring for something pricey then find out I hate this. But it’s open reel, and seems to cast nicely in my practice so far.
So that I’m not totally derailing the thread - this week’s pasta salad is a pound of rotini with all the leftover thai basil pesto from last year (a LOT, so, yum), mixed with some cajun/cayenne baked shrimp. Adding a bit of lime or lemon at serving time makes it chef’s kiss good.
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I will stick to the culinary aspects as much as possible.
Small streams I like to use spinners like the Panther Martin teardrop in sizes 2, 4, and 6, stick to the classic black/yellow spot body and copper or gold blades. For trout, cast it in areas with deep current and overhead cover like bridges and under trees. Smoke the trout, or grill in foil gutted but whole with spring onions and butter in the cavity.
For smallmouth bass, cast larger spinners in current seams with rocky structure or along weedy edges. Grill bass filets with spices for fish tacos. They aren’t firm enough to hold up to deep fry.
You’ve got pickerel in your area, and a lot of people throw them back because they are bony. But they taste amazing if you learn to filet them correctly. Treat pickerel filets like walleye and you won’t go wrong. They have sharp teeth that can cut your line, so a 12” wire bite leader with swivel keeps you from losing too many lures. Larger spinners and small Rapala plugs should do the trick for pickerel along weed lines.
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Roasted a duck and made risotto style orzo in broth with Parm and a splash of cream to finish. The carcass will become part of the mixed stock that I use when we fire up the hotpot. I’ve saved all of that delicious duck fat too, you betcha!
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That sounds fantastic! We roasted one a while back with sour cherries and homemade plum sauce to garnish. Just finally made stock from that carcass and a bunch of other odds and ends last weekend and it made the whole house smell delicious. And yes to duck fat! The gift that keeps on giving.
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I’m in for this. 
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Pasta putanesca based on Anthony Bourdain’s Naples episode of No Reservations. I added sardines at the same time as the anchovies to get some more protein in there. They dissolved almost as readily as the anchovies into an amorphous gravy with the split grape tomatoes.
Featured pasta is fresh bucatini.
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Three pounds of green beans from the garden.
If anyone has any tried-and-tested pickling suggestions I’m all ears!
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I do it with duck fat. Sooo good with potatoes. I picked up several pounds of duck breast from Hello Fresh. ($14/pound). I keep a jar of rendered fat.
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I forgot to ask earlier - zest or juice (or both?)
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