Sophie’s Lady Crab Cakes
We decided to make crab cakes with the four lady crabs we caught. These crabs are meaty and perfect for crab cakes. I followed a recipe for it but I think I will omit most of the the things next time and just use a …
Blog
We’re A Little Crabby
This week has been fun, learning about when and how to catch Snapper fish at the local fishing pier. We’ve been catching at least a few per day until today, when the super rough waters only came up with one. This one’s a decent size, …
Sophie’s First Fish
Let me preface this by saying that throughout my childhood and the majority of my adult life, I have never been able to kill anything on purpose (except mosquitoes) and the idea has always been greatly taboo not only in my upbringing (my parents are Buddhist) but because I loved animals so much I could never bring myself to do so, even for consumption. However, in recent years, I have started to change my way of thinking, especially in terms of sustainability, providing for oneself, as well as the ethical question of whether or not I should eat meat if I cannot take responsibility for the animal’s life. More important than all of those though, is teaching my children to provide for themselves in the event they have to in a life and death situation, and to be grateful as to where the food is coming from.
So today I took my children and did something that I have never done in my entire life–caught a fish, processed it, and ate it.
We went to the local bait and tackle shop, and got Sophie, at 4 years old, outfitted with a tiny rod (2 feet long, with her favorite movie motif–Frozen), hook, bob, and bait. We went down to the local fishing pier into the Great South Bay (we hit up Blue Point Pier as it’s a stone’s throw from home, but we had been to Mascot dock as well, which is 5 minutes from Blue Point Pier), where a whole bunch of nice, elderly gentlemen couldn’t wait to show Sophie how to fish. Thank whatever deity you believe in for them because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and with Martha on my hip, the possibility of teaching my oldest how to catch a fish by myself was low. They were more than happy to give pointers and to answer any questions we may have had.
For five hours we kept casting (she is surprisingly very good), and things kept chomping down on our bait but not sticking. It was unfortunate because the fish were literally jumping out of the water–we’d see them flip up and splash back down. We’d pull up half a bait here and there, and were so disheartened I called my husband to ask what we were doing wrong (his father taught him and his brother how to fish during their summer vacations.) We ended up going home and waiting for Adam so I could take Sophie again and use up all the bait we got.
He told us, as we were leaving, we better bring home a fish.
I don’t think either of us expected her to actually catch anything this time around–after all, it’s late in the day, the fish must be all full, but it was nice just to be able to spend some one on one time with her while Adam took care of Martha.
However, against all odds, she threw her little line and as she began reeling it in, something bit and started splashing around. I screamed and yelled, “You got one! You got one!” which made her scream and yell, “I got one! I got one!” and she quickly reeled it in while we both screamed our heads off. There were just some teenagers on their bikes nearby, and they looked at us like we were crazy.
We managed to calm down enough to get it off the hook and threw it into our bucket. By the time we finished marveling at it, it was dark, and for the next half hour, nothing, not even a ripple touched our line. A group of dads came by with their daughters as well, hoping to catch something and they took a look in our bucket and told us that we had, in fact, caught a snapper. A baby blue fish. Whatever that is. They said this size is good eating because when they get bigger, they get oily and very fishy. You’re allowed to keep 10 under 12 inches, and 5 more if they’re over 12′.
Sophie played with the kids a little and then decided to start heading back. I had been talking to her and preparing her for the fact that we were going to take it home, kill it, cook it, and eat it. She seemed somewhat hesitant but brightened when I said daddy was going to show us how. (He’d been telling me about how he knows all about fishing and had gleefully received my call so he could let me know everything I was possibly doing wrong.)
We walked in the house and she all but shrieked down the hallway, bouncing to Adam and begging him to “Hurry. Come see what we got!” The look on his face was disbelief, and then abject horror when we both looked at him, bright eyed and bushy tailed for him to show us how to process this fish.
“We… have to whack it in the head to kill it. Then we can filet it.” he said meekly. Was it our imagination or was daddy looking a little green?
Okay, I was really apprehensive about this part. I have never taken a life from a creature with a higher brain function than a crab, and for some reason, fish have always had a tender spot in my heart. (Probably because my nickname in Chinese happens to be “Little Fish.”) But I was willing to try. What would be the best way?
A mallet.
We don’t have a mallet. I then remembered an excerpt from a book years ago that said a quick and humane way to kill fish or rodents is to put them in a bag and quickly whack them against a counter.
Adam walked away after that, his heart too soft to watch me kill a fish. Sophie also wandered off as well, though I don’t know if she did so because she was afraid or if she was distracted.
I took a deep breath and hurled it against the counter with as much force as possible in my puny arms.
I’m not going to lie–it hurt me when I did it, and I’m pretty sure it emotionally scarred me, but I knew I had to do it fast and hard so that it wouldn’t suffer. I think it was an important step for me to come to terms with what I did.
Adam came out afterwards to help, and he whacked it again just to make absolute sure it was dead. Sophie also came out of hiding and began looking on in interest, even asking if she could help. I had her pull up a chair so she could watch while I worked.
The knife I had was not sharp enough, and for such a tiny thing, the skin was surprisingly difficult to pierce. I realized I was going to destroy the meat if I just continued to hack at it.
After much debate and realizing I wasn’t going to be able to filet it with my dull knife, I decide to simply gut it, scale it (Adam showed me how), and fry it up in the pan with butter, herbs, lemon, roasted tomatoes, and a splash of alcohol.
This is where the lesson for Sophie came in. After I scaled it and placed all of the ingredients on the counter, I told her we have to thank the fish for giving its life so we could eat. She solemnly thanked the fish, and while my back was turned, told me, “Mommy, I also bowed to the fish. Is that okay?”
This made me tear up and I told her that it was very nice, that it’s important to be grateful for where our food comes from.
(The recipe will follow soon)
After we cooked the fish, we gathered around and I took a bite. I’ll be darned but there is really nothing as tender, juicy, and flavorful as freshly caught fish. Adam, while initially wary, began eating, and then Sophie ate it too. She was a bit reluctant at first, but then she realized how delicious it was and kept asking for more. The fish was small, but we picked it clean.
I think the most important thing is that we all felt a sense of accomplishment as to being able to hunt and process our own food. I believe we gained valuable skills today, as well as possibly start supplying ourselves with essentially free protein.
Fish A La Sophie Recipe
- 1 Blue Fish (or more, if you managed to catch more), scaled and gutted
- 1/4 lemon wedge
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour or cornstarch
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Pinch of Salt, Pinch of pepper
- Herbs (I used rosemary, basil, thyme)
- 1 teaspoon white wine (or Jack Daniels which is what I used today)
1. Dust the blue fish with flour or cornstarch, salt and pepper. Set to the side.
2. Heat butter in a pan over medium high heat, careful not to burn, and place herbs in pan until fragrant.
3. Drop the fish in and fry until both sides are crispy and golden. Add cherry tomatoes and roast. Add alcohol.
4. Remove from pan, place on the plate with cherry tomatoes and squeeze the lemon wedge over it. Enjoy!
Dandelion Pesto with Tomato and Bread
One of the things I like to do most with dandelion is making a pesto. I’ll make it two or three times a year, usually in the spring and the fall when the dandelions are most tender. I pick the ones in the shaded areas …
Dandy Dandelion
Ah, dandelions (Taraxacum officionale), the bane of America’s sterile and homogenous grass lawns. It’s a pity people dislike it so much because it really is a wonderful plant, and in many parts of the world like Italy, it’s a common vegetable green. High in fiber …
Rosie Rosemary
A lot of sources will tell you that Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is only reliably perennial from zone 9 upwards, zone 8 pushing it, and zone 7 should be wintered indoors. This is where a location’s microclimate as well as choosing cold hardy varieties come into play–where I am on the south shore of Long Island, rosemary is a fine perennial as long as it receives some protection during the winter.
And by some, I mean not a whole lot. I simply have my rosemary close to the house, so that the house’s heat mass keeps it alive during the winter. I do have a few plants in an unprotected area of my food forest, and they survived last winter and the winter before, although they are smaller than the one close to the house.
Rosemary does tolerate partial shade (which is where I have all of mine), but it does best in full sun. It’s very drought tolerant, and prefers light and well drained soils in the slightly acidic spectrum. Most gardens should do fine with it.
I love cutting it and hanging them to dry, and using it as part of an olive oil dip or when I’m roasting chicken or beef or making stew. It really is such a versatile plant and no garden would be complete without it!
Recipes With Rosemary
Oven Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes
Fish A La Sophie
Seared Venison
“Sundried” Tomatoes, Garlic, and Rosemary In Olive Oil
Hearty Garden Bean Soup
Herb Butter From Scratch
Panzanella
Sundried Tomato And Mozzarella Salad
Mitsuba Parsley
Italian parsley is grown as an annual/biennial culinary, which means that it usually dies in its second year after it sets seed. That doesn’t make it suitable for my particular application of a perennial food forest so sometimes I decline to grow it, even though …
Egg, Tomato, and Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich
I am a fiend for sprouts, and I especially love alfalfa, which I often sprout at home during the fall and winter times. One of my absolute favorite ways of eating it is replacing lettuce in sandwiches with the delicious, slightly peppery bite of alfalfa. This can …
Sprouty Sprout Sprouts
Almost 2 years ago, I had been craving alfalfa bad. I was pregnant with our second and the desire for those delicious greens was hitting me hard. But as a pregnant woman, you’re not supposed to buy sprouts at the supermarket because it often has terrible bacteria from less than fresh growing conditions such as salmonella or e. coli which can be dangerous for you and the fetus. Not to mention alfalfa is oddly expensive for such little plants.
What could I do? I was dreaming of it every night, so I finally looked into growing my own. Recently, the whole microgreens and sprout industry has picked up, no doubt because people want closer and easier access to their own food.
The original way that people do it is placing seeds in a mason jar, stretching and tying mesh hosiery over the opening, and adding water then draining multiple times a day. That method was okay, but I found that if I didn’t do it every couple of hours, the sprouts would dry out and die. (I think the key to it not drying would have been to keep it mouth side down on the counter instead of right side up.)
Anyway, I’d have to be running five or six jars at once in order to get the same amount. In comes spouting trays. The idea behind it is simple: Stackable trays with drainage holes. You add a teaspoon of seeds to each level and then add water a few times a day, enough to rinse the seeds. Within 5 – 7 days, you’ll have delicious sprouts for your salads or sandwiches. The main thing is that you should have water rinsing through the seeds every so often so that they don’t rot/ferment.
I usually begin sprouting during the fall and winter, when leafy vegetables start getting expensive. I’ve tried alfalfa, radish, and cress, but I found that radish sprouts are too strong for my taste if I eat root and all, and unfortunately, the leaves rot when touched with water. I believe radish should really only be sprouted upright, instead of being rinsed, and then given a haircut whenever you want to use it (like in eggshells). I haven’t done that yet, but will be in the coming weeks.
The tray that I ended up getting was the Victorio VKP1014 4-Tray Kitchen Crop Sprouter which is sold on Amazon. I really like it and have not had some of the problems other people reportedly have with it (including not draining.) My only issue with this is that my next unit will definitely not be plastic, since I’ve started slowly removing plastic from our lives, but for the price, I can’t complain. With this particular sprouter, you should make sure to rotate which tray is on top every time you rinse so that each level gets fresh water at some point or another. They grow better and faster that way. I also replenish as each level gets depleted, so I always have sprouts just a day or two away. Once they are at the age to be eaten, I’ll put them in full sun for a couple of hours to green them up.
Sprouting is very rewarding to me, and delicious too! A 1 lb bag of alfalfa/cress is about $13-$16 and I’ve only gone through a third of it in the last two years, so it definitely is more than worth the cost.
Recipes with Sprouts:
Egg, Tomato, and Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich
Recipes with Sprouts:
Egg, Tomato, and Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich
Natto With Shiso
If the thought of slimy, gooey, pungent, fermented soy beans make you run the other way, this post is not for you. If however, like myself, my daughters, and a large population of Asia, the thought of you makes your mouth water and stomach grumble, …