Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Fish Story! A Quick and Easy Recipe For An Unexpected Lunch.

   As a kid, my family and I spent many summers north of San Francisco at Lake Tahoe. Tahoe, if you've never seen it is a large freshwater lake that straddles the border of California and Nevada.


At the North Shore where we used to go, the water is deep blue and icy cold. Tahoe is the largest Alpine lake in North America, and the second deepest lake behind Crater Lake. When I was younger, the stories told about Tahoe were many including the fact that in certain parts it was mysteriously "bottomless."  This was enough to creep out the kids around the campfire, as who knew what might be living down there. Sea monsters, demons, the Loch Tahoe Monster? As it turns out something pretty damn big, which happens to also be pretty damn tasty....Mackinaw.

Lake Tahoe Mackinaw caught by Gene St. Dennis
   
   We were coming back from our morning walk with Patsy the other day when Leo, our neighbor from across the road popped out and asked us if we ate fish. Yes, I said. He then proceeded to give us an enormous slab of fresh caught Tahoe Mackinaw. He told me it looked and tasted just like Salmon. So, never one to look a gift fish in the mouth, I took it home and tried to figure out what to do with it.
    
   The first thing I did was look up Mackinaw in Google and read that it indeed tasted and looked like salmon. So I decided to see how people went about cooking this particular sort of fish. Mackinaw can be pretty fatty and in some cases can stink up the house (or so I read) so I decided we needed to cook this sucker outside. While Alan prepped the grill, I looked around to see what I had to work with in the pantry. Corn, maple syrup, prosciutto and spinach were all fresh. I'd been planning a different sort of lunch, not involving any of these foods but hey, when nature gives you mackinaw....

Lake Trout Cooked In Corn Husks


Here's What You Need:
1 lb of Lake Trout
1/4 cup of maple syrup
2 ears of corn
4 thin slices of prosciutto
salt to taste

Here's What To Do:
Preheat the grill to about 400 degrees.
Pat the fish dry, and remove any fatty parts.
Husk the corn and place the corn husks on a cookie sheet.
Place the fish skin side down on top of the corn husks and brush with a bit of the maple syrup.


Place the thin strips of prosciutto on top of the fish.


Place the cookie sheet of fish on the grill.


Close the lid and cook for about 10 minutes or until it flakes easily.
I also roasted the corn beside the fish.
Meanwhile I dusted 1/2 a lime with kashmiri chili.


When the fish is done. Remove it from the corn husks and serve it up. Rub the lime on top of the roasted corn... you don't need any butter. I served this with small gluten-free spinach tarts.


   Leo was right, the mackinaw tasted just like salmon and I didn't risk having a stinky fish house since all the cooking was done outdoors. I imagine the same technique can be used on regular salmon.  It was a fast, unexpected lunch from surprise fish and fridge and pantry items. Seems like my old Girl Scout motto, always be prepared does come in handy once in a while. Coming up next, more Indian food, a great prize giveaway from The Chaunk and GitaDini follow along on Twitter @kathygori
    

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