Jimmy the Geek

Zuurkool Stamppot...

OMG! I've died and gone to heaven! Sylvia, my good Dutch friend encouraged me to make Zuurkool Stamppot, basically mashed potatoes with sauerkraut. It's a traditional Dutch farmers dish and a very welcome change from today's microwaved dinners.

Very easy to prepare... I didn't even have a recipe. I peeled and boiled six medium sized potatoes along with a small jar (16oz/473mL) of sauerkraut. Added some sea salt and a few peppercorns for flavor and let it cook until the potatoes were softened. I drained all the liquid from the pan, added some butter and stamp, stamp, stamped until the potatoes and sauerkraut were well mashed. I cut some bacon up into small pieces, fried until crispy, and stirred the bacon into the potatoes and sauerkraut. SOOOO GOOD!!!

While the potatoes and sauerkraut were cooking, I threw a beef smoked sausage ring on the BBQ. The true recipe calls for a Dutch wurst like a rookwurst, but I didn't have that here. Next time!

Halibut!

What I learned this weekend...

Hauling a 56-pound Halibut from 300+ feet off the ocean floor is HARD work!

My son, two son-in-laws, and I went out on a Halibut fishing charter over the weekend.  Just the four of us and Ken, the skipper.  What a blast!  All of us had been wanting to do a trip like this for some time.  So I decided it would be a great Christmas present for all.  The hard part was waiting from Christmas until July 8th when we were scheduled!

We launched from the Neah Bay Marina located on the Makah Indian Reservation at 5:00am and cruised for two-and-a-half hours to a spot about 35-miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean called The Halibut Nursery.  We were fishing in 300-350 feet of water in Canadian waters off Vancouver Island.

The boat limited out with ten halibut.  We had at least three in the 50+ pound range, with the rest thirty to fifty pounds.  At first we were a little discouraged with the size, but after a half-hour fight hauling each of them in... we were definitely OK with it!

We also got a couple Ling Cod, which make great fish and chips.  I pulled up a Black Cod, but gave it to Ken.  They are super oily and the only way to prepare them is to smoke them.  Ken told us that it's dangerous to smoke them because the can actually catch fire!

The trip definitely wore us out, but is was well worth it.  The seas were not bad, although there were constant swells and rollers that made it difficult to keep your balance while trying to reel in a fish that doesn't particularly like the idea of surfacing.

Good eatin'!