Tomorrow's Lunch

I remember my first fishing trip; I was eleven years old and my dad decided to take me on the “annual” fishing trip after making much commotion about not being able to go, as I was a girl. Well, off we went on a Friday night (my brother came too) to a lake that was pristine, but also three hours away with a house that had no heat or plumbing! My adventure left much to be desired; I spent the weekend complaining about the cold and the rampant smell of farts that was coming from my brother (yes, I got my first taste of the “Dutch Oven” on this trip!). That was the last time that I attempted to fish. Many years later while living in the British Virgin Islands, I took up fishing again and enjoyed it! Perhaps it was because it was hot, and my brother was nowhere in sight. I mostly caught small, tropical fish that I didn’t want to eat, but my love affair had been sparked.

When I met my husband, one of my qualities that I told him about was my ability to fish; so as a Valentine’s gift, he got me a fishing rod. I have yet to use the rod (I always forget to bring with me), but when we went to Cape Breton a while back, he asked me if I would like to go mackerel fishing. Well, of course I did, and off we went on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Our hosts offered me a rod, but I opted to fish with a traditional hand line, something that I had never done before. Fun! Here I was, off the coast of Cape Breton, fishin’. Doug had never seen me in action, and I think he was slightly skeptical as to whether I not I could actually a fish. A few minutes later, my jigging payed off and I caught 5, count em’, 5 mackerel! I took them off the line and dropped into a bucket for grilling later.

I don’t have a specific recipe for these bejeweled beauties; we usually clean them, then grill them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Some people find the flavour to be too strong, but I find dipping the grilled flesh in some citrus aioli to be the perfect balance! Pair this with a crisp white wine, such as a l’Acadie Blanc, and you are off to the races.

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Crab!

I can count on my fingers and toes how many times I have been asked to put a crab cake on one of my menus. I had them on my menu at the Five Fishermen for quite a long time, and after feeling blase about these bad boys, I decided to turn over a new leaf and create a new “cake”. My salt cod cakes were smashing and went very well with my salsa verde, but over and over again, I would get the request for crab cakes. “Crab cakes?!” I would yell, and tell the server that there was no way in hell that I was going to give in to the customers. I know, they are always right, but they needed to broaden their horizons! So, after a few weeks of hair pulling and nail biting, I relinquished my salt cod cakes, and those crabby concoctions made their way back onto my menu.

On a recent trip to Cape Breton, our host, Duper, was very excited to tell me that his father had some Snow Crab and was eagerly awaiting my arrival so I could whip up a batch of somethin’-somethin’. Oh no, my nemesis, the crab cake was suggested. Okay, I like Duper and his wife, Katrina, and I was smitten by his father, Billy, so I put my feelings aside and whipped them up a batch of my super-duper (get it, Duper) crab cakes. I called them my 4 C’s (My Caper Crab Cake Creation). Here is the recipe for my 4 C’s, and I only hope that you get crab as fresh and delicious as I got, courtesy of one Billy MacDonald and his brother Harold.

My 4 C ‘s

• 1 lbs picked over crab meat; strained of any liquid
• 1 lbs new potatoes; boiled
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• zest of 3 lemons
• salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes with their skins. Once cooked, roughly mash and let cool slightly. Add all the other ingredients and mix by hand. Taste for seasoning. Shape into cakes (I use a small ice cream scoop), and fry up in a pan with a little oil until golden brown.

Click to enlarge.