Cheryl Wixson's Kitchen

Norway Lake Fried Bass with Herbs

The best part of ice fishing is the fish! The crew spent the week-end tending flags and setting bait. One pickerel went to the the eagle, many went back into the hole. This bass my husband caught was cleaned and put on ice for us to enjoy.

To clean a fish: Lay newspapers on a counter or flat surface. Cut a gash in the underside of the fish with a sharp knife or shears, slitting from the head to the anal opening. Cut the entrails at the throad where attached and remove them. Rinse under running water to remove any clotted blood clinging to the backbone. Wipe out the inside with a paper towel.

To skin a fish: Cut off a narrow strip of skin along the entire length of the backbone. Loosen the skin on one side from the bony part of the gills. If the flesh is quite firm, the skin will peel of easily. A softer fleshed-fish, you may have to work slowly and carefully, pushing the skin away from the fish with the knife. Turn the fish over and skin the other side.

To filet or bone the fish: Beginning at the tail, run a long, sharp knife (a deboning knife is the best) under the flesh close to the backbone. Follow the bone for its entire length, making as clean a cut as possible. Cut away the flesh, laying the knife flat, and lift it off in one piece, if possible. Turn the fish over and repeat the process. Pick out any small bones.

Norway Lake Fried Bass with Herbs

Canola oil for frying
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon dried herbs (we used Stonewall Kitchen’s Seafood & Veggie Spice Rub)
1 to 1 1/2 pounds white fish filets cut into small pieces

Heat some oil in a wok or large fry-pan over medium heat until about 350 to 375 degrees.

Mix the all purpose flour and the herbs in a plastic bag. Add the fish to the flour mixture and shake it to coat each piece evenly. Set the dredged pieces aside.

Working in batches, fry the fish until golden crisp, turning, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve on a heated platter with tartar sauce.

Rabbit Hill Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Rabbit hill relish, drained
3 tablespoons Rabbit Hill capers, drained

Combine in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until combined. Taste and correct seasonings. Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Tartar Sauce is really just a mixture of mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and capers. We make our own relish and can it for the long winter. Capers are berries. They add a salty, not-so-sweet depth to the sauce. Available in the supermarket, I prefer to make my own. All summer, I harvest the seeds from my nasturiums and pickle them in a jar…specifically to make Rabbit Hill Tartar Sauce. More about this in the summer!

Bass filets ready for dredging

Family Gatherings are a time to enjoy good food

My cousin Kurt and his family were visiting Maine last week for some skiing and good times. We all (seventeen of us!)joined them at camp on Saturday night for a family celebration. Menu included:

Rabbit pate on toast points with apple slices
Clam Fritters with tartar sauce, cranberry ketchup and peach salsa
Sunset Acres Farm goat cheese on Flip’s homemade crackers
* * *
Meaty Chili (made with King Hill beef and lamb, and Hamilton Farm spicy pork sausage)
Root Cellar Slaw dressed with Smedburg Farms smoky bacon dressing
Cornbread made with Jen’s freshly ground cornmeal
Suz’s country creamery farm butter
Apple Gingerbread
Quill’s End Farm whippped jersey cream

Yes, the inspiration and supplies for this menu all came from my stores, root cellar, preserves and freezer. Kind of like Thanksgiving in February!
We love to share the wealth with our family and friends…and folks are always willing to help out to lighten the load. I’ve included some recipes.

CLAM FRITTERS
Every Down East family has its favorite recipe for these
delicious morsels. This one was given to me by Tricia, head of
Food service for the Island Nursing Home.

1 egg
3 tablespoons canola oil or melted butter
1 cup liquids (usually ¾ cup clam juice and ¼ cup milk)
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt to taste, start with ½ teaspoon
1 cup finely chopped clams (use food processor)

In your measuring cup, whisk together the egg, oil or butter and liquids. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the liquids and fold in the clams. The batter should be thick…like a thick muffin or cake batter.

Preheat at least 2 inches of oil to 370 degrees. Drop tablespoons of the batter in the oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning with tongs. Drain on paper towels and taste the first fritter for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper to the batter if necessary. Continue to fry a few fritters at a time until done. Makes about 36 fritters.

Clam notes: The best clams to use are quahogs…or what some folks on the island call hen clams, a very large, meaty clam. These clams are dug during a very low, low tide, when the moon is either new or full. The combination of the right weather, day light and tide yield only about 6 times a year we can harvest these clams. When we do, I freeze one cup jars of clams to make fritters all year!

APPLE GINGERBREAD SNACK CAKES
This is a wonderful snack based on a very old recipe for hot-water
gingerbread. The chopped apples give these cakes extra moistness
and a wonderful flavor. Apple Gingerbread Snack Cakes freeze well also.

¼ cup canola oil
½ cup applesauce
1 egg
¾ cup molasses
1 cup hot water

2 ½ cups whole meal flour (available in health food stores or use whole wheat)*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

3 medium apples, cored, unpeeled, chopped in the food processor

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease or spray 60 mini muffin tins or a 9” by 13” baking pan.

In a small bowl, beat together the canola oil, applesauce, egg, and molasses. Set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the whole meal flour, cinnamon, ginger and baking soda. Fold in the chopped apples. Mix in the molasses mixture, then stir in the one cup of hot water. Bake in 375 degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15 – 20 minutes. Let cool on a rack for a few minutes, then remove from the muffin tin. Makes 60 mini muffins. Bake about 40 – 45 minutes for cake.

Nutritional analysis per muffin serving: 44 calories, 1 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, 1 grams fat (0 grams trans fat), 36 mg. sodium, 1 grams fiber.
.
* Whole meal flour is made by grinding grain (wheat berries) and contains the germ and bran of the wheat. It can often be purchased in health food stores, or you may substitute whole-wheat flour.

Corn Bread

1 cup freshly ground corn meal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Whisk together in a large bowl.

1/4 cup Maine maple syrup
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter or canola oil
Whisk together in a small bowl.
Stir into dry ingredients. Spoon batter into a greased 8″ by 8″ glass pan. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve with farm butter and jam.

Corn Bread makes a great breakfast treat when slices are split in half and grilled.

Tomato News

Visiting my mother this week-end, and looked thru the March issue of Martha Stewart’s Living magazine. An article on tomato tasting caught my eye…no wonder! It was written by Barbara Damrosch….a peninsula neighbor….she and her husband, Eliot Coleman, have Four Seasons Farm….best part was the tomato tasting notes. The variety Goldman’s Italian American, FLAVOR sweet, fruity, complex GOOD FOR sauces or slicing.

some excellent notes on 12 other varieties, and seed sources.

Can hardly wait to start growing!