Tale of Two Meals
October 22, 2012
I. Eating In
One of the greatest pleasures we have had driving up the Pacific Coast of the United States is preparing and eating the fresh fish.
In as many places as possible, we have purchased the freshly caught fish from boats in the harbors, taken those fresh fillets or steaks home and grilled them.
Recently in Crescent City, California we bought two very large fillets of Albacore Tuna off the boat. We walked to the docks from our campground on the beach near the Battery Point Lighthouse. Charlie’s was the first boat we came to and he was practically giving away the tuna he had caught up near Coo’s Bay, Oregon the day before. We bought two large, boned fillets weighing a little over 7 pounds.
They were cut, cleaned and ready for us to cook at a price of ten dollars. I checked the current prices at Citarella, the fish market near our apartment in New York City; yesterday: tuna was $18.99 a pound. Do the math. Our ten dollars fillets would have been almost $140.
We practically ran back to the camper to prepare, cook and eat the fish.
Bernie mixed up an Asian Sesame Seed Marinade and we let the fish rest in it for a few hours while we soaked Jack Daniels Cask Wood Chips in water to use in the grilling.
By four o’clock we were ready to grill/smoke our beautiful fillets. Those fish, that sunny, late afternoon were the best fish we have ever eaten.
2. Eating out
NIght before last, after a long, rainy day of driving from Seattle. we finally arrived in Port Angeles on Washington’s Olympic peninsula. It was four in the afternoon and we were wet and hungry. The food angels smiled upon us and led us to Wildfire Wood Fired Cuisine The restaurant was cozy and warm inside, while outside our window on the rain soaked deck there were beautiful blue fires burning in open pits. We were the first to arrive, but by the time we left, the place was full.
We ordered a local white wine which arrived quickly, and enjoyed it while we made our meal selections.
Right away, we ordered and shared appetizers. Bacon wrapped Jalapeños - fire-roasted, stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with apple smoked bacon. They were pan seared in the wood-fired oven, and served with Jonny’s homemade chipotle aioli sauce. (We had tried a similar recipe ourselves with disastrous results. But this dish was so textured and yummy, that we have decided to try again.) At the same time, came plump, pan-fried Pacific oysters - breaded in house cajun seasoning served with a homemade cocktail sauce, both so perfectly matched, Bernie didn’t even want tarter sauce. Unprecedented!
For our main course we decided to share the Cedar Planked Seafood Platter with large wild American prawns, sea scallops, wild salmon, clams and Alaskan halibut. It was fire-roasted with butter, white wine and lemon and served over risotto with vegetables. If only there had been room for more of these savory, delicious tastes.
The chef invited us into the kitchen and let me stick my camera into the oven to photograph our dinner cooking. Hot, yet cool.
Everything at Wildfire was slightly smokey, fresh and delicious.
Just reading your letter makes me hungry. I have never tasted tuna but out of a can. You have the best of the world.
Love
Mom
P&B:
You had us at “two meals!”
Sorry we weren’t with you at either meals. They looked fabulous.
J&B
aka The Fishes
Boo & yuck on the fish, but that fisherman had the best looking arms! I wonder if he would have been as cheap as the fish. hee hee
Kathy
Love the fresh-fish-off-the-boat story. Take that, Manhattan!
Joe
I'm drooling - thank you for the yummy sights and descriptions of ongoing P & B culinary adventures!
Cindy