North Carolina Trout - From Fishin' Pole to Plate!

subtitled: Fish and whistle, whistle and fish
Eat everything that they put on your dish

We escaped to the wilderness of the Great Smokey Mountains for a few days. We are wasting the days hiking, fishing and tubing down a crisp mountain creek. Our evenings are spent stargazing and roasting marshmallows over the camp fire. It's a nice way to end the summer.

We had a great time fishing for trout today. Marissa caught the first fish, soon followed by Tommy. I have to say, Tommy looks very proud with his catch. When the day was over everyone caught fish and we had nine good sized trout to take back to the cabin and throw on the grill. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like fresh fresh fresh fish!

A quick stop at the local farm stand landed us some fresh locally grown yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes and red peppers. I'm ready to grill!

A trusty cast iron skilled did the trick to saute the zucchini, squash and pepper. A little melted butter and seasoning salt is all it took.

 

I stuffed the trout with lime slices and a pad of butter, and added some seasoning. Wrapped each fish in foil and put it on the grill. I kept it real simple because I didn't want to overpower the flavor of the fresh trout. I cooked it for about 8 minuted on each side.

This was such a simple meal but, oh so good! The skin just fell off the fish and the bone lifted right out. Just knowing that dinner was swimming a few hours ago makes it taste even better. A really nice country fresh meal in the mountains!

If you are ever near Bryson City, NC and you want to catch fish - guaranteed! - check out Coopers Creek Fish Farm. They start with little baby trout and feed them the highest quality fish feed. The holding tanks are constantly filled with fresh mountain stream water that overflows into a creek. As the fish get bigger, they are moved down to the next holding tank until they are eventually released into the stream fed pond. They supply the fishing rods and the worms. You only pay for what you catch and, if you like, they will clean your fish for you. It's a great way to have fun with the family.

On Top of Old Smokey - Veggie Pizza

Pizza and beer on a Friday evening! 

subtitled: and your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick

I've never made pizza on the grill before. I'd heard about using bricks on the grill to turn it into a brick pizza oven. So... why not? I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

The grocery store has fresh pizza dough ready to roll in the bakery section. My garden is still abundantly overflowing with basil - 3 different types. I went up and down the isles of the grocery store picking out what ever else looked good.


Here's the list of stuff that went on the pizza:

Olive oil
3 types of basil from the garden
Pizza sauce
Goat cheese crumbles
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Spinach
Mushrooms
Onions
Garlic
Salt & Pepper




I rolled the dough on the counter covered with flour. By the way, countertops are for prepping food. Granite counters work great for this. I have some friends that are sooo afraid to get a drop of anything on their countertops. Drives me crazy! That's what they are there for! Any way, I brushed the dough with olive oil, added the sauce and sliced garlic, added the basil, goat cheese and ricotta cheese. It;s looking good, don't you think?

Then I smothered the pizza with the Mozzarella cheeses blend, covered it with spinach, mushrooms, and onions. I drizzled a little more olive oil over the pizza and added a bit of salt and pepper. It's ready for the grill and looking really good!

The grill: I used lots of smokey mesquite and heated the grill up to 450. Once the grill was hot I added the bricks and let the bricks heat up for 30 minutes. Before putting the pizza on the bricks I covered them with corn meal. Getting the pizza on the grill was a bit of a challenge. The soft dough didn't want to slide off the cookie sheet. It lost it's round shape. I should have covered the sheet with corn meal too.

About 25 minutes later I checked the progress. It looks and smells fantastic! Must be done! Well, almost. The dough in the center was still undercooked. I guess the bricks weren't hot enough. So I took the pizza off the grill, removed the bricks, and put the pizza directly on the grill grate for another 10 minutes. This did the trick. The edges were a little extra crispy but the center was cooked through.

HERE'S THE FINISHED PRODUCT! 

It may not be a round pizza anymore but it sure looks good! 

The verdict is.... It was OK. It was cooked right and the crispy crust has a great texture. The problem was the smokey flavor. A bit too smokey. OK...way to smokey. I had 3 pieces and convinced myself it was fantastic while I was eating. (The "my baby can't be ugly" syndrome). When I was finished my mouth felt like I had just smoked a couple of cigars. I'll definitely do pizza on the grill again, but I need to invest in a pizza stone for grilling and omit the big chunks of mesquite.

Coming next time.... I'm going to be in trout country for a week, Fishing and grilling! 

This blog is dedicated to my mom, Dr. Anne Righton Malone. She was, among many things, a remarkable cook. A single mom raising four kids while going to college and tutoring to make a few bucks. We were poor, but let me assure you, we didn't eat like we were poor.

She would bargain shop by going to day old bread stores, farm stands, and for the best deals we would drive 30 minutes outside the city to a small farm to get fresh milk, eggs and what ever was in season.

Home was decorated with shelving made from recycled concrete blocks and boards covered with plants and herbs. It was a jungle! Of course, not a single plant was purchased - most were nurtured clippings from from a friends plant or something she spotted in a strangers overgrown garden that she determined needed better care in our house.

Dinner was alway made with the freshest ingredients because they were the cheapest and they were the best. She would combine what was on hand to create spectacular meals. I never saw her use a cookbook. It just seemed like instinct. I remember spaghetti squash, artichokes, lots of salad, cucumber sandwiches. One of my favorites was the rare occasion we had roast beef. It was out of this world! Super moist, seasoned perfectly, and cooked rare.

Mom, Dr. Anne Righton Malone, passed away a few years ago at 65. I could go on an on about who she was and what she did and how she changed the lives of so many people. In your memory mom, this is for you. Thanks for the inspiration and for seasoning my palate at a young age. I love you and I miss you!