Depending on the dish it does not have to be spicy as you know, plus in mainland Europe they often ask the level of 'heat' you like. Sweeping generalisation but most Germans I know don't like it too hot for example. In the UK it can get a bit silly and Chicken 'Naga' can now be considered weaponised if you ask for a 'hot one'. This is a UK jalfrezi which took my head off last week :0)

 

Okay, not FOR dinner but WITH dinner...

 

Replacement lume plots for vintage Speedmasters?

 

Wow. Looks soo yummy!! Enjoy. And beautiful watch by the way
Hope you visit Nepal someday

 

Time to keep it simple :0)

 

April in the Great Lakes region involves an annual ritual: a smelt fry. When the ice goes out and the spawning run begins, the traditional thing to do was to dip net them at night, and fry them right on the jetties. But nowadays I'm more content to fry them at home and invite friends over.

They look like this at the start--




They they are dipped in egg and covered with flour and fried in cast iron:




Then add salt and pepper and a squirt of lemon juice--and enjoy them with a cremant, or white burgundy, or even an IPA--

 

Pizza night.

 

Hot damn Yes!

Do you ever just fry them whole if they're small enough? In my opinion, small fish are an underrated and excellent meal (sardines, herring etc etc)

 

100% agree - always try to grab some if I am near a coast :0)

 

This post brings back memories...

The smelt run was always a big event in our house when I was a kid. It was a chance for me to stay up late and go fishing with dad down at the local spot on Lake Erie. Used dip nets right off the pier, and tried not to drop the flashlight in the water!

After we had a few 5 gallon buckets filled, it was time to head home and clean them all - didn't mind catching or cleaning them, but I don't really eat them...not a real fan of fish to be honest, although the yellow perch we used to catch all the time were great.

 

Yessss, with the smaller ones, 4-6cm, we leave them whole; bigger ones-6-8cm, gut them. Commercial smelt from Canadian suppliers are available here in Chicago and are usually cleaned. Ocean smelt are very different but good in their own way--they are much less common here. The inland smelt season is very brief, two weeks at any one location maybe? The smelt numbers are also down, the days of filling up five gallon buckets like Archer did in his youth are pretty much long gone....

 

Yes I've heard that they don't really run like they used to. The old pier we used to fish off was closed for decades, and then they have redeveloped it, but you can only walk out on it - you can't really get to the water due to various railings etc. that have been put up for people's "safety"...

Back in the day we had to be there early to get a spot, and many people used to go out waders and use a net strung between 2 or 3 people to just gather them in the shallow water. Those were the guys that took the real volume...much more than we ever did. The fishery on the Great Lakes is still huge, but only a fraction of what it used to be...

 

LOL, so true--here in Chicago today especially--"safety" is a euphemism for 'stupidity'--many people today just don't know how to relate to the natural world in a physical way--so municipalities need to protect those people from their own selves, so to speak.

But if you look around hard you can still find place to do some smelting, especially along breakwaters--and now there are headlamps so you don't have to hold a flashlight in your hands! And of course, there's always a local fishmonger--while they won't often have them in stock, they can usually order them from a supplier in April.

 

Will be going all in on the Italian tonight, following a classic recipe on a bolognese as described firat in the link below. I cannot recommend this recipe enough!

 

Kalbi.

 

I typically cook or eat what is prepped but I think I'll step out to my favorite Thai spot called Too Thai Street Eats. Khao Ka Moo is fantastic. Can't go wrong with a really spicy Krapow Gai either!

 

Probably a great night for Italian.

 

1. Fresh local salmon from the boat Beticia in Moss Landing, CA (and a couple bell peppers).
2. Watsonville strawberries. Dessert tonight, jam tomorrow.
Yow!!

 

Good old steak.

 

BBQ Ribeye avec des frites,