Fishtastic!

As we struggled to reel our fish out of the water, part of the excitement was getting to see how large they were. As they neared the top you could make out their distinct shape, but the size was indecipherable until they practically surfaced due to the distortion from the water. The bigger the better, we thought. Some great 10 pounders were smugly declared too small and released back into the water to their great relief. In the end, once filleted, our haul was weighed at over 90 pounds. We congratulated ourselves and boasted to our friends about our impressive day. After getting it frozen we commandeered Maura and Kordell’s freezer and filled it to almost beyond capacity.

Little did we think in all of our self-congratulatory celebration that we had perhaps caught too much fish. Too much fish? Impossible. To those not up to date on current fish market prices, halibut can sell for $20 per pound in the lower 48s. We were rich in fish. Sadly there is no place to exchange fish for cash (though less delicious, significantly more useful). Although we might like brag about our massive combined appetite, even we are unable to eat 90 pounds of fish in a matter of days. Our solution was to send some off, leave some with our fine AK friends and offer it to our blog readers (no takers but don’t worry we’re not insulted, you will be receiving some for X-mas anyway, Halibut in stockings, delicious!). Finally we decided to take about 20 pounds with us on our journey. Do not be mistaken as we once were, coolers are not freezers and fish cannot be kept that long (even when you change the ice everyday). Thus we have just finished our 6th straight day of eating Halibut (a lovely Halibut soup made with ramen, halibut and canned veggies).

Perhaps the most memorable halibut dinner was our deep fried night. When we dropped off fish at Capt. Mike and Mary’s, we stayed and chatted for a while listening to stories about the old days of fishing. The evening concluded with the Captain’s very own recipe for fried halibut and our very own bag of Krusteaz to take home. What resulted can only be summed up with the lesson we learned; no home is complete without a deep fryer. It was like magic. You dropped in hunks of fish dipped in pancake batter. It bubbled and browned in a mere minute and out came perfectly cooked and crunchy fish. Of course this prompted us to deep fry everything in sight. Like most of our decisions this seemed entirely reasonable at the time. “Everything” amounted to 4 mini chocolate bars and two cookies worth of raw cookie dough. We didn’t have any more oil so we figured the same oil we used for the fish was fine. There were only a few fish chunks floating around and they were easily fished out with a spoon.
Funny fact, chocolate melts when it gets hot. We ended up with shells of friedness with the remnants to prove that chocolate had in fact once been there. Cookie dough was no better. It melted and didn’t fry. We eagerly divided up the sad excuse for dessert and popped them still steaming into our mouths. “Delicious,” we declared prematurely. Then we chewed. It tasted like chocolate covered fish. Chocolate covered fish is not delicious. So warning to all readers who are clearly going to run out and purchase their very own deep fryer, always change the oil.

P.S. -We will continue counting our consecutive fish eating days. Currently 6 and counting!