Salmon on the Coast

The other day I went out deep sea fishing with a couple of friends for salmon and rock fish. Everyone knows that salmon is full of Omega fatty acids and essential oils. It's also no secret that this year is a bumper season for salmon. Fishing reports are glowing with tall tales of huge silver salmon sitting outside the Golden Gate Bridge just waiting for that moment when they get a sniff of that fresh Delta water to wet their senses, and to migrate, spawn, and complete the cycle of life and death that was their destiny.

We started out from Marina Bay in Richmond with our Captain John Badger and his first mate Pete. His boat, the Barbarian, is a 26 foot craft, the make of which I cannot remember. There was myself and five other seafaring men who braved the choppy waters of the San Francisco coastline. It was just before 6:00 AM when we arrived, and the wind was already a good 10 knots. It was going to be a rough day outside the Gate. Little did I know how difficult it would be, at least for me.

Now I'm not new to ocean fishing. Back when I was a young buck growing up in Connecticut I went out fishing on Long Island Sound for blues and strippers quite a few times.  I love to fish, but I don't profess nor have  I ever claimed to be a man of the sea. I am a land lover and damn proud to admit it.  Give me the mountains, the desert, or the prairies, and I'm at home. I'm a plunker is what I am, Trout, Sunnies, Brookies, Steelhead, Catfish,  lake fishing, streams, rivers, you got the idea.

I tried fly fishing a couple of times. Even got a rig handed down to me by Geraldine's grandpa Ray, but frankly it's too much work. All that pulling line and throwing the fly over and over. It's an art I never learned, appreciated, but not learned. I like to put the line in, sit back, smoke a fat Sam, have a beer or two and relax. I even like ice fishing, when we had ice to fish on.

When we first got to the dock this particular morning I remarked, "this is a small boat for 8 men." All 6 of us had to fish from the back of the boat. Then the captain told us it would be 2 hours out of port to the rocks by Stinson Beach, and then back south for another hour for the salmon fishing.

Now when I go ocean fishing I like to trawl, low and slow as the Chicanos say. Well, if we were going low and slow it would take a good 5 hours to get out past Stinson Beach, so it was fast and rough.

As soon as we left port I knew I was in trouble. We were doing 30 knots in the Bay, and out past the Golden Gate I saw on the screen we were doing a good 17 knots. I hadn't insulated myself enough, didn't take dramamine,  and I knew it was it was going to be a a very long day, and indeed it was.

You know that bumper stickers you always see that say's, "I'd rather be fishing." NOT!

Sure enough after 2 hours of pounding the wavers we made it to the rocks, and that's when it all started coming up. Once we got out there and had  our lines in the water that's when the motion sickness started in, and it never let up.

I had the heaves and the shakes the whole day. To keep from getting dehydrated I drank water which encouraged, you got it, more vomiting. The captain and another guy smoked, and every time they lit up a cigarette it induced, you got it, more retching. Best thing I could do was keep my head down, and hang in there. I mean, we're men after all, even when we feel like Nancy Boys.  We weren't going to turn around and go back to port cause some old hippie can't handle it. Should have taken my dramamine fool that I am.

I did manage to land 4  rock fish out by Stinson Beach even with all the heaving, but once we headed south for salmon I knew my fishing for the day was over. The boys landed 6 beautiful salmon. Michael caught two or three star fish, thrown back of course, and we hooked a stubborn pelican who fared much better than I did.

We saw a gray whale or I should  say we saw it's spout a  couple of miles west of where we were.

On the way back to port I was starting feeling better when just west of the Clift House we hit some nice 6 foot swells, and I thought we were going to visit Davy Jones of the Monkeys in Davy Jones Locker.  Even our stalwart captain John hit the floor on that one. I hit the ceiling, and realigned my back. I looked out after that happened and there were the wind surfers riding those waves. I would always look at those people and say to myself, "Man, that looks like fun." NOT!

I've got to say I did some praying out there,  and I'm not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination.. Did I vow to never ocean fish again?  Damn right I did. But, I  have vowed never to get drunk again after more than one evening of selling Buicks.

Lessons learned; 1) dress really warn, 2) dramamine, dramamine, dramamine,  3) a thermos of mint tea (good for digestion) with honey and lemon, 4) fresh ginger (again good for the tummy) and last but not least 5) some cannabis (good for nausea). That one's definitely an old hippie recipe.

If you want to go out fishing on the bay or out to the deep blue sea I  highly recommend John Badger, but I would limit my party to four persons. He's an excellent captain, extremely knowledgable about his craft, where to catch fish, and Pete always kept us supplied with fresh bait and new rigs when we snagged them on the rocks. John can be contacted at 510 750-4237 or  via the internet at: www.barbariansportfishing.com.

Having cooked, worked with, and grown food my entire life, I have a deep respect for it's source of origin, and the people responsible for getting it to us. It's easy to take what we have for granted. The sea and ranching have to be two of the hardest ways to make a living, but the people who do it wouldn't have any other way of life. I will go out again, because for me it's always been the same; once a fool, twice a pervert, but I learned my lesson this time.

Fishing on a good day is a humbling experience,  and on a bad day, well, for an old cosmic hippie it's a bummer, but they can't all be good trips. In this case for me  it was the destination that counted.. We all got our fish.

Thanks for putting up with me Captain John, not to mention getting us out and back safely. Smooth sailing.

Go to my salmon recipe blog for an amazing simple recipe for pan fried salmon with wild rice and grilled asparagus.

Peace,

Make Food, Not War

headed out the Gate

Mike Shaefer and Michael

Fresh salmon

Kelly hanging on

fresh rock fish

    Captain John and 1st mate Pete

Ken Bacon seated, Marshal and Kelly 

Bounty of the Day

                                             







                                    

Throw-Down On The Farm,                                                                                        6-24-14

This was an event that I participated in yesterday with 9 other chefs.  It was a fund raiser put on by the East Bay Food Revolution and founder Trace Williams. This is all part of the food revolution started by famed TV chef Jamie Oliver to combat obesity, specifically with children. Trace is putting together the funds for a center to educate children about food and nutrition here in the East Bay. I was very happy to help and be small part of such a worthy cause with big goals. It was held at Sunnyside Seedlings in Richmond where I volunteer in the garden on Wednesdays for the Bay Area Gospel Mission of Richmond.

I'm a big boy now, and I struggle with my weight daily. I was never an obese child, quite the opposite in fact, but I see so many children who are obese here in the city, and it is depressing. The culture of cheap unhealthy over processed fast food, and it's relationship to the health problems, and cost of health care world wide is staggering. Are we headed in the direction of the movie Up?  Is an animated fiction going to be our reality?

I have always felt privileged that I was raised up in a food family i.e., people who grew, and cooked their own food. My Polish grandfather Marcel owned a bar and restaurant a hundred years ago. We didn't have a lot of money but we were wealthy in terms of food. My Mom  Mary worked in the business for almost 70 years. Our home was built  on my Italian grandma Angelina's little farm. Mom and Dad Rocco owned a cafe' for a time till the Danbury flood of 56' washed it away.  My aunt Dolly and Uncle Jimmy had a successful Italian  restaurant for 50 years where myself and my cousins all worked. Good healthy food was a priority. We hardly ever ate out.  Why would we? We could make better food at home. My mother taught me how to cook at a young age because she knew I loved to eat, and I was fascinated with her skills in our little kitchen, and the incredibly delicacies she would make.

We work so hard today in this country that there is barely the time to shop, prepare and cook food. If you don't have any culinary skills I can imagine that cooking can be intimidating, not knowing where to start. Couple that with the lack of exercise and you've got a recipe, no pun intended,  for obesity. If you start life overweight it's damn near impossible to loose it and keep it off.

This was a great time for me to hang out with other chefs, make some new friends, share thoughts, and sample some amazing food. I wasn't one of the winners, and in the end it was a tie between chef Alex Tamburro with his off the chart ravioli and chef Chris Grant from the Mississippi Delta with his crawfish creme brulee'. Yeah you got it, crawfish creme brulee'.

I made  rabbit, with dates and pearl onions. It was a long day for me.
I know I was the oldest chef there, so today I blog and rest, walk the dogs and clean up, maybe have some ice cream. Actually Geri just made some buttery banana nut bread, even better.

I want to thank my sous chefs  Brendan Lathum and Victoria Wagner my sister-in-law, and my nephew Cassius for helping out with cooking and serving.

Also, special thanks to Trace for including me in this wonderful melange of talent. I'm honored.

Peace,

Make Food, Not War

Cassius (foreground)  and the Caliente Sisters

Chef Alex Tamburro winner

Chef  Scott Pampuch and Chef Alli Sosna

Chef Jeremy Enfinger

Chris Dykes...executive chef Bay Area Rescue Mission center

Caliente Sisters Crew

Chef Chris Grant and Chef Alex Tamburro co-winners

Jeremy, Scott and Chris

The People

Brendan serving...Victoria and Cassius background

Group shot...Trace Williams 4th from left

Pizza Party at Sunnyside Seedlings LLC

This is a short blog this week.

Regarding my quitting coffee, I must say, I feel great. I just made a cup of fresh mint tea from the garden. It tastes delightful, and I don't miss drinking coffee at all.

The pictures below are from a pizza party lunch we had just yesterday at Sunnyside Seedlings in Richmond, CA. Rick and Pilar are the proprietors of this is wonderful place where they grow starters plants,  and sell them  at farmer's markets and nurseries. One of these days I'll do a complete and proper blog of the operation out there. 

How I met Rick and Pilar was through the Richmond Gospel Rescue Mission where I volunteer each Wednesday cooking in the kitchen. The Rescue Mission does great work helping men and women get back on their feet. Many of the people in the program are ex-cons, people who have been addicted to one substance or another., or are victims of the economy. In addition to that they feed three meals daily to all the people in the program, lunch to anyone who comes in off the streets who is hungry, and they have a program for people who are homeless.  

As well, the Mission  has an a accredited culinary program. Soon I will also do a complete blog on the Mission's amazing program. Rick and Pilar have given the Mission space at their place to grow food. That's how I wound up out at the Farm, as I call it. 

So, they have this pizza oven that someone built for them, and I looked it over having just made my own recently, and figured it needed some added insulation.  So, I put another 2 and half inches of stucco on the top. I added some color to it to give it a little more panache.

Last week Rick said let's make some pizza next week, and these photos are from that event. When I got out there Rick had that oven at  800 degrees, and those pizzas cooked in four minutes tops. It's a great little oven.

As usual I ate too much, but that's nothing knew. I do that with pizza especially, and today I'll have to work it off.

That's all  for this week folks.

Peace,

Make Food, Not War

Squash and Jalapeno  

Elizabeth

Pizza Oven at Sunnyside Seedlings Richmond, CA

Richmond Gospel  Rescue Mission Garden 

Rick, Proud Pizza Maker

Off The Coffee Again, And Other Stufff

First, before I start my blog for this week I want anyone who reads this to understand that I don't blog daily. I don't have that kind of energy or time. I've got a day job, and as you can already tell,  it's not as a writer. Nor do I want to spend that much time in front of a computer.
I like to the outdoors,  and if I'm working I want to build, cook or make something. I like to work with my hands and typing isn't what I consider working with my hands. The reason I built an outdoor kitchen is so I can spend more time out of the house. I'm also contemplating getting rid of the television set. So, the best anyone can expect from me is a weekly blog, or column.

Coffee...This is the umpteenth time I have quit the black stuff. This time I had a withdraw that lasted for four days. The first three days consisted of a piercing headache, and I refused to take anything to relieve the pain. I wanted a reminder of why I was quitting this drug again.  The last day I was just sluggish. Actually I was sluggish all four days.
We studied caffeine and coffee in nutrition class in college, and the list of the chemical compounds of coffee is significant. For a great concise description of coffee, it's chemical compound, the effects on the body and mind I suggest you go to Wikipedia and type in caffeine.
Every six months a health study comes out saying coffee is either good for you or bad for you. Some studies suggest that coffee has modest protective effects against some diseases including certain types of cancers. One thing I know is if you pour it on your car it will take the paint off of it.
I also know that for me it only takes a couple of cups of Joe, a couple of days in a row, and I'm hooked again. I like coffee. I enjoy being stimulated mentally and physically, but I don't like being hooked on anything. Been there, done it.
Once I have rid myself of the physical and mental dependency on coffee I wonder why I kept drinking the stuff in the first place.
It's speed, meth, go juice, an upper,  and it's legal. It's also the second most traded commodity in the world second only to that other black thing we crave, no not Beyonce, oil, black gold, Texas tea.
So now it's a nice cup of mint tea instead of a cappuccino. Hey don't laugh, call me a wimp, real men drink coffee. Mint tea tastes wonderful, it's not bitter, and add a little local raw honey, a couple of drops of fresh lemon, and it's  great for the digestion.  I can always use more of that in my diet. The other benefit is I'm not wired,  or jittery, which is the effect I get from drinking coffee, especially after drinking three cups. Coffee is like potato chips, I can't just have one cup and be happy.Geraldine and I drink the whole French press pot till the last drop.
Speaking of last, the last time I quit drinking java it lasted 6 months, and I'm hoping this habit is permanently squashed this time around.

Empty French Press

Other Stuff....there was a great article in the New Yorker titled Raw Deal, April 30th edition, written by Dana Goodyear. It's about the FDA's assault on the producers of raw food products including; dairy, poultry, meat, and produce. Read this article if you are a foodie.

More Other Stuff......Famed avant garde pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner is packing up from  San Francisco and moving to Brooklyn NY. Good for Brooklyn, bad for San Francisco. She changed the way people make pastry,  or even think about pastry. She went big, and she went broke. San Francisco will do that to you. I don't know Elizabeth personally, but her pastry creations are simply amazing.
She won the world pizza competition in Naples Italy, and for that I bow to her.  Tony's pizzeria in North Beach is the best pie I've ever had on the west coast, and her partner is partner's with Tony's in North Beach. Her pizzeria in Brooklyn is named Krescendo. If you live in Brooklyn go.
Having recently been to NY I had a slice of Ray's pizza, you know, famous Ray's,  and I was not impressed in the least.  The good ol' days are gone at Ray's. A slice of Tony's will transport you right back to those days gone by. I'm not  an expert in business,  but I do count myself as a pizza expert, and my advise to Elizabeth this time round would be to keep it simple, keep  your overhead as low as possible, be happy you got a place of your own to work everyday, and keep it fresh. To reduce it down, bigger is not always better. Anyway, all the best of luck. I love Brooklyn, it's where my father Rocco was born.

More More Other Stuff...again with the SF Chronicle food section. Adam Lamoreaux of Linden Street Brewery in Oakland got a well deserved write up and his photo in this Sunday's paper, but not enough written about his beer in my opinion. It's the first commercial brewery to open in Oaktown since who knows when. Adam had to jump through hoops of fire from the city of Oakland in order for it to become a reality. He is a perfect example of following your inner voice. He makes some of the best beer I've ever had, and he does it all with a modest alcohol content. Most of his beers range around five and a half percent.  Personally I have always felt that a higher alcohol content is not the test of a well rounded beer. In fact, I think it's a gimmick and dislike gimmicks. If you want alcohol drink a nice single malt Scotch or a fine Kentucky bourbon.  Plus too many beers at 10% and you could wind up in the poky, and ruin your life for quite a while.  So, congrats for the photo op Adam, and the small mention, but you deserve more.

That's it for this week. Thanks to the SF Chronicle for all the fodder. The food and wine section is still one of the best things about that paper. Herb Caen was the other. Also didn't you do a story about Fat Bottom Girl Cheese not that long ago? Apparently Janet Fletcher loves that cheese. I'll have to try it.

Peace,

Marcel Julius DeGrosse

Make Food, Not War