Frontenac County Spring Dinner

[CrowMan]

After retiring back in November, this was the first week that I really got a feel for what the non-working life is like. I spent a total of 42 days this winter traveling in other countries and continents, and the ice fishing season wasn't very long or good to me. So the kick-off of Trout opener was something I finally wanted to take full advantage of..

Spent the first 5 days of the week chasing Steelhead...same river I've fished for over 40 years. Saturday was a blow out with all the rain, but after that the river settled down and the water turned that perfect colour. Although a few less fish than previous seasons, I still brought lots of fresh run Steel to the bank all week long. More importantly, it was a good few days to re-connect with buddies that I've shared that water with over the years.

A shout out to Misfish...one his creations was killer slowly drifted in the deeper pools.

 

After 5 days of getting up at 6am and bush whacking up and down the river all day long, these old legs had enough, and I headed to my cottage for some R&R.

Well, I guess I haven't been retired long enough, because I still haven't learned to just sit and relax. I always feel that I'm still in weekend warrior mode and need to squeeze in everything all at once. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so I decided to go for an ATV ride up into the high country north of my place. I strapped on my 5 wt and a couple of empty fruit baskets and headed to one of my favourite spring-fed Trout lakes back in the bush, with dinner in mind (I don't keep or eat Lake O run Steelhead).

I was lucky enough to get a couple of Rainbows to bite my Wooly Bugger, and even more lucky to find the Holy Trinity of early spring foraging at a few different spots along the way...Fiddleheads, Morels, and Wild Onions.

Headed back to the cottage to make a spring dinner. Here's all the ingredients prepped and ready to go. Everything except the lemons and soya sauce are from Frontenac County. Even the wine is from a local vineyard in Westport. You've heard of the 100 mile diet...well this is the 25 mile diet.

 

Here's the final results on the plate. Rainbow Trout grilled over alder wood and finished with a maple syrup and soy glaze...a ragout of Fiddleheads, Morels and Wild Onions sautéed in a white wine and butter reduction...and steamed Red Potatoes sprinkled with freshly snipped Chives from the garden. Oh man, so good. My wife tells me I should open a restaurant, but that would mean I would have to work again.

 

 

After dinner, sat on the deck with my 15 yr old friend "Glen" and watched the sun set.

What a great day...nothing like spring in Frontenac.  It would have been an absolutely perfect day, but unfortunately the results of the hockey game didn't go my way.

Next week, it's off to the north shore of Lake Superior to re-visit some of the most beautiful Steelhead streams on the planet...I must say, I should've retired years ago.

 

 

[smitty55]

Good size fiddleheads. I just checked along the north foundation of the house and there are now two ferns up so I'm thinking I better take a little tour up the road where there's a creek with a decent population of ferns that are always early. Then I went over to the side of the property to check out the leeks and woohoo, they are starting to swell so I picked a few for my first snack of the year. They are so mild and almost sweet when this young, I just dip them in salt and munch away.

[CrowMan]

6 minutes ago, smitty55 said:

Good size fiddleheads. I just checked along the north foundation of the house and there are now two ferns up so I'm thinking I better take a little tour up the road where there's a creek with a decent population of ferns that are always early. Then I went over to the side of the property to check out the leeks and woohoo, they are starting to swell so I picked a few for my first snack of the year. They are so mild and almost sweet when this young, I just dip them in salt and munch away.

It's been a strange spring. I think the warm weather last week really accelerated things. We had almost 30c for 5 days straight. In some of my places for Fiddleheads they were already almost a foot high yesterday.  I had to go looking in some of the shady north facing spots to find young ones.

[woodenboater]

that dinner is major drool worthy ! love fiddleheads !

[smitty55]

8 hours ago, CrowMan said:

It's been a strange spring. I think the warm weather last week really accelerated things. We had almost 30c for 5 days straight. In some of my places for Fiddleheads they were already almost a foot high yesterday.  I had to go looking in some of the shady north facing spots to find young ones.

You must be ahead of me where you live. From the look of those you may be sol. Some places I know along a river there can be an extended pic as water recedes but that hot spell sped things up for sure. Creeks around here are way down this past week. It's a good thing you posted that pic as it pushed me to go check that spot and I got a decent pick in, at most some of them were maybe 4" but usually there's a few short ones in the middle of the clump along with some clumps that were just starting. I only ever take short ones or right out of the clump and only 2 or maybe 3 at a time so it takes awhile. I got 3lbs in maybe 40 minutes and that was plenty as I have some other spots I go to as well. Calling for rain but I'll go anyway as one real good roadside spot has a couple of guys that go there and they take every damn one from the clump, really ticks me off. I'd have gone there today if I'd realized they were ready. Fortunately I have permission on the private property across the road along the same creek and it's always good for 5lb.

Good luck finding some late starters. It's not uncommon for many spots to have some areas that are a bit behind, as you said with less sunlight. Cheers

 

[Spiel]

On 4/28/2023 at 10:22 AM, CrowMan said:

After retiring back in November, this was the first week that I really got a feel for what the non-working life is like. I spent a total of 42 days this winter traveling in other countries and continents, and the ice fishing season wasn't very long or good to me. So the kick-off of Trout opener was something I finally wanted to take full advantage of..

Spent the first 5 days of the week chasing Steelhead...same river I've fished for over 40 years. Saturday was a blow out with all the rain, but after that the river settled down and the water turned that perfect colour. Although a few less fish than previous seasons, I still brought lots of fresh run Steel to the bank all week long. More importantly, it was a good few days to re-connect with buddies that I've shared that water with over the years.

A shout out to Misfish...one his creations was killer slowly drifted in the deeper pools.

 

After 5 days of getting up at 6am and bush whacking up and down the river all day long, these old legs had enough, and I headed to my cottage for some R&R.

Well, I guess I haven't been retired long enough, because I still haven't learned to just sit and relax. I always feel that I'm still in weekend warrior mode and need to squeeze in everything all at once. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so I decided to go for an ATV ride up into the high country north of my place. I strapped on my 5 wt and a couple of empty fruit baskets and headed to one of my favourite spring-fed Trout lakes back in the bush, with dinner in mind (I don't keep or eat Lake O run Steelhead).

I was lucky enough to get a couple of Rainbows to bite my Wooly Bugger, and even more lucky to find the Holy Trinity of early spring foraging at a few different spots along the way...Fiddleheads, Morels, and Wild Onions.

Headed back to the cottage to make a spring dinner. Here's all the ingredients prepped and ready to go. Everything except the lemons and soya sauce are from Frontenac County. Even the wine is from a local vineyard in Westport. You've heard of the 100 mile diet...well this is the 25 mile diet.

 

Here's the final results on the plate. Rainbow Trout grilled over alder wood and finished with a maple syrup and soy glaze...a ragout of Fiddleheads, Morels and Wild Onions sautéed in a white wine and butter reduction...and steamed Red Potatoes sprinkled with freshly snipped Chives from the garden. Oh man, so good. My wife tells me I should open a restaurant, but that would mean I would have to work again.

 

 

After dinner, sat on the deck with my 15 yr old friend "Glen" and watched the sun set.

What a great day...nothing like spring in Frontenac.  It would have been an absolutely perfect day, but unfortunately the results of the hockey game didn't go my way.

Next week, it's off to the north shore of Lake Superior to re-visit some of the most beautiful Steelhead streams on the planet...I must say, I should've retired years ago.

 

 

Stellar, simply stellar!

[smitty55]

On 4/28/2023 at 1:49 PM, CrowMan said:

It's been a strange spring. I think the warm weather last week really accelerated things. We had almost 30c for 5 days straight. In some of my places for Fiddleheads they were already almost a foot high yesterday.  I had to go looking in some of the shady north facing spots to find young ones.

So did you get out again? The rain finally slowed down here late afternoon so I headed out to that other creek in full rain gear. Someone had been there already but there was enough new growth there and across the road that I got a good pick in. Over two hours it never rained and I got close to 7 pounds so that should do me for the season and I'll freeze some too. They were real wet obviously so I'm letting them dry overnight before I bag them back up and into the fridge. I gave my neighbour who loves them close to pound but that still leaves me plenty.

[CrowMan]

49 minutes ago, smitty55 said:

So did you get out again? The rain finally slowed down here late afternoon so I headed out to that other creek in full rain gear. Someone had been there already but there was enough new growth there and across the road that I got a good pick in. Over two hours it never rained and I got close to 7 pounds so that should do me for the season and I'll freeze some too. They were real wet obviously so I'm letting them dry overnight before I bag them back up and into the fridge. I gave my neighbour who loves them close to pound but that still leaves me plenty.

Nice haul !

Yes, I got a few more...got a couple bags in the freezer. I parboil them in salted water first, cool in ice water, and then vacuum pack.

My focus is now on Morels...I've been trying to train my dog to sniff them out...like a Truffle hound...LOL. Can't get enough of those delicious fungi. The wet weather over the next few days should really get them going.

Cooked some pasta tonight with a Morel, Cream and Parmesan sauce...food of the Gods !

‐----‐----------------------

Congrats Leafs ! Hopefully they'll see the Oilers in the final round..an all Canadian Stanley Cup final would be sweet !

Edited April 30, 2023 by CrowMan

[smitty55]

15 hours ago, CrowMan said:

Nice haul !

Yes, I got a few more...got a couple bags in the freezer. I parboil them in salted water first, cool in ice water, and then vacuum pack.

My focus is now on Morels...I've been trying to train my dog to sniff them out...like a Truffle hound...LOL. Can't get enough of those delicious fungi. The wet weather over the next few days should really get them going.

Cooked some pasta tonight with a Morel, Cream and Parmesan sauce...food of the Gods !

‐----‐----------------------

Congrats Leafs ! Hopefully they'll see the Oilers in the final round..an all Canadian Stanley Cup final would be sweet !

Yea I always blanch them first no matter what I'm doing. This is what I tell everyone I share some with. Boil for 2 minutes and then throw out that dark brown water. Then I boil for one more minute and throw out the light brown water and then saute in butter and garlic/leeks. With the amount of crap that comes out of them from being under water it's no wonder some people feel sick if they just rinse and fry. For freezing they just get one blanch and then like you a quick chill in ice water and then pat dry before vacuum sealing. The do last well for months in the fridge without touching them so long as they're not too wet. Cheers

 

[akaShag]

Well.........................................I have not even gone for a look yet........................a day late and a dollar short, that's me 🙄

Doug

[limeyangler]

Living the dream bud!

[smitty55]

8 hours ago, akaShag said:

Well.........................................I have not even gone for a look yet........................a day late and a dollar short, that's me 🙄

Doug

Yea, you'll be too late now Dougie for fiddleheads. Still lots of time left for leeks though and maybe some morels.

[akaShag]

On 5/1/2023 at 11:23 PM, smitty55 said:

Yea, you'll be too late now Dougie for fiddleheads

The young lad has them growing beside his hen house!!!  And asked me if I would like some, but of course.  He brought me a big container of them picked this morning.  Some are past their prime, but the rest look great.  That is near Seeley's Bay.

Doug