eating trout

[sammcdonald]

was further out...was teague's mill......burned down...had great ribs too

[ZachMatthews]

This post is making me hungry. I love the pecan meal idea. To me, nothing goes with trout like sliced potatoes fried right after the fish in the same oil. If you set them aside for a second then re-fry, you can make them beautifully crisp.

Zach

[Jim Casada]

Zach (and Lauxier)--The mixture of pecan bits and yellow cornmeal (the latter should be stone ground, I might note) is one I find really appealing. Although it has little to do with this forum as a rule, one of my consuming (pun intended) interests is food. My wife and I have written a bunch of cookbooks, all of them on wild foods (game, fish, and things like nuts and berries), and anyone who knows me personally will readily acknowledge my profile suits my love of food. Suffice it to say I'm unlikely to find cover behind a three-quarter-inch water pipe.
As for the taters, here's a tip you might want to consider. To get wonderfully browned pan potatoes, bake the spuds (or cook 'em in a microwave) before hitting the trail. They'll be fine for the first night's meal. Just slice them up, add a bit of streaked meat to the frying pan, let the meat start to sizzling good, the add the potatoes. They will rbown nicely, and if you like them a bit crispy, slice them then before putting them in the pan.
To me the ultimate Smoky Mountain backcountry meal features the following: Pan-fried trout, a ramp and branch lettuce (saxifrage) salad "kilt" with hot bacon grease and bacon bits (you can use some of the grease for cooking fish as well, fried potatoes fixed as per the above instructions, and cracklin' cornbread. The latter takes a bit of doing, not the least of which is procuring cracklings, but it can be done with a reflecting apparatus and some know-how.
For dessert, you can make a wonderful temptation for the sweet tooth using dried apples, dried peaches, or dried apricots. Soak them in water while you are out fishing, heat, top with crumbled Ritz crackers and brown sugar, dot with a bit of butter, and if desired, sprinkle a bit of rum in at the last moment. The nice thing about this dessert is that it is lightweight and good for backpacking trips, and the same is true of the rest of the meal (you get the fish, ramps, and branch lettuce from nature) except for the potatoes. I'll sacrifice the extra pack weight to have them though.
That's enough, I'm off to the kitchen for a hearty venison and lentil stew featuring ground venison and lentils with a few green chilis mixed in, some diced tomatoes, and a bit more heat from chili powder. Pure pleasure if you are feeling peckish on a cold winter's evening.
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[ChemEAngler]

Originally Posted by Rog 1

There used to be a restaurant between Gburg and Greenbrier that served fried rainbow trout....while you waited for your dinner to be prepared you could go out to several cement ponds outside the restaurant and fish for the next persons trout...all that were caught went to the kitchen to be cooked later....kids loved the place...caught fish and went back inside and ate chicken fingers.

I remember that place. My mom and dad took me there when I was around 5, and it helped fuel the fire burning inside me.

[tjw37909]

I remember going to Teague Mill a lot when I was a kid. I probably "caught" my first trout there. I wish it was still open, seeing as it would be about 2 and a half miles from my house.

[jeffnles1]

To me the ultimate Smoky Mountain backcountry meal features the following: Pan-fried trout, a ramp and branch lettuce (saxifrage) salad "kilt" with hot bacon grease and bacon bits

My grandmother used to make something very similar. She called it "wilted" lettuce. She used beacon grease, chopped up the beacon and added a touch of vinegar and sugar to the grease and poured it over the lettuce while the grease was still hot.

It's so bad for you in so many ways, but I always thought it was the food of the gods.

In early spring, she would add dandelion leaves to the lettuce and that added a very nice flavor and texture.

This thread is making me very hungry.

Jeff

[ChemEAngler]

Originally Posted by jeffnles1

My grandmother used to make something very similar. She called it "wilted" lettuce. She used beacon grease, chopped up the beacon and added a touch of vinegar and sugar to the grease and poured it over the lettuce while the grease was still hot.

It's so bad for you in so many ways, but I always thought it was the food of the gods.

In early spring, she would add dandelion leaves to the lettuce and that added a very nice flavor and texture.

Jeff,
I still ask my mom and mother-in-law to make it for me every year for my birthday along with fried fish. That reminds me to call them and put in my order for this years birthday dinner coming up this weekend....

[silvercreek]

This kilt, wilt thing seems to be regional. My folks were from Kentucky and it was called wilt. My Mom always put a little chopped green onion in it. Whatever you call it, it sure tastes gooood. Silvercreek.

[Grannyknot]

For those of you that are into mountain greens....you should try to attend the Cosby ramp festival.

http://www.cosbyrampfestival.org/

After last years festival, feast, & the 5 following days of eating ramps, I stunk like an early 1900s cades cove school boy in the spring.

[Rog 1]

One spring I was hiking up above Elkmont to fish above #24 due to high water...passed a couple of local elders with cane poles and overalls....must have had their city cousin with them because he looked like he had stepped off the cover of an Orvis catalog....on the way back out I caught the smell of ramps before I ever saw these same fellows again...as I passed them they were all chewing on fresh ramps with their front pockets stuffed with the fresh dug treasure....doubt if any of them were allowed in the bedroom when they got home.