Long week in Minnesota

Hello Bingoragerz.
I've been away from my computer and the internet for nearly a week; but, I've needed a vacation. [No; I am not talking about the glitzy Bingo parlours of the intertubes, like meccabingo.]

Dad and I went down to visit our hunting buddy, living out in Hugo, MN. While we were there, we :

-had a smelt feast
-went to an iron pour
-barbecued like crazy
-visited my buddies at Anurag Art
-played 'til the wee hours and slept in late
-indulged in political, religious and philosophical debate... ad nauseum.

Good stuff.


IT'S A SMELTY THING
The smelt were netted by Marky Mark, up at Lake Superior. I wasn't there when he dropped off the smelt, but I'm told his car was pretty much full of it.
Dad, Tosh and myself spent a few hours cleaning, battering, frying and eating bait.
It was tres deelish.

Dad, preparing the smelt


frying the smelt (basic breading: crumbs, flour, coarse corn meal, Old Bay spice, Sea Salt, pepper, cane sugar. No milk/egg dip) in peanut and grapeseed oil


getting ready to scarf the smelt (tartar sauce and lemon juice for dip), draining on unbleached paper towels.


GRILLIN' TIME
We did a lot of grilling, but the best gnoshing of the trip was the smoked brisket.
We thawed the brisket, washed it, dried it and then applied a spice rub to it (Sea salt, whole peppercorns, dark brown sugar, powdered chili and other thingies). We left it in the fridge for at least 12 hours, then put it in the smoker for about six hours; using oak and mesquite smoke.
The smoker was run between 200 - 225 degrees F; our target was 190 degrees F internal temperature, checked with an electric fork thermometer(which was later put through the dishwasher and turned into a non-electric BBQ fork).
Every hour, the brisket was basted. For the final twenty minutes, we drenched the brisket in Pear juice and wrapped it in tin foil to steam.

It was so freakin' good... I wish I could lend you my taste buds.


IRON POUR

Iron Pour in White Bear Lake (MN), at the Tamarack Nature Centre.


I'll post more pics of the Iron Pour, over at Anurag Art Online
Within the next two days; I promise.
Update: April 26 - DIRECT LINK


FISHY TIME
For our last day, we decided to do fish. The best place to get fish while I was living in the twin cities was -and is- Coastal Seafoods in The Seward neighbourhood. We went looking for scallops, marlin and swordfish. The first thing I noticed was that the exterior had been repainted and sculpture added, even to the dumpster cage.




entrance facade


east wall relief


the dumpster cage

We went in and I pointed out the last piece of Marlin to my father -who'd been waiting a long time to eat Marlin again- and the guy who came in after we entered, takes it. There's no mercy for the hesitant when it comes to fishmongering, apparently.
We settled for scallops, swordfish and opah.

The scallops were rubbed and marinated in olive oil, jerk seasoning and brown sugar before being grilled with apple smoke. They were like spicy candy, to wake your mouth up.
The opah and swordfish were rubbed with oil, salted capers and a sauce I can't remember the name of at the moment. They were cooked over a smoky grill, as well.
An excellent final dinner of the vacation.


RANDOM PICS

Corner of Lake St. and 27'th Ave, Minneapolis.


A tiny barn in Hugo, Minnesota.

Tags:
bingorage,blog,minneapolis,art,pics,iron pour,sculpture,barbecue,smelt,seafood,foundry,hugo,minnesota