Deadliest Catch? Maybe a close second or better yet, runner-up in tenth place!

So this is my story about the guy’s deep sea fishing trip out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There were close to a dozen guys included in this fun filled excursion; my boyfriend was among them. The day began early. They woke up just before sunrise, readied themselves, packed the gear and hit the road. Everyone met up at the pier and boarded the vessel. It was a two hour trip to the area of the big blue-green sea that they were destined to fish that day. The seas were rough on the way out but nothing too dramatic and after all these were big, burly, rough and tough men! The fishing boat stopped, cast the buoy and the casting of the rods began.

As they drifted and fished the boat rocked back and forth and up and down. The skies were over cast, it was damp and cool and the rocking didn’t stop. After about an hour and a half, sea sickness started to take over. Some of the younger guys, boys to be exact, initiated the feeling and it worked its way to the men; those big, burly guys that can pick up a boat with their bare hands if they so desired. Yup, they began feeding the fish! Of course not the fish that were caught!

My man, one of the big, burly ones was also overcome by the relentless rocking to and fro and so he too fed the creatures of that blue-green sea. He might have been the biggest contributor to feeding that day. He tried his hardest to keep fishing but soon gave in to the nausea and went below deck to lay his weakened body down to recoup. Try as he did, fishing more that day just wasn’t going to happen. He resurfaced for a short time but decided that he was better off below; and perhaps the other’s thought the same thing. At least he wasn’t alone, one of the other big, burly(s) was sick as well and the kids or young men, didn’t recoup totally either. When the stationery portion of the trip was over and the vessel was headed back to land, my man resurfaced for the duration of the floating ride back to shore.

Fish were caught though not by everyone but everyone got a portion for the price they paid to attend. Yes, we got fish! Cod was the fish of the day. I drove to the home of the coordinator of this joyous venture, my older brother, when the trip was done to catch my man and drive him home after eating a feast of…..pulled pork, ribs, baked beans and such. Nope, not fish.

The five or so pounds of cod was brought home and tossed un-affectionately into the freezer. Fortunately it had been cleaned by the runners of this deep sea fishing company. Now, imagine what happens to a bag of half-way frozen fresh fish when it’s treated as though one couldn’t look at it again for a while. I have this frozen lump of white fish and empty thoughts about how to deal with it.

We’re heading out to camp in our twenty four foot travel trailer that offers all of the amenities of home. I took that frozen white lump and lovingly put it into the refrigerator to thaw so that I can create meals with it. Yes, I have to make several meals from it because when this once oh so fresh beast is thawed, all of it needs to be cooked.

Post meal!

Well, this beautiful white lump of ocean goodness thawed nicely. I took it out of the freezer bag not quite sure what to expect. To my delight, the cod was still nearly perfect and as I rinsed and dried it my thoughts of how I was going to prepare it were in full swing. Because we were camping, my spices and useful produce were limited. I had butter, I had white wine, I had a savory spice mixture, a lemon and salt and pepper. That’s what I used. I grill baked this concoction until the fish was flakey yet moist. I used two foil pans because I had so much fish! We slowly devoured every bit of one of the pans of fish and I wrapped the second pan tightly and froze that poor fish one more time.

Last night, in our haste to pack up the camper for another trip, I heated the frozen fish in the oven alongside sweet potatoes and I lightly steamed some broccoli and that was our dinner. Once again, we devoured every delactable bite. And…neither of us mentioned anything about the way this fish came into our lives.