This past weekend, we celebrated Mother’s Day. Meryl and I headed across the border for an afternoon away. We headed to Grand Marais (along the north shore of Lake Superior on Highway 61—about 45 minutes south of Thunder Bay) and did a little window shopping. The highlight of the trip was lunch at one of my favourite restaurants, the Angry Trout – it’s right off the Hwy. We had fish and chips with fresh Lake Superior whitefish—it was fantastic. Definitely worth a stop either on your way up or back home.
Instead of a recipe, this week I thought I’d talk about tools. Not the carpenter kind, but the tools of my trade… Knives!
I have a thing for good knives now—and have started a collection with several wicked pieces (kind of similar to fishing rods—as you get more experienced, you like to use better equipment.)
When I am filleting fish at home, I don’t use a filet knife, but actually use a boning knife. This knife is multi-purpose as I can not only use it for cleaning fish, but I can use it to de-bone chickens, clean tenderloins etc. The blade has some flexibility to it but is strong enough to cut through tough parts. When out on the lake, I would recommend bringing 2 filet knives—if you are using a classic filet knife and your blade breaks, you may have a heck of a time filleting the rest of your catch with a paring knife!
Some pointers for keeping your knife sharp—never, ever, ever put it in the dishwasher. This does wonky things to the blade. I had my knives dish-washed by accident when I wasn’t home and I haven’t been able to get the original edge on back on it. Up until that point, I kept it razor sharp using only a steel. Now I need to use both a hand sharpener and steel to do the trick.
Check out this video for the “how to” on using a sharpening steel. (personally, I prefer the second method).
I am planning on spending some time up at the lodges this summer, and hope to get the chance to visit with some of you and talk food up north. You will get a chance to see us at McKenzie as well! Have a wonderful week!
—until next time…
Krista
