Cleaning & Cooking

The CatchFeed: 50 Top Photos from Catchbook, Field & Stream's New Social Fishing App

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:43:40 -0400

These 50 photos are our editors' picks for the best shots posted so far by users of our new Catchbook app!

About Catchbook Fishing Reports
Catchbook is a free social fishing app we built for the iPhone to help you share photos of your fish while recording the spots where you caught them. Check out more great fish photos from around the country (and start posting your own catches) by downloading the app from iTunes! Visit fieldandstream.com/catchbook for details on how the app works, and why it'll help you catch more fish.

Catchbook Photo Contest
We're giving away a Columbia PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap, for the best photo posted each week (as chosen by our editors) from now until then end of July. At the end of each month we'll pick our favorite overall shot and run it in the magazine! Each monthly winner will also receive a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve (men) or Ultimate Chill™ Long Sleeve (women). Click here to learn how you can enter this contest. Click here for the official rules.

Food Fight Friday: Smoked Trout vs. Halibut Ceviche

Sarah Smith — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:52:04 -0400

by David Draper

Everyone must be catching fishing fever as we got two submissions featuring finned fare for this Friday’s Food Fight. The first comes from Wild Chef reader Split 484, who sent in a great looking photo of some smoked trout and killer accompaniments. Deputy editor Colin Kearns also passed along a fish-themed food photo of a batch of halibut ceviche. Both look so good, I can’t decide who should win, so I’m leaving it up to you.

Split 484’s Smoked Trout

Even though we like to go barbless, sometimes trout have to come home. These are fresh from Colorado’s western slope, smoked and served over mango salsa with cucumber raita and naan. So tasty we had to share.

Colin’s Halibut Ceviche

I thawed a pound of halibut that I caught in Alaska last summer (vacuum-sealers really are lifesavers), and made some ceviche, following a recipe from Field & Stream’s Wild Chef columnist, Jonathan Miles. I wish I could share the recipe with you now, but you’ll just have to hold off a couple more months before it appears in the magazine. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

Just for competing in today’s Food Fight Friday, Split 484 is going to get a big box of goodies from Camp Chef, and Hi-Mountain Seasoning. And there’s more where that came from, so email me your food photo to fswildchef@gmail.com. If we feature it here, we’ll send you something good, too.

And if you need some inspiration in the kitchen, check out our new photo gallery of the Wild Chef’s Best Fish and Turkey Recipes.

Recipe: How to Cook Trout Stew

Sarah Smith — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:55:18 -0400

by David Draper

Last Friday’s Food Fight featured a couple of great-looking fish dishes, including a fish stew from my good friend Chris Ellis. Now, some folks might think the words “fish” and “stew” don’t go together, but I’ve eaten enough cioppino—a wine-based seafood stew—to know the pairing can be incredible.

Also, for a former river rat and affirmed West Virginia hill jack, Chris has some pretty good chops in the kitchen and he’s been on a big soup kick lately. Luckily, he agreed to share his recipe with Wild Chef readers.

Trout Stew

Ingredients:
-1 trout, cleaned and scaled
-3 Tbsp. olive oil
-2 medium onions, chopped
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 cup fresh parsley
-2 tomatoes, chopped
-2 Tbsp. tomato paste, optional
-1 cup dry white wine
-Fish stock
-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Give each side of a cleaned trout a quick spray of Pam or other cooking spray and place in glass casserole dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size of trout.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté. Cook until translucent and smelling good. Add the parsley and give it a good stir.

Add the tomatoes to the pan. (Here’s when I also like to add a couple big spoonfuls of tomato paste if I have some handy for added flavor and color.) When everything looks dandy, I add a cup or so of dry white wine, give it a good stir and let it bubble.

Remove the trout from the oven and place on a cutting board. Run a knife along the fish’s lateral line. With a fork, lift meat from rib cage exposing entire skeleton. With one side of the meat removed, you can either lift skeleton from the meat on opposite side or flip the trout over and repeat. The skin will literally peel off the meat leaving you a pile of boneless, skinless trout goodness.

If you need to eat right now, add the trout pieces and enough fish stock to make the stew look like stew and simmer until you drool. I prefer to transfer the veggie mixture to a Dutch oven or slow cooker, add the trout and fish stock, then simmer until the house smells yummy.

Either way, add salt and pepper to your liking. Serve stew with oyster crackers, Tabasco, and of course, a cold Coors Light or two.

The Best F&S Online Record Fish Stories and Photos

Online Editors — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:57:23 -0400

Food Fight Friday: Trout vs. Basa

Sarah Smith — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:06:13 -0400

by David Draper

Trout Stew vs. Basa Oreganata

From the results of last week’s Bourbon vs. Scotch fight, it’s evident Wild Chef readers not only like to have a nip now and then, but also have strong opinions on what they splash in their glass. If you haven’t checked the results lately, my single-malt got a pretty good licking from Colin’s Four Roses, which I’ll admit wasn’t all that surprising. I’m also man enough to admit the next time I see a bottle of Four Roses I’m going to give it a try.

The post was so popular I considered rebranding this blog Booze Fight Friday, but I know readers love their food, too, so for now, we’ll stick to that. This week it’s a fishy battle between two readers.

Chris Ellis’s Fish Stew

“I’ve known former fishing guide Chris Ellis for many years since he first rowed me down the New River, and I’ll tell you, he’s not one to brag. So, when he sent me this pic accompanied by a single word, ‘amazing,’ I immediately asked him for the recipe. I’m going to wait and share that with you next week, but for now you should know the fish featured in the stew is fresh caught trout from an unnamed West Virginia creek.”

Alberto Bocus’s Basa Oreganata

“Not wild caught but very good! I got basa fillets and topped them with a mixture of panko breadcrumbs, fresh garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Then I baked them in the oven. Great meal!”

Fish, fowl, or anything else—we need your food photos. If you’d like to compete in an upcoming Food Fight Friday, send your photos to fswildchef@gmail.com.

Catchbook Contest: Photo of the Week!

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:41:44 -0400

Congratulations to Austin Bockwinkel, whose spring Iowa largemouth bass takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Austin gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.

Catchbook is a new fishing app for the iPhone that automatically turns photos of fish you've caught into detailed fishing journal entries that show up on your map, then shares those entries exclusively with trusted friends. Our goal is to help you and your buddies learn more about the spots you fish. You can download the app from iTunes here.

Wild Chef's Best: Fish and Turkey Recipes

Online Editors — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:16:11 -0400

Holy Mackerel: 2nd-Grader Hooks 68 lb. King Fish

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:10:38 -0400

Andrew Quinn, a spirited Michigan second-grader who wrestles in the 77-pound weight class at his school, is no stranger to grappling with heavyweight foes.

But even Andrew almost met his match when he hooked this 5-foot king mackerel during a deep sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico in late March. At the end of a 30-minute fight, Andrew had just enough strength left to boat the giant king, which weighed 68 pounds, 3 ounces—a touch lighter than Andrew but 4 ounces heavier than the current Alabama state record.

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

Catchbook Contest: Photo of the Week!

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:21:10 -0400

Congratulations to Connor Brazell, who's early-season pike photo takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Connor gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.