Desert Fishing

It seems kind of odd there can be fishing of any sort in a desert environment.  Yet, the local hardware store has fishing rods and reels for sale.  The RV tent that sells just about everything you can think of even has rod and reel sets for fishing.  Mind you they are covered in fine dust so may have only been there for a week.

Other than the Colorado River and anything behind a dam on the river I have not seen any water down here at all.  Apparently the river has large and small mouth bass, crappie, catfish and similar species.  I may be wrong but I suspect whatever you catch is probably best to release rather than eat.  Fish is an important component to our diet so imagine my surprise when I came across a fish vendor in Quartzsite.

During the month of December and January there is a family from Craig, Alaska set up at the Tyson Wells Market Centre selling Salmon and Halibut.  I spoke with the owner and he brings the fish in to Phoenix once a week to restock his freezer.  I presume this would be a lucrative business opportunity for him as it is off season for both species in Alaska and a good way for him to liquidate fish not sold otherwise.  He said he sold 5,000 pounds last year and expects to do at least the same this year.

Well priced, vacuum sealed and frozen fish from Alaska in Quartzsite is too good to pass up.  This isn’t fish that was caught three days ago, flash frozen and flown to Phoenix for a short trip to Quartzsite.  From what I could see on the various packages it was caught and frozen late last summer, which is still good as long as it was frozen quickly.  Halibut was $20 a pound and salmon $15.  We bought a few Salmon steaks for smoking and a pair of Halibut steaks for the bbq. 

I will share the salmon smoking recipe soon, but want to share the halibut recipe as we just had it the other day.  The ingredients below are an AllRecipes version we enjoy.  It is shown for four pieces, and if you are only cooking two then halving the recipe still works.  We used two halibut pieces totalling about 1.5 pounds.  This amount of fish typically results in some left over for lunch the next day in a salad.

Grilled Halibut Steak

• 3/4 Cup butter, softened

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

• 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed (optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon white sugar (optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 4 halibut steaks 1” thick

• Alder or cherry smoking chips (optional)

I followed the ingredient list exactly except for the parsley, dill and sugar.   I discovered we had no parsley in the cupboard and am not a fan anyway, so may not have looked as thoroughly as I could.  Dill and sugar thankfully were optional and I would have skipped those anyway, so am glad that all worked out.  I added the line item for the smoking chips and marked it optional.

Mix all ingredients, slather on all sides of the steaks and let stand on Saran Wrap.

Preheat the bbq to about 375 with a copper or silicone grill mat on the grates as the bbq preheats.  These work great for allowing the heat transfer without all the accompanying mess of fats and oils dripping down onto the hot coals.  On a small surface like my bbq has you have to be mindful of the fats and oils running off the side so I keep a couple sheets of paper towel handy to soak that up before it runs off.

Add a few pieces of soaked flavour chips to the coals and place the fish on the mat, close the lid, wait five to six minutes and flip over for five or six more.  Turn once more at ninety degrees if you want crossed marks on the fish.  I don’t with fish as it is hard enough to pick up after it is ready without having to flip it over again.

Let the fish rest for a few minutes and serve.  For this meal Pat prepared a rice salad with fresh peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes with an olive oil dressing.

This method produces a product that is flavourful and juicy.  Try it out.

Thank you for reading.

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