Memories of Lake Bomoseen.
Mr. Tom almost sleeps with the fish!
There are few places that can evoke
the wonderful childhood memories of summer like Lake Bomoseen. Growing up as a
kid in my house we heard stories of the times that My Uncle Peter owned the open
air Casino. It was here that my Uncle played host to some of the biggest names
in Music from those days. Duke Ellington, Louie Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie.
It was here that he forged the friendships that later would be his contact to
those stars. He used those contacts to promote events in the Virgin Islands,
raising the funds to start Little League in St Thomas.
I had a number of friends with camps at the Lake, I was never without an invitation to visit. It was great fun and
there was never any competition from an x-box or play station to keep me from
going. Once I married Mr. Tom, his family owned a Hotel on the Lake and that
became our base of operation.
Somehow we avoided an operation and
Mr. Tom having to sleep with the fish. As the story goes and I'm afraid there
are a few different versions. My "Best Friend" Ron and for those of
you who know him as an accomplished storyteller was on the banks of the lake
where there were many horrified spectators watching Mr. Tom bare-footing behind
our new speed boat. Ron seems to remember the story this way!
As Mr. Tom released both skis (not)
maybe one and Mrs.Tom made a final pass around the bay as to let Mr. Tom
display his water skiing talents for the crowd, Mrs. Tom the driver of the boat
at the time was finding Mr. Tom's antics to be quite entertaining. It was dusk
on the lake and visibility had become difficult. Much to the horror of the bank
full of spectators and our very own Mr. Ron... there in the fading light of day
appeared a floating dock. As the horde of people looked on in terror the group
of onlookers tried to alert Mrs. Tom.
The speedboat was at warp speed and
the floating dock some 50 yards off the shoreline appeared like a stealth submarine
surfacing. Without even a moment to react Mrs. Tom braced herself for impact.
To the fear of the entire lake bank they had collided, the speedboat, Mr.
Tom and a floating dock. One could only imagine the grizzley aftermath of
carnage. But wait there is Mr. Tom and he is ok and waving to the crowd while Mrs.
Tom sits at the helm of her water vessel perched right on top of the dock, jerk,
lift and sit. Searching her body for places that might have left a mark, it
seemed that Mrs. Tom also was unharmed.
A few minor adjustments to the water
craft and it was a good as new. I wonder how long it took for Mr. Tom to get
back on skis with Mrs. Tom sitting in the captains seat. I believe the next
visit to the lake brought with it an opportunity to bring home something for
the Grill a little fishing and here Mrs. Tom shares with you what to do with
the catch of the day.
Lake Bomoseen Brown Trout, lemon, basil
and toasted pine nuts
4 whole cleaned boneless 10 oz trout
or whatever size you caught use this as a guide
about 4 lemons... 3 lemons sliced
thin kept round 16 each / 1 lemon cut/reserved to squeeze in the sauce
12 nice fresh basil leaves
cracked black pepper
pinch of sea salt for each
extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
2/3 stick of butter
1/4 cup white wine
3 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
fine
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano
cheese
Equipment
clasping grill basket large enough
for the trout or an iron skillet
Prepare a two zone fire one side at
medium high and the other low
1 Open the trout up and brush with virgin
olive oil on the inside. Place 3 slices of lemon and three basil leaves on the
inside of each trout. S&P to taste. Close the trout place two slices of
lemon on the top of the trout so the lemon chars with the fish and becomes part of your presentation,
then put them side by side in your grill
basket.
2 In a sauté pan toast the pine nuts
about 5 minutes on a medium heat stirring until they are light brown and
release their nutty flavor. Put them in a small bowl and add the cheese and 1
tablespoons of chopped basil, pinch of black pepper... mix/ reserve
3 Put the fish on the grill lemon
side down on the medium high heat about five minutes on each side but keep
watching, remove from the grill lemon side up for presentation. When you turn
the fish start make your sauce.
4. For the sauce, use the same little
sauté pan as you did the nuts in. Place the butter in the pan and heat add the
juice of 1 lemon, and the white wine a touch of black pepper and 1 tablespoon
of basil and reduce until you have a nice lemon butter basil sauce. Don't get
so hot that it breaks if it does add a little whole butter and bring it back. Pour about 2 tablespoons of sauce on a white
plate in the center, place the trout on top of the sauce and sprinkle the pine
nuts on the top of the charred lemon.
Mrs. Tom 's Secret
There are a couple of real secrets
here one has to do with cooking the other deception. Through the years when
fresh fish was on everybody's mind and Mr. Tom would head out to the lake or
river, pole in hand, Mrs. Tom would use the phone to call for backup. Your
local fish man should be able to get you the farm raised variety from Idaho or
Maine.
Make sure you have your ingredients
ready right beside your pan when you are ready to make the sauce, it all
happens fast and you cannot leave the sauce, you must tend it and it will only
take a couple of minutes less than the time it takes to cook the other side of
the trout.
If you need to use the iron skillet
then heat the skillet on the medium high heat and pour a little oil in the pan
or spray the pan with Pam olive oil,
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