Open fire walleye with blistered tomato pan sauce, asperagus and garden salad
Your first open fire cooking lesson
One of the very first nights at my cabin I made chicken soup over the fire. Mostly out of necessity because I didn’t yet have propane installed and needed to feed my mom, myself and brother after a long cold day of hard work building the woodshed. Yes, we started building it the first day I moved in.
For years, I dreamed of making food over open fires on a magical little piece of land. I’m a full believer in dreaming up your reality so you bet there was a Pinterest board dedicated to open fire cooking. I’m sure some of Sara Glovers content was pinned planting seeds in my head of someday constructing contraptions that hang meat over beds of coals with apples strung like steamers decorating my workspace. I haven’t done that one yet but it’s on the list for September.
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I might not have the intricate bespoke rigs Sarah has but the previous owners of this property generously left me with a ton of stuff. This has saved a lot of time and money but between you and me my garage is still full of chemicals from the 1900s.
One of my favorite gems that came with the property is my tripod grill. I use this thing almost weekly for meat, fish, vegetables, and even use it to cook with my 12 inch Piqua cast iron pan, which by the way was hanging on the cabin kitchen wall as.. decoration? I sure hope not! Either way, it’s been put to use quite well this last year and a half. I change my mind, this pan might rank as my favorite item left behind by the former owners. Should I dedicate a post to items like this?
If you’ve been intrigued and completely captured by cooking over open fire but feel a bit intimidated I highly recommend getting something similar to the tripod grill I have. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything exactly like the one I have but this is the closest one I could find. https://amzn.to/3HheD0q. Perhaps my tripod remake will be part of the Northwoods Lifestyle Co. products someday. I just really love the quality of it and the heavy duty steel poles and chains. But if you’re eager to start this one on Amazon looks pretty good. Let me know if you can find a better one!
Next, you’ll need some high hard wood. Not rotting wood that’s been sitting on the side of your house all winter. This needs to be dry hard woods like maple, ash, beech, etc. The smoke is part of the flavor and going in and on your food so the wood you use matters.
If you don’t currently have any fire pit situation that’s in the ground, all you need is a few dozen bricks and a shovel. Dig a hole and set in 3-4 layers of brick so your pit is in the ground. Set up your tripod and get your fire started!
I know that might sound easier said than done but after the initial setup and few fire starting practice rounds it’ll become second nature, promise. Should I make a post dedicating to starting fires in a wood burning stove and outdoor pit? Let me know!
Okay so for this meal, you’re going to need a few ingredients.
Ingredients
Walleye or your white fish of choice
Asparagus
Cherry tomatoes (the orange ones are the best for blistering imo)
Ginger
Shallot
Red onion
Sunflower microgreens
Cucumber
Feta
Garden Herbs (I just use a bit of everything lol)
mint
sage
parsley
cilantro
chives
green onion
Garden greens (you don’t need all of these but I like to get a little of everything in)
buttercrunch lettuce
red leaf lettuce
baby kale
baby swisschard
Garlic / Garlic Scapes if you have them
Butter
Olive oil
Honey
Lemons
Mustard
Salt
How to make it
If I had to pick a single lesson learned in my years of cooking, it would be that timing is everything. Now, I’m no expert chef and I’m still learning but have picked up a few skills and order of operations is one of them. Actually, I’ll always be looking to improve timing. This is why you want to have a few multi course dinners practiced for company so your food doesn’t come out cold, or worse burnt.
Start by getting your fire going. Make sure you set up the tripod before hand.
Prep by halving a few cups of cherry tomatoes. You can usually find orange Zima tomatoes in grocery stores or more unique heirloom varieties at farmers markets. Save some for the salad. Finely dice up the red onion and shallot and mince your garlic and ginger. Go with your gut on amount here. If I had to guess I did maybe like an entire shallot, half an onion, a tablespoon or two of ginger and 2 cloves of garlic. But only you know what you like. Save a bit of shallot and onion for the salad.
Toss those into the skillet with a tablespoon of butter, a pinch or two of salt and a bit of fresh ground pepper. If you have herbs, great if not no worries! I just picked some rosemary ( be careful not to overdo this one), sage, mint, parsley and cilantro. I forgot about garlic scapes but if you have them in your garlic bed right now chop up one scape and toss it in.
Once the fire goes from blazing to chill you can put your skillet on the tripod grate. You’ll find with open fire cooking that you’re usually working with a lot more heat so things do cook faster. But you can always adjust the level your tripod is at during cooking (which is why I highly recommend getting an adjustable one). Make sure to keep an eye on this while you’re doing the next step.
Brush your fish with olive oil and salt on both sides—set aside. Collect your salad greens, sunflower shoots and rinse/dry them. I like to do kale and Swiss chard as well in my salads but you do you! Chop up the cucumber, feta, and add toss in the tomatoes. Remember to keep watch on your skillet over the fire! Part of this entire experience is doing it with people you love so make sure you’re. delegating and put them to work! If you're the only one cooking you can however still stick to this same order.
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Make your salad dressing in a jar. Never dress your salad until it’s on the table and you’re ready to eat it. My friend Helene made our dressing and I honestly don’t remember exactly what her recipe is but here’s mine which might be similar to what she did. A few glugs of olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, pinch of salt, tablespoon of honey and a little teaspoon of mustard. Shake this up in a jar and set aside.
Once the tomatoes in the pan sauce look saucy like the juice is thickening take off the fire and set it down on the bricks around the fire. I like to do this 1. because it keeps the food warm and 2. I prep and cook right on the ground lol. You don’t have to but if you want the full experience I highly recommend. Plus squatting is really good for you.
Lay the Walleye on the grill grate skin side down. You’re not looking to have the fish over any direct flames. The flames should be a good foot below the grate. When it comes to skillets you can bring this lower and more direct over the flame. But for direct contact with meat or fish (especially fish) you don’t want that except for maybe quick sears. Lay the asparagus right next to your fish. These guys will cook very quickly so keep an eye. The fish takes a bit longer. within maybe 3-5 minutes asparagus will be done. Take those off and top with some butter or olive oil and a bit of salt.
At this point your asparagus is done. Salad and dressing is ready to go. Pan sauce is on the side waiting for a quick nuke over the fire and your fish is just about done. The walleye for me took about 10-12 minutes. You can test that it’s done if a piece of it flakes off easily. If you cut into it and it's not done just toss it back on!
Have all your plates, cutlery, drinks, everything ready for serving now. Take your fish off the fire, give the pan sauce a quick nuke over the flames, dress your salad and serve!
If I forgot to give any instructions for anything please let me know. As for the herbs, if you’re unsure about what to use where, just use all of them lol. Its summer! The more herbs the better. :D
I hope you give this a go. It’s so fun and I promise after the first time you’ll want to cook over open fire again and again. :)
Happy cooking!
If you want to see this meal made on video head over to my instagram @thenorthwoodsgirl and check it out there. <3
https://www.instagram.com/thenorthwoodsgirl/
Looks so delish and healthy