Idaho grown surf and smoked & seared prime turf

[civilsmoker]

Ok first off, needed to go shopping for the Idaho grown surf…….. found a good parking spot…..

Next up is to get the right “basket” and head for the seafood isle……..pretty tough duty….

Pulled the first basket after 4.5 hours of soaking (tilapia parts was used for the bait….)….

Huge smiles now!

Basket #2………jackpot!

Here is the combined haul…..holy smokes how are we going to eat all of these……

Fired up the Weber side burner and set up a crab boil pot…….two batches and now all out in Idaho mountain air to cool…..48 deg temp (it’s midnight by now)…..

I couldn’t resist……the boy was dying laughing….

Ok now the prime turf side of things……a prime tri tip from Costco…..man I could pass this baby up!

Seasoned it up with salt, pepper, and some kinders caramelized buttery onion…..

Next up it went on the RT 1250 at 180 to soak up some smoke…..

After about 90 mins the INT was 110 I transferred it over to the Weber sear zone….

Side one sear!

Side two sear…. Transferred to the home oven to rest at 140….the INT was 130…..

As the TT was resting I dropped a portion of the crawfish that were cooked in the wee hours and cooled and friged in a new crab boil pot to get ready to consumed….

Finally it’s all put together…….

The TT was dressed with some red wine balsamic reduction and garnished with some garlic new spuds and greens….

The crawfish is paired with some seasoned clarified butter….

Holy smokes this was a cornucopia of flavors!

By the way all the extras got vac-sealed after they were cooled and in the freezer for future meals…. 3 portions…more (12 lbs in total +/-)…..

 

[Kvgsqtii]

Dang, that all looks fantastic. I could take a big helping if all of that. Are crayfish native to Idaho or are those farmed?

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Looks great. I wish we had a self service market like that around here. Your Costco sells single tri-tips? The ones around here only sell them as doubles.

 

[gmc2003]

Looks fantastic Civil and cooked perfectly

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

Dang, that all looks fantastic. I could take a big helping if all of that. Are crayfish native to Idaho or are those farmed?

If not native, they've been there a long time. I remember catching crayfish when I was growing up in southern Idaho in the 60's. But none that big!

If it's not a secret spot, I'm curious to know where those were caught--they look great!

 

[JLeonard]

Holy cow buddy! That all together pic is magazine worthy. I would so hurt myself with that meal.

Jim

 

[flatbroke]

Looks fantastic.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Heck of a haul there Civil. Looks delicious. Nice work.

 

[smokerjim]

Think I'm moving to Idaho, that looks fantastic

 

[civilsmoker]

Dang, that all looks fantastic. I could take a big helping if all of that. Are crayfish native to Idaho or are those farmed?

Thanks Kv! They are an invasive species, but they have pretty much invaded every lake in Idaho, so wild caught. You can have up to 5 traps (restricted to a volume) and no limit. Above 5 and you need a commercial license. The two traps in the pics are made in Idaho. The square one has a patent on the design. It’s made to catch larger craws.

Looks great. I wish we had a self service market like that around here. Your Costco sells single tri-tips? The ones around here only sell them as doubles.

Many thanks 90! Yes it’s pretty tough to beat it for sure although the wake boats can make for a rolling fishing experience.

Oh this is the first single I’ve seen at Costco but it was about the size of the doubles…..that’s why it called to me!

Looks fantastic Civil and cooked perfectly

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks Chris, much appreciated.

If not native, they've been there a long time. I remember catching crayfish when I was growing up in southern Idaho in the 60's. But none that big!

If it's not a secret spot, I'm curious to know where those were caught--they look great!

I think they eat pretty good, all the lakes in Idaho have them, I know they catch them along all the snake river complex lakes, these were from Ririe, 40 feet of water. The trick is the bait….since white fish is the local meal deal good old tilapia is the ticket, make sure you have a gil in and cross cut the skin to expose the meat and release the oil…..

By the way you know they are big when you can eat the claw meat…..70% of these you can….man it is GOOD!

 

[civilsmoker]

Holy cow buddy! That all together pic is magazine worthy. I would so hurt myself with that meal.

Jim

Thanks Jim! Oh that’s why you limit what you cook as to not allow for seconds….when it’s gone it’s gone!

Looks fantastic.

Thanks broke!

Heck of a haul there Civil. Looks delicious. Nice work.

Thanks SE! It was a nice score for sure the spring time fishing was a bust cause of the cold and dirty water…. The lake still had ice on it in June…..

Think I'm moving to Idaho, that looks fantastic

Thanks Jim! Oh and I think just about everyone and their cousin is moving here…..

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I love the boat! Making me wish I would of kept mine. Those are some really nice crawfish. Nailed the tri-tip. I would of loved to sit down to that meal.

 

[02ebz06]

That was quite a haul, and a great looking meal.

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

I think that eat pretty good, all the lakes in Idaho have them, I know they catch them along all the snake river complex lakes, these were from Ririe, 40 feet of water. The trick is the bait….since white fish is the local meal deal good old tilapia is the ticket, make sure you have a gil in and cross cut the skin to expose the meat and release the oil…..

That make sense. I'm from Twin Falls, and used to catch them around there. Thanks for the tips on how to do it better!
Now that I'm retired, I'm working on moving back, though probably to the Coeur D'alene area, which my wife prefers to the high desert of the south.

 

[civilsmoker]

I love the boat! Making me wish I would of kept mine. Those are some really nice crawfish. Nailed the tri-tip. I would of loved to sit down to that meal.

Thanks Brian, it has an inboard sportjet (direct injected 2-stroke), ie virtually zero maintenance to do other than fill the injection oil bottle. It has a 3/16" Al hull, with a 1/4" delta pad welding in and the bottom is covered in 1/2 UHMW plastic. I will jump over sand bars, tree stumps, etc....

There wasn't much talking at dinner amongst the family...prime TT is a conversation stopper....LOL

That was quite a haul, and a great looking meal.

Many thanks 02!

That make sense. I'm from Twin Falls, and used to catch them around there. Thanks for the tips on how to do it better!
Now that I'm retired, I'm working on moving back, though probably to the Coeur D'alene area, which my wife prefers to the high desert of the south.

Coeur D'alene is nice for sure and lots of places to go fish and such. The best bait is a fresh caught white fish from the same waters, but that often isn't allowed. The second is fresh or frozen commercial white fish if its allowed (I buy the frozen tilapia from walmart, one fish will do both traps). Never rotten stuff.... Just make sure you check the regs for up north.... Oh the crayster traps are spendy but they are TOP o LINE! You can order direct (procrayster.com) or they order through Amazon (but sometimes they are out). Most of the pics they have on their web page are from Brownlee.... Hells Canyon Lake has a ton of them, all of which wouldn't be that far from CDA, but I think you can trap in Lake CDA among other lakes up there.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Awesome meal there I sure could pull my chair up for that.

Warren

 

[flatbroke]

The crawfish merry go round would be a good picture for the rotator.

 

[Winterrider]

Oh my,, that should have a Labor Day label on there civilsmoker .
That plate is a beauty !

 

[flatbroke]

Congrats on the rotator ride.

 

[indaswamp]

Wow! That looks fantastic! That meal would make me feel right at home. How deep were the traps set? And how long did you let them soak? Ran them once or multiple times?

Edit: Wow, that's pretty dang good for only a 4.5 hour soak!