Chef James, THE CHEF JAMES, dines on his own creation and the paired Schutt masterpiece.

Ioannis’ plate featuring a serving and a half of Chef James’ creation paired with some of the Schutt Heart Attack Plate.

Today was a strange day. Nothing bizarre or anything, just a strange feeling. With all the field work done, and a pull out scheduled for tomorrow, there wasn’t much to do but wait. It is amazing how fast the season went by, time flies when you’re having fu…. working hard. The weather this morning was immaculate. Clear skies, bright sun, and no wind. James and I took our meat-and-cheese melt sandwiches we made for breakfast and ate on the front patio (our skidoos).

There was a little puttering around to do like removing the skidoo windscreens from the skidoos that still had some (two fell victim to the Twin Otter as it took off after flight four and scattered them across camp into several pieces). We enjoyed as much of the morning as we could, Ioannis even searching for meteorites on foot near camp. Come the afternoon, the winds picked up and continued to increase through to dinner time. Currently, the tent walls are flapping vigorously to a high-pitched howl.
We shared in a joint dinner tonight, being our last planned dinner in the field. We’ll conclude this blog post with a “Cooking with James” episode, this time guest starring John Schutt. The meal was an exclamation point on a fantastic (or as Ioannis would describe, “super”) field season. The food stood little chance and was consumed with smiles on all of our faces. What little remained was “dibs’ed” early on by Ioannis. We had some canned peaches and frozen raspberries to round out the evening with more readings from the journals of Amundsen and Scott.
Lonely Ridge Surf ‘n Turf
Fetch your skillet from the kitchen box. There’ll be some stuck on cheese from this morning’s brunch, proceed as planned. Add a lump of butter and place the halibut steaks in once boiling. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Adjust the burner in the wrong direction, incidentally turning it off. Re-ignite burner with a match. Come to the decision that since this is “the last dinner” to just toss in all the butter that is open at this point. Because, butter sauce. Fetch another 1/4 lb of butter, it’ll be needed still. Cook the halibut to perfection, Chef James doesn’t do anything but to perfection.
Once the fish is done, place the four remaining beef steaks in the skillet. You’ll need more butter, of course. Season again with salt and pepper. Marvel in the pleasure of cooking thawed meat. Praise your past self for getting them out early and thawing them above your living space.
Place the fish and beef on separate plates. Gather all your eating utensils (once again, ignore any previous meals still remaining) and a mug for dessert. Flop your way out the tent door, careful not to spill the delicacy you’re transporting. Scamper across the ice-hard snow drifts to the tent next door. Scream “door” loud and early in hopes it’ll be untied before you get there. Alas, it will not, the howling of the wind will drown out your voice. Stand outside the tent wearing less than adequate clothing for the wind. Carefully pass the dishes and your cutlery etc. through the door to your comrades.
Before entering, scamper off to “the mound” to save pee bottle space for later – be sure not to slip as you prepare to stop near “the mound”. Grimace due to the coldness of your hands and return to the neighbouring tent with vigor.
Pair dish with John Schutt’s “Heart Attack Plate”.
John Schutt’s Heart Attack Plate
Fetch tater tots, bacon, asparagus, and two types of cheeses. Provide the ingredients with the instructions on what’s expected of them. When you’re John Schutt, food bends to your will. For mere mortals trying to replicate this meal, toss all ingredients into a hot skillet and hope for the best.
Meal Reviews:
Scott – Another great meal. Chef James continues to impress. The flavours cause your tastebuds to dance and sing of joy. The copious amount of butter gave a rich and deep accent that’ll sustain you for the days ahead. I’m hoping he’ll open a restaurant close to LPSC in March so the fine dining can continue. One can dream.
Ioannis* – Super meal. Super flavour. Super amount. Super super super.
*This review was a best-guess of Ioannis’ assessment by yours truly based on his previous dialogue.
Posted by Scott on 2018-01-10 from Amundsen Glacier at 20:30 local.