Eels for Winter

If you want to catch eels in a hurry, visit a soft-shell crab shedding operation. The eels, now ready for the smoker, are lifted from their brine, dried, rolled first in olive oil and then chopped parsley snipped from the kitchen garden and black pepper from the store (we can't grow every- thing here although we might try). Sitting around for fifty minutes while the eels absorb the flavors of smoke and seasoning and drip their rendered fat onto the coals is work I can do, usually with the aid of a glass of something in hand.