Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Fish??!?! Help me!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Fish??!?! Help me!

    I just started eating meat after being raised vegetarian (I did spend a few years 'experimenting' in my college days, but never cooked anything and mostly just tasted stuff). So. I'm eating all local, sustainable, grass fed, blah, blah, blah meat.

    On top of that, I've dedicated myself to FINALLY reading, and cooking from, my nearly-complete collection of Time Life Foods of the World cookbooks (seen those? old white cookbooks with a spiral bound recipe booklet?). I've completed the American one and and almost done with the 12 meals I choose from the Italian one. Hubby chose the next book - Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Guess what? There's a lot of fish/seafood recipes in there!

    I called up the local fish dealer who used to sell at the farmers market, but hasn't been there lately. Apparently, the fees, time, hassle of it all was too much and he's only doing wholesale to restaurants. He's the ONLY distributor of small fisherman caught Texas Coast fish in Austin, so I was a bit disappointed and he could tell. We worked out a deal - I get 12 of my buddies to also buy from him and he sells to us. Took me less than an hour to round up twice than many folks on my neighborhood email list. I'm finally liking the people I live near!

    Ok long story short (er, too late for that), the guy says he's going to get me addicted - just like a drug dealer. He is swinging by my house tomorrow with a free sample to get me hooked on the good stuff! I'm at a total loss for what to do with the fish...my husband hates fish, I'm not about to try one of the totally wacky recipes in the Pacific Island book as a first time thing, and I hate finding random recipes online. Help me out?

    The fish is likely to be red snapper fillets (please don't let him drop off a whole fish!!!). I've had fish a few times in the past and it was always 'fishy' in a bad way, so maybe something that is a bit bolder on the seasonings until I get used to the flavor. Any ideas?
    The Pagan Porch - a Pagan Homesteading forum

    Sand Holler Farm Blog - aren't you just dying to know what I do all day?

    #2
    Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

    It should taste less 'fishy' if it's fresh caught. Snapper is a bit of a stronger fish, but actually it's one of my favs. It's wonderful with a bit of lemon, garlic and pepper. It's also nifty if you rub it in dijon mustard, dip in bread crumbs or cornmeal (seasoned is even better! Tarragon works well) and lightly sauteed in olive oil (I don't like to cook with a lot of oil...it makes me sick, but this is up to you).

    It's also good in curries and things. Cube it up and add it to your recipe!

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

      Oh, my gosh, I'm jealous. Lucky!!!!

      I just went through the whole tap-dance this morning of trying to find American caught fish at the regular grocery store. Ugh.

      If you're not used to fish, first off--if it "smells like fish", it's not fresh. Fresh fish smells like ocean water. It's a very clean, pleasant smell. Shiny scales, bright eyes if whole.

      You could go two ways with this: make dishes that cover for the fact that it's fish (Thai style fish cakes with sweet chili sauce, for example), or you can prepare it very simply. Some of the best Japanese dishes involved only a little citrus and soy sauce, and very gentle cooking. Anything very hot like grilling or frying is going to up the fish smell.

      Are there specific types of dishes you like best? That might help people offer ideas.
      Great Grandmother's Kitchen

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

        They sell it all to here. Most of the West Coast Salmon I can buy here is from Alaska. I'd LOVE to get Canadian Pacific Salmon (to support my country) but Alaska is the best I can do!

        EDIT we can also get various Norwegian and Scottish salmon, but coming from the West Coast I really think Atlantic salmon tastes like s**t. It's ok for heavily marinating but alone, no bueno.

        I love snapper and oddly, when I WAS able to buy it from here, it said it came from Pacific Canada. It felt odd to buy something at twice the price here that I could buy off a boat at home :/

        ---------- Post added at 02:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:00 AM ----------

        Originally posted by Dez View Post
        If you're not used to fish, first off--if it "smells like fish", it's not fresh. Fresh fish smells like ocean water. It's a very clean, pleasant smell. Shiny scales, bright eyes if whole.
        Yeah exactly. Fresh fish shouldn't smell too 'fishy'!
        Last edited by DanieMarie; 28 Jan 2012, 17:03.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

          Originally posted by Dez View Post
          You could go two ways with this: make dishes that cover for the fact that it's fish (Thai style fish cakes with sweet chili sauce, for example), or you can prepare it very simply.
          I think this answered my question right here! A way to prepare it to cover up the fact that it's fish. I just need to get over the "it's fish!" freak out for the first time and I'll probably be ok. The first couple of meat dishes I made were things like lasagna with meat sauce. Just a little bit in a bite! I looked up some recipes for Thai fish cakes. Look yummy! I'll let you know how it goes...
          The Pagan Porch - a Pagan Homesteading forum

          Sand Holler Farm Blog - aren't you just dying to know what I do all day?

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

            Oh good

            Good luck!
            Great Grandmother's Kitchen

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

              1 1/2 pounds of fish fillets
              1 Tablespoon lime juice
              1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
              1/8 teaspoon onion powder
              1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
              1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
              1/8 teaspoon salt
              1/2 cup of panko
              1 1/2 Tablespoons butter melted
              2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (or 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
              Canola Oil

              In a 11 x 7 baking dish coat lightly with Canola oil, preheat oven to 425F

              Combine the lime juice, mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a bowl then spread evenly over fish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs then drizzle with butter. Bake at 425F for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when a fork is applied to it. Garnish with parsley.

              It goes great with pasta that just has oil and garlic on it.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Fish??!?! Help me!

                When I lived in NJ I was so accustomed to all sorts of fresh seafood, I took it for granted. Here in the Ozarks there's catfish and little else! It's hard to find wild-caught stuff, even frozen. So I envy your dilemma, too! You can search online for all kinds of recipies, and depending on what kind of fish you have, try some different things. Here are some for snapper that look good:

                sigpic
                Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

                Comment

                Working...
                X