Fish?

I can honestly say we didn't eat much fresh fish growing up.  I remember the few times Dad caught trout and salmon.  We sat picking out the bones.  Mom and Dad hovering over us to make sure we didn't get any bones.  I loved that fish.
Most of the time our fish came from a can.  Tuna sandwiches.  Mom made them with Best Foods Sandwich Spread.  Her cousin Ruth used Best Foods Mayonaise.  I asked Mom to make the tuna with just mayo.  Seems the whole family preferred it.  At school we had Creamed Tuna Over Biscuits and Fish Sticks.  So my fish preparation skills were pretty slim when I married Scott.
Scott loves to fish.  He would live his life on the end of a pole, if he could.  He used to fish in rivers, wilderness lakes, the ocean; then he completely smashed his heels and ankles in an industrial accident.  He really doesn't like fishing off a dock.  Now I have to buy my fish.

The USDA reccomendation is to eat fish three times a week.  Really, is it all that hard?  In trying to eat more healthy we are having problems doing just that.  We like that battered fish in the bag or box; or fish sticks.  And we like to eat those battered, fried, frozen fish with french fries.  I ask you, is that healthy?  Not really.  Oh, my tartar sauce is mayonaise, chopped dill pickle, chopped onion mixed together.  I learned that recipe from fellow school cooks, Helen and Verda. 
Preferred is broiled, baked, or boiled fish.  I have been trying and will continue to come up with tasty fish recipes.

Grilled Samlon   crap, I keep making that mistake.  It's from a sci-fi book I read 30+ years ago.
1/2 a salmon filleted, skin removed
2 lemons, sliced thin
four slices bacon

I use the George Forman Grill for this.  Heat until the grill is hot.

Lay out two slices bacon on the hot grill
place one of the lemons right on top of the bacon  overlap the slices like fish scales
place the salmon on top of the lemons
lemons again, again overlap
bacon again
close the lid and let cook for  4 min. 
This part is a little tricky:  You need to turn the whole shebang over, carefully.  Cook an additional 3 to 5 min.  Check for doneness

Serves 6
The bacon will be crispy.  The lemon should have melted into the bacon.  The salmon should be moist and gently flavored by the bacon and lemon.  Be sure to serve with lemon wedges.

We eat this with baked potatoes and a green salad.

This used to be my 'go to' dish, when Scott was on 2nd shift.  I could have dinner on the table in 25 min.

Creamed Tuna Over Biscuits

Biscuits
Preheat oven 400F

2 cups unbleached flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup milk

Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix the oil and milk together and pour into the dry ingredients.  Quickly mix the dough.  When it is pulled together, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 10 times.  Roll the dough about 3/4 in thick.  Cut with a biscuit cutter, a glass, a cookie cutter, or for square biscuits, a pizza cutter.  You can also make drop biscuits by dropping spoonfuls of the dough onto an ugreased cookie sheet
Bake 20 min.

Makes about a dozen biscuits.


White Sauce
Melt 2 TBSP butter in a sauce pan
Sprinkle in 2 TBSP unbleached flour
Whisk to combine and let cook until foamy
Whisk in 2 cups scalded milk
Continue to whisk and cook until the sauce had thicken and begins to boil
Remove the sauce from the burner

Creamed Tuna

Open and drain 2 cans tuna
Open and dreain 1 can peas

Add to White Sauce
Tuna, flaked
Peas
1/2 tsp pepper.

Serve the Creamed Tuna and Peas over the Biscuits
Serves 6

Dessert?
Jam, honey, or cinnamon sugar on a buttery biscuit.

When Scott used to bring home trout, I used this old-time recipe.

Pan Fried Trout
First clean and scale  the fish.  This is the fisher's job.  Be sure to rinse the fish well.
Dry the fish with a paper towel.
Heat about an inch of bacon drippings in a cast iron skillet  Just save your bacon drippings in a container in the fridge.

Make a dipping station.
1 pie plate with flour;  2nd pie plate with 1 egg + 1 TBSP milk beaten together;  3rd pie plate with cornmeal

Just dip the fish in each plate (or cake pan) being sure to cover the entire fish.  Carefully put the fish in to the hot fat.  I cook the fish at about medium high.  Turn when the fish is browned and that side is flakey.  Dont' put too many fish into the pan at once.  If there are a lot of fish, I put the cooked fish on a rack in a cookie sheet in a 250F oven until ready to serve.

I love to have pan fried fish with fried potatoes and green beans.

Fried Potatoes
Heat about 1TBSP bacon drippings in a cast iron skillet
Peel and slice 2 potatos per person
1/2 onion diced

Carefully, put the taters and onion into the hot oil.  Lightly salt and pepper.  cook on medium to medium low.  Turn the potatoes when they are nicely browned.  It will take about 20 minutes to cook.

My Favorite Green Beans
1 slice bacon, chopped
1/4 onion, diced
1 quart home canned green beans  we like to pick our beans at the 'shell' stage.  The pods are still green but the beans inside are large and meaty.

Fry the bacon and onion in a sauce pan.  Drain off the fat.  Pour in the green beans.  Cook for at least 10 min
serves 4

Now for a word of warning.
NEVER. EVER. give a dog raw salmonoid fish.  This means even one drop!  The dog's body cannot process a protein in the fish.  The result is 'Salmon Poisoning'.  A potentially leathal condition.  Both Artemis and Rosemary were in Intensive Care at our vet's.  They both survived.  Our budget was wrecked while we paid off that bill.  Thank heavens it was 1971 and prices were much lower!

I'll post more recipes as time goes by.  Fish is fabulous.  We just need to eat more.