5 Pounds of FISH...

What does one do with 5 pounds of fish??? Better yet, why am I asking this question??
Because over the weekend, I was faced with this dilemma. It all started with my desire for fish. In our home, we are turning over a new leaf and trying VERY hard to be HEALTHY!! So after days of chicken breast cooked in every imaginable way I sent my love of life out to bring home a different meat. And proudly doing so my husband brings me a box of fish, never mind I had said a bag of fish he brings me this BOX of whiting. I like whiting. It is a fish, which forgives the clumsy hand that sprinkles too much seasoning. I had learned this when living in the Taj. But that is another story!!
So I decide to crack open the box and grab a couple of fillets, defrost and bake away…But oh no that does not happen in the Heath home. Instead I crack open the box and discover a 5 pound fish-sicle. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen…A popsicle with fins…This was not the pretty fillets I was waiting on but almost whole fish. Thank God not heads and guts but never the less, whole fish in my eyes. So I do what a sane woman does and start laughing and the kind your whole body moves and later you are sore from…My great urban hunter arrives to see what has me gasping for air (all the pun intended) and discovers the fish-sicle. He is upset and says to throw it out as there is no way to defrost a portion of the fish-sicle…it is all or none! So I decide to think as I defrost the fish, what can I do with all the fish?
Do I cook a portion of it and throw the rest out…the wild (so the box says) fish who gave their little fishy lives for my belly only to end in the trash can…NO, I say and start to formulate a plan. A daring plan which I have never done before. I will cook ALL the fishies!!!! Never mind, Pat and I will most likely be the only ones to see the fish. I am determined. So I set on my mission…I decide to divide and conquer. I will pan fry some and the others will go into the oven. I will have fish for dinner and then have fish cakes later. I am too smart for my own good. Now I have my plan there is a problem…the frozen fish. It takes FOREVER to defrost the fish. While this might not be a bad thing the smell soon developed leaving the home in a odd fishy smell. Hurry, Hurry and wait for the melting fish-sicle. Finally, they are all separate and I can begin the GREAT fish cook…
I have my beaten eggs, my seasoned flours, heated oven and hot electric griddle…the fish have been patted dry to allow for maximum coverage of flour. I am set. And so I begin, I first neatly lay the fish destined for the oven in my pan. A little salt and pepper and oil and they slide into the oven to bake away. Next I face the griddle…I spray some PAM and begin the process with Pat as my sidekick ‘cause I sure wasn’t doing this on my own. He dips the fish into the egg, next I cover with flour and put them on the griddle. All done, and we wait. But we don’t wait for long as the most DELICIOUS smell beginnings to hit our overwhelmed noses. It is a smell I liken to my Nammy’s home. She cooks a lot of fish and my home is beginning to smell just likes hers…my mouth begins to water and I stare down my little fishies wondering how long I must wait before I can EAT ONE!!!!
10 minutes later….

And 20 minutes later…

I have conquered the BOX of whiting. Will I do it again? NO!!! But I have learn a sad and wonderful lesson….After cooking all the fish I could not bear the thought of having to eat fish for dinner and I ate …CHICKEN. Pat said the fish was good and tomorrow we will be having fish cakes, hopefully my poor nose can handle it.
Love to All,
The Heath Mom