# Fish in all of its wondrous forms



## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 22, 2016)

Anyone who knows me knows that I love fish.  There are very few fish that I've tried that I didn't care for, or prepared in any way.  Admittedly, I'm not fond of sushimi, or many of the raw fish dishes that I tried in Korea.  And I thought the catfish our of the Mississippy tasted muddy to me.  But mostly, I love fish.

That being said, on most any day or night, if you asked me what my favorite fish is, it would be something from the Salmonid family, you know, trout, char, and salmon.  I've eaten my share.

Last time I got on DC and posted about fish, I shared my experience with taking a large, frozen, steelhead fillet, doing nothing to it except throwing in into a wok full of hot oil, and letting it fry for ten minutes.  The fish came out, much to my surprise, sensational.  I could go on about the swordfish and ahi tuna on the Webber charcoal grill, or the foil pack brookies in the high sierras.  Rather, this evening's fish dinner took me way back to the school cafeteria.  i ate VandeCamps crunchy fishsticks.  Though I often had a bunch of kids give me their fishsticks as a boy, the ones I ate as a boy were not nearly as tasty as the ones I ate tonight.

Though I'm a guy who makes most everything from scratch, including fish sticks, that brand, lightly browned in hot oil, tasted fabulous alongside Libby's whole green beans with butter.  I made home made steak fries for DW and a good burger.  She's not a fan of fish.

Sometimes, just sometimes, the big companies just get it right (rare, I know)  Tonight, VandeCamp's got it right.

Seeeeeeeya; Chef Longwind of the North


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## RPCookin (May 22, 2016)

Those fish sticks we got served every Friday (regardless of the fact that it was a small town in Minnesota and Catholics were a rather small minority) in the school cafeteria were like little pieces of shredded cardboard, breaded and deep fried.  I was a rare breed in that I liked almost everything that they served, but those fish sticks mostly inedible.  

Maybe that was because most of my experience with fish was what we caught ourselves at the summer cabin in Balsam Lake, Wisconsin.  We ate sunfish, punkinseed, bluegill, black crappie, rock bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, from lake to frying pan, usually in 8 hours or less.  I really came to miss the variety that we left behind when we moved to the Rockies in 1964.


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## Dawgluver (May 22, 2016)

When I went to elementary school, I really didn't mind the fish sticks on Friday.  They were probably Van De Camp's.  I liked the tartar sauce as well.  What I did mind was the time I got a chicken leg with a foot and claws attached to it when I was in first grade!  I couldn't eat chicken for years after that, and still don't care for chicken legs.

Walleye is in a class of its own.  A summer staple up at da lake.


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## Kayelle (May 22, 2016)

I haven't had fish sticks in a while, but Trader Joe's sure has good ones! Little kids have always loved fish sticks as I remember from being a day care mom, many moons ago.

What a nightmare Dawg! Ewwww.


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## Whiskadoodle (May 23, 2016)

I liked,   loved,  Fish Sticks for school lunch.    I once thought I should try a box from the store.  Ack.  They were bits and pieces formed (extruded?) into shape. Now I am leery about buying, although I do see on the packages they  say, cut from whole fish. 

I think my favorite is small pan fish just lightly shaken in a bag of seasoned flour and shallow fried.   Preferably fresh caught, although I have been known to buy from the fish market. 

After that, it's walleye,  and then trout, again shallow fried or over a fire in a cast iron pan fried.  Salmon,  baked or grilled.  

For grilled fish, my faves are swordfish, tuna and mahi-mahi.  Some other fishes, while more readily available and familiar in other parts of the country, can be a wee bit too expensive here.


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## Addie (May 23, 2016)

Every Saturday morning I would put the bean pot in the oven for the back beans for supper. Then I would take one cod filet or a Haddock one and steam it. Mash it up when cooked, add mashed potatoes and turn it into fish cakes. Glorified fish sticks. Properly seasoned, they didn't taste too bad. 

I loved Saturday supper. Boston baked beans, codfish cakes, warm brown bread smothered with butter and a tall glass of cold milk. A really inexpensive meal to feed a family of six. Every Saturday night without fail.


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