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You are here: Home / Lifestyle / Deserted Island

June 27, 2009

Deserted Island

[View discretion is advised. TV-13]

I do not recommend preparing a whole fish at home unless you have the proper outdoor fish cleaning work space – what an adventure this was. But with a happy ending!

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——————–>

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I had an afternoon snack of cottage cheese, AgavePlus granola, blackberry jam and flax around 5:00. Yum!

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By 6:30 we were ready to start thinking about dinner, but Matt has been up since 3AM and was grumpy and tired and decided to take a nap in the arm chair. I read blogs while I patiently waited because I couldn’t get started on dinner without him! He finally awoke around 7:15 and we spent a few minutes researching how to prep a whole fish.

This would have been a LOT easier if this fish had been SCALED but nope – it was fresh out of water. The guy at the stand told me this was flounder, but upon seeing him, this was NOT a flounder. It was kind of hearty like cod but I think it was some other random not-so-well-known kind.

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The scaling process was quite dirty and annoying

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But he finally got them off

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Then came the disgusting parts –

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Now I generally will eat anything (well, maybe not tongue, testicles or bugs) but I’m not that grossed out by food. I guess since I understand that humans have been preparing food for ages. And I eat crabs, which is pretty gross. But this kind of grossed me out. Really the scales were worse – I wanted them off so it looked more like a fish. I can deal with heads and guts. I just had to pretend we were starving on a deserted island like in Survivor and we needed this meal for sustenance.

But by this point Matt was pretty grumpy and frustrated because the process was taking a long time and I actually said “Do you want me to just go get a fish at Harris Teeter!?” But he said no and kept working.

When we moved into the filet stage things started looking up. He trimmed the filets off the fish and then we were done with the alien.

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And soon enough, we had two normal looking filets topped with a delicious assortment of toppings.

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I used this recipe as an inspiration for the meal and we actually followed it pretty closely: Creole Flounder. I used my new creole seasoning from Casey and Renee in NOLA!

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The recipe ROCKED!!! I will definitely use these toppings again. Tomato, green pepper, olive oil, creole, LEMON, BASIL, TABASCO – great combo!!

And despite all the frustration, the fish turned out beautifully!! We baked it at 500* for 15 minutes (longer than suggested because our fish was “different”) and I couldn’t have been happier with the final result

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I even ended up eating some of the skin!

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On the side I prepared those farmer’s market greens – sorel? I think she said? – and some broccoli in a skillet steamed with chicken broth and more creole seasoning. The greens wilted into a brown mush, but they tasted fabulous. Lemony!

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We never have the time or energy to make a whole grain side dish (and usually the entree and veggies fill me up fine). Tonight Matt toasted up some Sourdough Seed bread for himself to have on the side and he shared, so I had about half of one of these guys –

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So in conclusion, I wouldn’t really recommend this fish technique unless you’re looking for a messy culinary adventure!

I’m going to have a small bowl of Breyers Chocolate ice cream and perhaps finish my movie from last night.

Nite 🙂

***

Edited to add my small bowl of chocolate ice cream was divine!!

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: Broccoli, Fish, greens

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Comments

  1. Jenn (www. j3nn.net ) says

    June 27, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Wow, you never realize what a project gutting and filleting a fish is until you have to do it. I’ve never tried it and I don’t think I want to now LOL

    Looks great though! I <3 seafood

    Jenn

    Reply
  2. Caroline says

    June 27, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    My family (I’m Asian) prepares whole fish at least once a week and we like ours cooked whole. Usually we get live fish that they scale and clean for us. Eating it is very much messier, but a lot tastier though!

    Reply
  3. Maggie says

    June 27, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    Sorrel! I haven’t had it in ages. My mom used to grow it.

    Reply
  4. Daria (Summer of the CSAs) says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    What an adventure! Way to persevere! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Marianne says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    My husband is an ichthyologist (crazy fish biologist!!) and he said it looks like some kind of snapper but couldn’t be 100% sure without looking at the mouth…whatever that means!! 🙂 Glad you got it cleaned…it looked quite delicious!

    Reply
  6. Lynette says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    You are braver than me – I’m sure it was satisfying eating it though, knowing that you had put so much hard work into it!
    The final results look delish!

    Reply
  7. Whitney says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Gutting and fileting fish is never fun! Glad yours turned out okay though!

    Reply
  8. Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    My dad is a huge fisherman – our family used to take trips to Canada for pure fishing all week long each summer for 8 years straight – so I’m pretty used to the whole “fish gutting.” My dad’s a pro at it, but I have to admit that I’d never even consider doing it myself! 😉

    At least the end product turned out well!

    Enjoy the rest of your movie!

    Reply
  9. Jenn Eats Nutritiously Now says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    That definitely sounds like an adventure! Glad you had a happy ending to a fun Saturday!

    Reply
  10. Kat says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:41 pm

    The fish looks like it tasted really good. We love Tony’s in our house, especially as a topping for popcorn. It is really yummy!

    Reply
  11. Sophie says

    June 27, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    Gotta love Tony’s. If we don’t have the TJ’s 21 seasoning mix, we use Tony’s on a lot of our fish (tilapia, catfish, etc.).

    Reply
  12. Help Meghan Run says

    June 27, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Yeah, I’m not so good with seeing my protein before it hits my plate. 🙂 There’s no way I could do that! Glad it was tasty, though.

    HelpMeghanRun.com

    Reply
  13. Rosalie says

    June 27, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    ^^ I’ve watched my dad go through de-scaling fish… he does it in the sink. It always seems so tedious when I watch him, but I can tell that it’s worth it to him when the dish comes out. Maybe Matt feels the same…..! 😛

    Reply
  14. Mrs. Myers @ Eat Move Write says

    June 27, 2009 at 10:16 pm

    You guys have guts! I couldn’t have done that. Wow. It really did turn out beautiful. Great job! Have a great Sunday!

    Reply
  15. LOVES KERF!! says

    June 27, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    Kath –my first instinct was red snapper. No way is that a flounder. If you guys invest in a good fish boning knife there’s no need to scale. Just filet and rinse well. Finally–Confucius Say Never Buy Fish From Man In Van. LOL!! Love you!!! xo

    Reply
  16. Danielle (RD Daily Bites) says

    June 27, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    That brings me back to fishing as a child. My favorite part of cleaning the fish was opening the stomachs to see what they ate – baby fish, tadpoles, bugs, green slime…I thought it was pretty cool at the time. Now it seems a bit gross…haha.

    Reply
  17. Erin says

    June 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    You guyz are total troopers for scaling AND fileting that fishy. 🙂 I bet he tasted fresh fresh fresh tho!

    Reply
  18. Nikki says

    June 27, 2009 at 11:43 pm

    My husband is a total outdoorsman, so I always a variety of wildlife on my kitchen counters. The worst one was when he scaled a fish in my kitchen. I had scales popping up in there for months! I didn’t think I’d ever be rid of them all.

    Reply
  19. Biz319 says

    June 27, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    You are so brave! Never would have attempted that with the fish!

    Glad it turned out well!

    Reply
  20. Sarah (LovIN My Tummy) says

    June 28, 2009 at 12:07 am

    Awww, guts.

    Reply
  21. Lynn (The Actors Diet) says

    June 28, 2009 at 12:08 am

    Wow – I’m so impressed you took on a whole fish. They make it look hard enough to scale on “Top Chef!”

    Reply
  22. cami says

    June 28, 2009 at 1:37 am

    A wee hint/shortcut: use a micro-plane grater to scale your fish …. works beautifully and saves time!

    cheers!

    Reply
  23. Tina says

    June 28, 2009 at 5:08 am

    Haha, that first photo of the fish totally scared me!

    Reply
  24. Christie @ Find My Weigh says

    June 28, 2009 at 5:32 am

    Wow! You re so much braver than I am!! I have seen them cook whole fish on the food network and have watched my dad scale/degut/filet a fish before but have never tried either myself. I am glad it turned out well for you guys!

    Reply
  25. Anna says

    June 28, 2009 at 7:01 am

    Oh man. My absolutely worst day of culinary school was when we gutted fish. Let’s just say the fish wasn’t the only one getting its stomach emptied.

    One thing to keep in mind is that fish deteriorate VERY quickly when they still have their guts in them. They’re often eviscerated on the boat because of this. I wouldn’t buy one unless I was absolutely positive it had been caught within a few hours.

    Oh, who am I kidding. I wouldn’t buy one at all.

    Reply
  26. Susan says

    June 28, 2009 at 7:10 am

    Haha, I was going to comment on your last post when I saw you buy a whole fish. You made it sounds kind of casual and all I could think of was “ewewew gutting a fish.” Very brave of you two! I bet it tasted fantastic though. can’t get any fresher than that 🙂

    Reply
  27. Niki says

    June 28, 2009 at 7:52 am

    Wow! Ya’ll are brave! Glad it turned out yummy!!

    Reply
  28. Katrina (gluten free gidget) says

    June 28, 2009 at 7:53 am

    I confess… I had to skip most of this post due to the graphic nature of the pictures. I am a delicate flower! hahahaha The end result did look delicious though! 🙂

    Reply
  29. Adventures of Alice says

    June 28, 2009 at 8:04 am

    Glad it all worked out!! I don’t think Tim and I will ever try that—-you and Matt are brave = )

    Reply
  30. Sarah (Tales of Expansion) says

    June 28, 2009 at 8:09 am

    ahhhhh, kath, i’m so impressed!! there’s not much that intimidates me when it comes to food (except for maybe potatoes), but dealing with the task of preparing a full fish, scales and all — ohhhh my goodness. it must have tasted AMAZING after all the work you guys put in!

    Reply
  31. Sarah says

    June 28, 2009 at 9:49 am

    eww! Fish are so gross, I would never be able to handle that. I have an irrational fear of fish though, LOL.

    Reply
  32. Krissy (Single Serving) says

    June 28, 2009 at 10:31 am

    I’ve never cleaned a fish either and from the looks of it I’m not going to try anytime soon! But the final result did look quite delicious!

    Reply
  33. Casey says

    June 28, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    We <3 Tony’s!

    Reply
  34. jenny says

    June 28, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    hey kath, you should have tried steaming it whole and eat it asian style like Caroline mentioned. Steam it with a little soy sauce oil, ginger, and green onions for a true, authentic chinese dish that we often eat at home. (I am chinese by the way =])

    Reply
  35. mandie says

    June 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    I love me some Tony’s! My husband is from NOLA and he is addicted to this stuff, recently got his mom to ship some to us in Scotland! Now thats dedication!

    Reply
  36. Nina says

    June 28, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Just don’t do what my husband did. He decided to skin and filet a fish and put the remains in the kitchen trash. Then we went on vacation for a week and he left the rotting fish in the house. It was so stinky when we got back!

    Reply
  37. Heather says

    June 28, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    Crabs are “pretty gross”? How so? Most delicious shellfish, by far.

    Reply
  38. Jess says

    June 29, 2009 at 11:42 am

    The finished product looks delicious, but I’m not sure I could go through all that effort.

    Reply

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