Fishing With My Dad, Fish Recipes, Ice Fishing In Maine, Pier Fishing In Florida!!

When I was 9 years old, my 5 year old brother passed away from cerebral palsy...This was devastating to my family, and all our lives changed in different ways...I was the oldest of 3 children, and he was the youngest, a boy/son and of course, my father was over the moon having a son after 2 daughters...we were poor in those days, my parents had no insurance and most of my brothers life was spent in and out of Boston Children's Hospital....seeing my parents sad was a new concept to me. I started trying to be the son my father lost, and did everything a son would do with their father, trying to make up for his loss...fishing being one of the things he loved to do, so went with him all the time...fish was a huge part of our meals in those days, and our veggie gardens, brook trout being the fish we were after.. I had a bamboo pole that was taller to me then the empire state building and he spent many hours getting my line out of trees, but he was a very patient man...thus began my learning process, which carried over into adulthood, and I have, since then, fished from the tip of Maine to Florida and many places in between...Many times I beat out the men I was fishing with, winning lots of bets in the process...I have cooked more fish then I care to remember in all different ways, caught from ice fishing in Maine to pier fishing in Florida..my husband always joked when he came out on the pier to fish, he could always tell where I was, just look for the group of men and I was in the middle..I had this crazy knack for finding just the right spot to fish, and always caught more then enuf to even share, so was popular to say the least....needless to say, through the years and even to this day, fishing with my father is one of my most precious memories...

Of all the ways I have cooked fish, my favorite is still just fried nice n crusty in a cast iron skillet, with a light breading...below I will give several ways I have cooked it, and am sure you all have your own ways as well....

FRIED: My breading is simple and has always been the same, half corn meal, half flour, dried thyme and a really good fish seasoning spice, mix all together, wet fish with a little cold water if fresh, shake off well, bread and fry in your frying oil of choice, or even pan spray works well too. If using frozen defrosted fish just bread as it will be moist from the defrosting...about 10-12 minutes per side, this depends on thickness and kind of fish so just test, and if flakes it is done...

BAKING: can use same recipe as above only bake in a 400 degree preheated oven about 20 -25 minutes, again thickness and kind of fish will depend on actual timing..

Olives WHOLE baked lake trout: clean fish, wrap fish in bacon, lay on a bed of sliced onions on a large piece of sprayed tin foil, wrap up, place in oven, bake at 400 until flakes with a fork, this takes a little practice, but is worth the wait..time will depend on how big the fish is anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 2...of course the fish we caught ice fishing in Maine were hugh lake trout, am guessing smaller local ones will take a lot less time...thanks to my mother-in-law again for this recipe...

BAKED stuffed: This is a recipe I love if baking fish and is simple, make a package of stuffing mix...take 2 nice pieces of a whitefish, I use haddock, place first fillet in sprayed pan, top with stuffing mix, layer second fillet on top, layer a couple slices of bacon on top to cover piece and keep moist, pour a little milk around pan, bake at 375 until done....to serve cut down through all layers so everyone gets some of everything....

Tips: I have also fried my fish, earlier in the day, if going to be busy, then just reheated in the oven at dinner time...I call this my twice cooked fish.

You can never go wrong with a nice piece of fish, and your family will be so impressed with the results!!