Sea our food?

In the interest of trying new recipes and getting a little more adventurous in what we eat, I decided to try something I've never done before - cook fish.  Of course I've baked frozen shrimp before and made one pot of seafood gumbo more than a decade ago but never have I cooked any seafood from scratch.

Saturday mornings, I help at a local farmers market selling frozen seafood. I've purchased shrimp before that my dad grilled (Amazing!) but Captain told us to try a new fish each week so we can make recommendations to our customers - this week is flounder.  So in the interest of full disclosure, I'm also hoping to pique your interest in great seafood, too.  :)

As we all know, fish is a healthy, typically lean protein.  There's lots of good benefits to eating fish and although we will explore a healthier way of cooking it next week, this week we fried it.  I had a hankering for something fried and figured this would be a better alternative to chicken fried steak.  I might need to add that to our menu next week. Yum! 

I set out to Pinterest for recipes and tips but quickly became overwhelmed so I called my brother in-law, Kevin, who coincidentally enough, is in culinary school.  He came to my rescue!  He told me that I could do the following for a great meal: 

Steps 1 and 2: Before I got started, I thawed the fish in the fridge all day.  Would need more time the thicker the cut, but this one was pretty thin.  Also great if it's your first time to cook.  I removed the fillets from the package and rinsed with cold water.

Shameless plug, come see us at Magnolia Seafood at the Coppell Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.  Come early, we often sell out quick.  It's all caught the same week from the Gulf, frozen on the boat and trucked up to north Texas.  All the work is done for you, no de-boning or de-veining (because ew!!!).

 Step 3: I seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides.  Going to try cajun seasoning next time for an extra kick.

 Step 4: Flour dredge.  Kevin told me I wouldn't need a lot of flour because fish is moist and soaks up the flour but in all honesty, I don't know what "a lot of flour" is so I just went with my gut.  

 

Steps 5 and 6: Pour vegetable or canola oil in the pan and heat (not pictured, I had a whiny toddler on my heels). Add fish and fry for approximately 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Adjust time based on thickness of fillet.  Oh and watch the grease, although this is how I got the whiny toddler out of the kitchen. ;)

 

Step 7: Turn with a fork but use caution, especially with this light and flaky fish.  See the grease on my stove top?  Eek!

 

Step 8: Enjoy! 

The review: Mike and I loved it!  It was a very light taste without a heavy fish after-taste.  It satisfied my fried food craving, but I will definitely add more vegetables as a side next time as I was pretty hungry a couple of hours later with just a side of garlic green beans.

Definitely a great start to adding seafood to our diet and I'm looking forward to trying more recipes in the future.  If you have any to share or if you try this recipe, let me know, I love hearing from readers. 

Have a great FRYday!