Fishin'

Today my daughter Michelle, Creative Treasures , posted a blog with a picture of Wilt, her husband, holding some fish he caught on the Snake River in Hell's Canyon. This brought me back to the time when she first started fishing, which was when she was old enough to stand alone and hold a pole.

Her father was a fishing nut. He fished Summer, Spring, Winter or Fall, it didn't matter. He knew every good fishing spot in the State of Idaho whether it was a creek, a river, lake or reserviour. He'd go before work, after work, on his days off and any other time he had an hour or two. He took the kids with him every time they were available, except when they were in school. He was very patient with them, teaching them to bait their own lines by the time they were three years old. They learned to love fishing almost as much as he and were almost as good at it. It was always so much fun to watch them bait their line, cast it into the water, and reel in their own fish. They learned at a very young age, to gut them too, which seemed to be no problem for any of them.

Needless to say, we had a lot of fish at our house; Trout, Crappie, Blue Gill, Salmon....to name a few. I baked it, fried it, broiled it, chowdered it, and loafed it. Those we couldn't use immediately were frozen or canned. My kids grew up with a whole damn lot of Omega 3 in their diets. So, I thought I'd share my way of frying up Trout filets, my family's favorite.

My husband and kids (I caught my fair share too) always brought home nice sized trout, natives caught at his most secret spots, were so good with deep red meat and wonderful flavor, this provided by the bugs and whatever else they ate in the water. They were never given any man made "fish food".

First off, I would filet the Trout, then, using a pair of tweezers, would pull out all the bones I could find so the kids wouldn't choke on them. I would scrape off the scales and leave the skin on because it added so much to the flavor. Next the filets went into a bath of undiluted canned milk after which I would salt and pepper them. Then they were dipped in very fine saltine cracker crumbs which I made fresh each time I fried fish. Added a little more salt and good shake of pepper. No other spices. If I had some, I would use bacon grease, if not, Crisco heated in a large skillet. I would drop a few cracker crumbs into the hot grease to see if it sizzled before adding the fish. Set the burner to about medium because you want it hot but not so hot it burned. Fry till golden brown then turn and do the same on the other side. Timing depends on the size of the filet, but not too long; just till the meat is flaky. Very rich, very fattening, but oh soooooooooooo good. The kids (Mom and Dad too) loved it! We always had fresh or frozen veggies (from our garden) a salad and homemade bread or biscuits to go along.

Glory be! I really was Betty Crocker for a goodly portion of my life. I'd almost forgotten.

Happy cooking..........................................