Announcement: I will cook for food; especially fish. I grew up on a farm outside of Vicksburg and spent many days of my childhood fishing. We had ponds that were well-stocked with bream, crappie, bass, catfish, and turtles. (I never actually fished for the turtles, but the snapping turtles would often gobble up my catch before I could get it in.) I spent many afternoons filling up my line with fish, and then talking my father into fileting each and every one for our dinner. He is left-handed and no matter how many times he would show me, I could never get the hang of fileting the fish with an electric knife. He was a master and could get it done in no time.
Our family did not do “fancy fishing” in our ponds. It was just cane poles, worms, or crickets. I can still remember when my now-husband came to fish one afternoon and caught a bass on a spinning reel. He quickly took it off his rod and threw it back. I can still see my mother’s face. She almost had a heart attack and quickly explained to him that “We keep our fish!” Not sure if my father every truly trusted him again after that. He may have been willing to accept that I was going to marry a lawyer, but NOT someone who throws back a fish.
My husband also loves to fly fish but it never captivated me. Again, I guess it is because I am a hunter-gatherer by nature and with fly fishing, you normally do not get to keep what you catch. Why bother?? The sport for me is “what is for dinner,” and I guess it would be best said that I do not really like to fish as much as I like to catch.
I do not get to Vicksburg to fish as much as I used to, but I still like to prepare fresh fish as much as possible. In the metro, we have several fish merchants that carry a selection of good fish. We can all go to a fish market or local grocery store and find pretty much anything we want. However, I also have several good friends who make a point of sharing their fishing bounty with me whenever they have a good catch. These are great friends, indeed.
My father and his next-door neighbor often go fishing in the Big Black River or on Eagle Lake. They catch crappie, bream, and bass. He will prepare bags of mixed types of small fillets and we would cook them up in many different ways. My brother-in-law, Mike, will occasionally return from the Mississippi Gulf Coast with his catch, and we have always enjoyed using my sister’s jalapeno lime marinade. It is perfect for any white “meaty fish.” My mother is quite a fisher, as well. She would catch various saltwater fish on her trips to the beach and always shared a few with us.
I even have a few buddies who will drop off a bag or two of any fish they catch. I have a standing agreement that I will cook it, if you will share.
Laura’s Jalapeño-Lime Marinade
I am sure that my “non-cooking” sister’s recipe will be a reader favorite. We have a BIG laugh that she really does not cook and does not enjoy cooking but every time I put one of her recipes in the paper, I get calls, texts, and emails about it. She LOVES it and nothing like a little sibling rivalry to keep us going. I am not sure where she first found this recipe but it is a great way to cook any mild white fish and is delicious.
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 heaping tablespoons of chopped pickled jalapenos or fresh
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Mix all ingredients and marinate fish (or chicken) for at least one hour. Remove fish from marinade. Grill fish, if possible, but any cooking method will work. I have baked the fish on a foil lined pan for about 7-10 minutes.
Reserve marinade and pour into a small saucepan. Cook marinade over medium heat until it become “paste-like.” Pour off remaining oil and spread over cooked fish for a spicy topping.
Carol’s Baked Bass with Tomato Gravy
This is one of my father’s favorite dishes and has an Italian flavor with the olives and tomatoes. Growing up, we always hoped for a good catch, but if anyone landed a bass, my mother would immediately judge to see if it was a “baking sized bass” in hopes of serving this dish.
3-4 pound “baking sized bass,” scaled, gutted, and head removed
1 lemon, juiced
1 - 16 ounce can tomato sauce or 2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2-4 gloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1/2 cup whole kalamata or whole green olives
Salt, pepper, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce for seasoning
Olive Oil
Clean and dry the whole bass. Place in a casserole dish long enough to lay the fish flat. Coat fish with olive oil and drizzle on lemon juice. Season with lemon pepper and salt and pepper. Broil on low for about five to six minutes per side.
In a separate bowl, combine tomato sauce and remaining ingredients. Remove fish from oven and pour tomato gravy over and around bass. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until fish is fork tender.
Serve with noodles topped with buttered breadcrumbs.
I have confessed to prefer filets as opposed to whole fish. I think this dish would be just as good using two large filets and adjusting the cooking time. The sauce is really the star of the show.
Big Ed’s Fried Fish Filets
My father loves fried fish. It we go out; he most often wants to go to a local fish house to have whole fried catfish. EEKK! Head, bones, tail, and all is served and then he carefully (like a surgeon) removes all the bones and says his fish is SO much better than our filets. I still enjoy munching on the fin and crispy tail, but I prefer the filet.
He loves it but that would never work for the rest of the family. When he offers to make fried fish for us, we always request filets and often ask for them to be sliced super thin and cooked extra crispy just like the thin and crispy fish you can get a Middendorf’s outside of New Orleans.
After he cooks the fish, he throws in a few cut up onions and potatoes to finish off the meal.
1 pound catfish filets or other mild white fish filet, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups fine cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning or lemon pepper seasoning or any combination of your choice
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1-2 potatoes and onions sliced
In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, seasonings, and flour. Dip fish in cornmeal mixture and allow to rest for a few minutes until oil is hot. Heat oil to 365 degrees and carefully fry fish until golden brown or about three to five minutes. Remove and allow to drain on paper towels or newspaper.
Once fish is fried, cook onions and potatoes until crispy or for about five minutes. Drain and enjoy.
Trout Amandine
One of my good friends, Quinton Dickerson, likes to fish in South Louisiana. I will never forget the day that he texted me that he caught a few speckled trout that morning, and he would drop me off a few filets by late afternoon. We were eating fresh trout almandine for dinner. It could not have been fresher.
1 cup sliced almonds
1 large egg
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
4 trout filets
1 cup all-purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For sauce:
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and toast almonds for about 10 minutes until lightly toasted. Stir them every five minutes making sure not to overcook. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Meanwhile, set out two shallow pie pans or dishes. Make an egg wash with eggs and milk in one dish, and a pan of seasoned flour in the other. Dredge fish in flour, then carefully submerge in egg mixture, then back in flour. Gently add the trout to the oil and cook for four to five minutes per side. Remove when trout is golden brown. Set fish aside and top with toasted almonds while you make sauce.
Carefully, wipe out any access oil or bits in the sauté pan and add butter. Cook butter on medium until it turns brown, stirring or whisking constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add in lemon juice and vinegar. Sauce will froth as the liquid evaporates. When frothing subsides, pour the sauce over the fish. Serve immediately.
Grilled Tuna with Avocado
Kendall Garraway, our neighbor and good friend, goes to a small fishing camp on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He loves to fish and is always very generous with his catch. One trip, he caught a bunch of tuna. His wife is not fond of fish so he challenged me to cook the tuna for them to see if they liked it. Challenge accepted. We all agreed that the tuna was one of the best dinners that I have served in a long time. This recipe is worth keeping and trying.
4 6-ounce pieces of high-quality tuna
1 bunch cilantro leaves, washed and finely chopped
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and sliced
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed
4 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon fish sauce, optional but adds a good flavor
4 tablespoons soy sauce
A pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
2 whole ripe avocados, halved, peeled, pitted, and sliced.
In a mixing bowl, combine cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lime juice, fish, soy sauce, sugar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Stir the ingredients together until well incorporated.
In a heavy-duty skillet or cast-iron pan over medium high heat, add about a tablespoon a vegetable oil to pan. Season tuna with salt and pepper. When pan is very hot, lay the tuna in the hot oil and sear for about one minute on each side to form a slight crust. Pour a few tablespoons of the cilantro mixture over fish and prepare to serve immediately.
To serve: Slice tuna and avocado and drizzle with sauce. Serve with sushi rice to soak up any of the extra sauce.
Fish Soufflé
One fish that I really do not like to catch is catfish. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE to eat catfish, but prefer to buy farm raised as opposed to the pond raised and I have to admit that they scare me a little with their creepy whiskers. Someone told me that they will “sting you” with the whiskers and I have never gotten over it. They just look mean and almost like some kind of prehistoric monster.
One of our family’s favorite dishes is called Fish Pudding. Fish Pudding is an amazing old recipe that deserves consideration. The first time my mother-in-law served it to me I thought “yuck!” But then I tied it. It was wonderful and remains one of my favorite comfort food meals. I quickly explained to my mother-in-law that Fish Pudding needed a serious name makeover. Hence, Fish Soufflé with Dill Sauce was born. It sounds more appetizing already.
For many years, Fish Soufflé (and steamed artichokes with lemon butter; 2 of my mother-in-law’s specialties) was our traditional Christmas Eve meal. It is easy to prepare ahead of time and has always been a family favorite.
My little ones at the time would belt out: “Bring us some fishy pudding and a Happy New Year!” Yes, I know the lyrics of the song are about “Figgie pudding” but whenever I hear that song during the holidays, I cannot help but think of the delicious fishy pudding.
2 pounds white fish filets, such as catfish
4 cups milk
2 cups crushed crackers (about 1 sleeve)
6 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1-2 dashes Tabasco
1/4 cup sherry
1 stick butter, melted
Serve with Dill Sauce (Recipe to follow)
Boil fish in small amount of seasoned water for 7 minutes. Cool and break up. Add butter to milk, beat eggs and add along with crackers, salt, lemon juice, onion, parsley, Tabasco, and sherry. Carefully stir in fish without breaking into too many pieces.
Pour into a large well-greased casserole dish and bake 350 for 35-40 minutes or until set.
Dill Sauce
The Dill Sauce is a wonderful addition and is equally as good on salmon croquettes.
Combine:
2 dill pickles about 5 inches long each, grated or finely chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 cups mayo
1 teaspoon dill weed
Salt; pepper and Tabasco to taste
Blend well. You can thin with a little pickle juice if necessary.
Grilled Salmon Salad
My mother has a friend that enjoys going to Alaska to hunt and fish but his family does not like salmon. Often after one of his trips, a packet of frozen salmon is sent my way.
Salmon is one of my favorite fishes to eat and it is good in so many recipes. I have found that the key to salmon is to not overcook it. Salmon tends to get a little “fishy” when cooked well-done. Try cooking it to medium rare and then allowing it to rest for a few minutes before serving.
2 limes
2 small fresh red or green chiles or 1 large one, thinly sliced, seeds removed if you like
2 green onions or 2 tablespoons red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of granulated sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil, plus more for brushing
1 pound salmon fillet, preferably large center-cut piece
8 cups salad greens
1 cup mixed herbs, such as cilantro, mint, and basil
1 cup thinly sliced radishes, cucumbers, or both (optional)
Preheat the grill on high while you make the dressing.
In a small bowl, add of juice of 1 lime, the chili slices, half of the sliced green onions or red onion, the fish sauce, and a pinch each salt and sugar. Let sit for 1 minute to dissolve the salt, then whisk in the olive oil. It will not emulsify, so mix again before using.
Brush the salmon with oil, and place it in a grilling basket if you have one. Cook over the indirect (unlit) side of the grill, for 2 to 5 minutes per side, depending on how hot the grill is and how thick the salmon is. Note that individual fillets will cook faster than a single large piece. Check the salmon often.
As the salmon cooks, halve the other lime. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and grill, cut-side down, over direct heat until charred, about 1 minute.
When the salmon is cooked, transfer it to a plate and spoon some dressing over it. Let it cool slightly, then break up the fish into large chunks.
Place greens, remaining green onions, herbs, and radishes or cucumber, if using, in a large shallow bowl or on a platter, and add a little more of the dressing. Squeeze some of the juice from a charred lime half over it and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Toss and taste, adding lime juice, olive oil or salt as needed.
Top with the salmon chunks and drizzle with more (or all) of the dressing. Serve with the remaining charred lime
Salmon with Selby’s Sauce
My son is just now embracing an interest in cooking. Forced by living in a house with a lot of hungry guys. He has always had a very discerning pallet and has been an opinionated eater in our house. He will eat almost anything but prefers just a few recipes. This is one of his favorites, and his job has always been to make the sauce for the salmon.
4 filets or 1 side of salmon
1/4cup olive oil
1/4teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
To make the sauce:
Whisk together, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic powder and Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Best made at least 1 hour before for the flavors to meld.
To prepare the salmon: You can grill or bake salmon but Selby prefers his baked.
Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 375 and lay out filets or side of salmon.
Sprinkle with pepper and drizzle on just enough of the sauce to lightly cover fish.
Bake until salmon is medium rare or about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.
Allow fish to rest for about 5 minutes before serving. The fish can be a little dark pink in the middle but feel free to cook it to your desired level of done.
Serve with a little salmon sauce on the side.
Bill’s Greek Fish
One of our family’s favorite restaurants that has now closed was Bill’s Greek Tavern. Bill Matheos loved to cook and loved the United States of America, even more. He would greet his customers with a big smile and a shout of “God bless America!” This fish recipe is my attempt to remember his delicious food that we miss so much.
4 fillets of white fish, you can use any but some good options are red fish, grouper, tilapia, and even catfish
Season the fish fillets liberally with Cavender’s brand Greek seasoning and then dredge lightly and flour. Heat 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the fish for about four minutes per side. It may take more or less time depending on the thickness of your fillets. Serve with a lemon wedge.
The World’s Easiest Fresh Fish Tacos
I guess this is so easy because someone else catches, cleans, and delivers me the fresh fish fillets ready to go. This simple dish will work with just about any taco or chili-lime seasoning and any kind of fish.
2 fish filets
2 tablespoons chili lime, or any Mexican type seasoning, or rub. I have even sprinkled on a packet of taco seasoning with great success.
1 bag southwestern chopped salad mix
Salsa of your choice
Shredded cheese or crumbled cotija cheese
6 flour or corn tortillas
1 lime cut into wedges
1 avocado, seeded and sliced
Prepare southwestern chop salad kit according to package instructions.
Rub fish fillets with your seasoning of choice and roast or broil in the oven for about 2 -4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. I have also cooked my fish in my air fryer until the fish flakes easily.
Remove and allow to sit for about two minutes.
When ready to serve: Lay out flour or corn tortillas. Flake fish. Top tortillas with a couple of small pieces of fish and a scoop of the salad. Add cheese, fresh avocado slices, and whatever type of salsa, if you would like.
(I have found crispy jalapeño strips at the grocery store. They are similar to those crispy onions that you put on top of green bean casserole, but they are made with jalapeños and they were delicious addition.)
Serve immediately with a wedge of lime and a few slices of avocado.
Mayflower Style Filets
The Mayflower in Downtown Jackson is an iconic restaurant that serves fresh seafood and amazing plate lunches. We choose the Mayflower for almost every special occasion and their lightly sautéed fish and seafood has the best sauce. I have sometimes tried to re-create a similar sauce when I cook Greek-style fish at home. This is my version of their wonderful sauce.
2 filets of fish, redfish, trout, snapper, or any fish or seafood will work
Flour, Greek Seasoning, and about 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Mayflower Sauce (makes enough for 2 servings):
Mix:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (We use Lea and Perrins, and it really makes a difference)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
Flour lightly and season with a little Greek seasoning. Heat oil in pan and once hot carefully add the shrimp and oysters. Cook until slightly brown and turn once. As soon as seafood is done, pour in sauce and swirl pan to be sure and pick up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Serve immediately.
If my family and friends will keep bringing me fish, I will keep cooking. Thanks!!
