[local eating] Fish share, week 2 of 12
Jun. 30th, 2009 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidThanks to Hrafn, I had a heads-up that I was likely to get whole (read: not gutted) fish, and indeed, this week's fish share was ten whitings and two yellow-tailed flounders, all whole. Also thanks to Hrafn, I have some recipes to consider using.
To start with, here are the whiting. Ten of them make a minyan, right?
According to the people at the distribution, I needed to at least cut off the heads and stomachs today, so the stomach acids wouldn't work on the flesh to make it unpleasant. First a couple of passes with the wrong side of the knife to descale them first. Then one angled cut from behind the head got most of it, and I rinsed the rest out each cavity (left photo). Some had roe (the orange stuff in the discards photo at the right); most did not. I also cut off the tails. I still haven't decided what their fate will be; suggestions if you have them!
The two yellow-tailed flounder were more difficult to deal with. They're very flat (see right), and very sided: the darker top side was rather rough in spots, while the lighter underside wasn't. And there was the whole freaky both-eyes-on-one side thing going on. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten information on how to process them, nor did I check out the recipes, which have a pretty good description, so I ended up filleting them, which was not the best method for maximizing yield. On the plus side, I did manage some almost-creditable skinned fillets, which I lightly sauteed with some baby red onions and their greens. Yum!
I'm rather glad that the first week's fish was a bit easier to deal with (having been gutted); I think it would have been more difficult had this been the first week's catch.
eta Oh, I'd forgotten: right after I picked up the fish, a reporter from the Cambridge Chronicle asked me a few questions about the share, so I got to spout about local eating, and how I used the first distribution, the question of how the fish are caught, and the non-exact parallels to farm shares. The story will likely be in the paper a week from Thursday; I wonder if I'll be mentioned.
To start with, here are the whiting. Ten of them make a minyan, right?
According to the people at the distribution, I needed to at least cut off the heads and stomachs today, so the stomach acids wouldn't work on the flesh to make it unpleasant. First a couple of passes with the wrong side of the knife to descale them first. Then one angled cut from behind the head got most of it, and I rinsed the rest out each cavity (left photo). Some had roe (the orange stuff in the discards photo at the right); most did not. I also cut off the tails. I still haven't decided what their fate will be; suggestions if you have them!
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The two yellow-tailed flounder were more difficult to deal with. They're very flat (see right), and very sided: the darker top side was rather rough in spots, while the lighter underside wasn't. And there was the whole freaky both-eyes-on-one side thing going on. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten information on how to process them, nor did I check out the recipes, which have a pretty good description, so I ended up filleting them, which was not the best method for maximizing yield. On the plus side, I did manage some almost-creditable skinned fillets, which I lightly sauteed with some baby red onions and their greens. Yum!
 |
 |
I'm rather glad that the first week's fish was a bit easier to deal with (having been gutted); I think it would have been more difficult had this been the first week's catch.
eta Oh, I'd forgotten: right after I picked up the fish, a reporter from the Cambridge Chronicle asked me a few questions about the share, so I got to spout about local eating, and how I used the first distribution, the question of how the fish are caught, and the non-exact parallels to farm shares. The story will likely be in the paper a week from Thursday; I wonder if I'll be mentioned.