Fish Friday

Happy Friday, everybody.  It's Lent and how many of you are eating fish on Friday? I grew up eating fish on Friday so it sort of sticks with you this time of year. I've been following Cooking Light where your meal suggestions pop-up everyday in your email, complete with recipes. You can switch around meals for different days, save your favorites, etc. I really like the site. Of course, I'm not losing weight, which is the whole point of it (I'd certainly love to lose weight...it's my on-going saga) but I love the recipes. And I love not trying to figure out what to cook for dinner everyday. (They also give you breakfast and lunch meals, as well) I'm not losing weight because I have too many "off" days. Isn't that how it always goes? Ten days at Mariner's Spring training didn't help. After we returned, we got ready for our Mariner season ticket party which is actually the highlight of our Spring and it was really a good one this year. Just look at all this outstanding food! 

Bruce barbecues hot dogs and bratwurst as the main entree and everyone else brings side dishes like this lovely sunset salad 

and these chocolate covered strawberries. Yum! 

I think this party gets better and better each year. And it's always so good to see everyone again - all the people we share our season tickets with. 

There are 81 home games and we have four seats so that is a lot of tickets. But we've been organizing this group since 1986 so it runs pretty smooth after all these years and everyone gets games that they want at a really fun party every year. 

 

It's our rite of passage into Spring. 

This week, I've been back on track cooking more of the Cooking Light recipes again. Every recipe I've prepared has been absolutely delicious so I could be posting them all. They are starting to pile up. I need more fish recipes so I decided to post this one and since it is Lent, it seems appropriate, even if you aren't a Fish Friday person. 

 

Browned Butter Flounder with Lemon Snap Peas

This recipe calls for flounder which is a nice lean and flaky white fish. You can substitute another type of white fish very easily. Here are some substitutes.  Lean, flaky white fish are:

Atlantic croaker 

black sea bass

branzino

flounder

rainbow smelt

red snapper

tilapia

rainbow trout

weakfish (sea trout)

whiting.

I actually used a lean and firm white fish called rockfish that worked perfectly, too. Here are some other examples of a more firm white fish that would also work: Alaska pollock, catfish, grouper, haddock, Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, Pacific rockfish, Pacific sand dab & sole, striped bass (wild and hybrid), swordfish.


Browning the butter for this sauce, a classic French preparation called meunière, adds a toasty nuttiness, balanced with bright lemon. Just a little goes a long way to coat the delicate white fish fillets.
Makes 4 servings

4 (6-ounce) flounder fillets
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. canola oil, divided
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 tsp. fresh lemon juice, divided
8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
1-1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
1 tsp. grated lemon rind

1. Sprinkle fish evenly with pepper and salt.

2. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge fish in flour.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add fish to pan. 

4. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fish from pan; keep warm.

5. Return pan to medium heat. Add butter. 

6. Cook 45 seconds or until butter begins to brown. Remove pan from heat. 

 

7. Stir in parsley and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. 

 

8. Place butter mixture in a small bowl. 

 

9. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tsp. oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add snap peas; sauce 3 minutes or just until crisp-tender. Stir in remaining 2 tsp. lemon juice, mint and rind.

10. Drizzle browned butter mixture evenly over fish. Serve with snap peas.