As many of you may know I have 6 children (and a grandpie) and it has become apparent that the older 3 are going to have no problem cooking for themselves and some darn fine meals at that. I actually look forward to visiting them when they are old enough to live on their own and grandma and grandpa come to visit. I suspect the meals will be AMAZING.
We have an extremely large amount of catfish in our freezer and unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) my wife and 2 of my daughters do not like fish. So my sons and 2 of my daughters and of course myself can eat all we like. I personally love fried fish but let's be honest there is only so much fried food a person eat before they start saying to themselves "you know I bet we could do more with this". With that in mind my son came to me this week and said "hey dad you know how we got all that fish in there? I want to try something". So I was totally on board and was actually looking forward to what he might do with it.
As a little background info about me. I love, LOVE, Chinese food. Even bad Chinese food is a good option if you are not sure what to feed me. You know those times when you say to your significant other "hey where should we go out to eat" and then they say "I don't care (which is a lie)" so you start listing things and with each suggestion out of your mouth they are like "nah, I don't feel like that tonight". Well whenever this happens to me and my wife I have a list of Chinese restaurants on queue and we usually end up at one of them.
So I am sitting in my office and my son walks in with a bowl of something that looks like we got it from a Chinese take-out joint. The bright orange colors of the carrots mixed with the bright yellow of scrambled egg and the light brown soy sauce tinted rice created a fragrance I can only describe as amazing. He said "I thought I would try something a little different." I can only remember the first bite as being well.... amazing because after that bite I do not remember anything else... maybe it was the soy sauce induced zombie state I was thrust into but I like to believe it was because I enjoyed the dish so much I tore into it as though it was the first plate of food I had been given after being stranded on an island for years. (have you ever fantasized about what it would be like to be stranded on an island for years and just wondered if you could survive .... eh maybe it's just me. let's move on...)
I could not get over how delicious the meal was. I asked how he prepared the fish and he explained that he had cut it up and sautéed it in soy sauce. From there he just made the fried rice as normal. (I will provide a few easy recipes below if you are interested.)
The whole experience got me to thinking about how many times we get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing over and over for no real reason other than the fact that it is easy and we already know how to do those things.
I personally believe "If you are not learning new thing then you are just waiting to die." and I am not ready to die. Yes I know Jesus as my lord and savior and yes I have done the best I could/can to be the best friend, father and husband I can be but I am just not ready to go yet. ya'll know what I mean I am sure.
Even as I am writing this it occurs to me that the principle of continuing to grow and learn and "step outside the box" applies heavily in fishing as well. One of the first things you learn when you are serious about fishing is to continue changing your game, your presentation even your bait until you find what works and what works today may not work tomorrow. This may be one of the reasons I love fishing so much, today is not the same as yesterday and tomorrow will not be today.
Thank you for reading, cast a big net and keep tight lines.
Until next week.
Catfish fried rice
- Jacub Bass
- 1 Medium onion (we don't use onion but I know some do)
- 4 to 6 ounces catfish cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 can of mixed vegetables
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- some soy sauce and teriyaki (for sautéing the catfish).
- 4 cups minute rice.
2. Cook minute rice as normal.
3. if you choose to use onion you can do this 2 different ways either mix the onion raw in step 4 or sauté the onion in butter first (however you like your onion is perfect for this).
4. Combine rice, catfish and mixed veggies (and onion if you choose) in a sauce pan. Mix in the soy sauce.
5. Create a small hole in the middle of the mixture and scramble the 2 eggs. Once they are scrambled to your liking mix the entire mixture together and remove from heat.
6. Enjoy
* For as many fisher there are out there, there are as many way to fry fish as well. this is the way I do it;
Fried Fish:
- large eggs beaten (you can add buttermilk to the eggs for an added touch of flavor)
- 1-2 cups of cornmeal (I like the buttermilk cornmeal myself). or Flour if you don't like cornmeal.
- 4 to 5 good size fillets (the size of the fillets should be determined by the size of your fryer).
- Enough to oil to cover your fillets while cooking. everyone has their choice of the best oil to use, I use a heart smart veggie oil but any kind will work.
Note!! if you use buttermilk in your egg mixture the final product will be a light shade of off white when complete.
2. Place the coated fillet in the cornmeal or flour mixture and gentle shake until the fillet is well coated. **Let this sit for a few minutes to allow the flour or cornmeal to stick.
3. Heat oil to 375 degrees before placing your fillet in. if it too cold the fillet will be soggy and um... yuck. if it too hot it will cook the outside and the middle will still be raw ... yuck as well.
once the fillet tarts to float it is almost done. watch carefully at this point for the fillet to begin to turn golden brown and she is done.
4. Place fillet on paper towel and lightly salt if you so choose.
5. Enjoy.
Hush puppies:
- 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal
- 1/2 flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 small onion diced (I substitute celery as I do not like onion)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg beaten
- Enough to oil to cover your hush puppies while cooking.
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Spoon out the amount of mixture you would like and gently place on hot oil and fry to a golden brown. make sure you turn the Hush puppies to allow even cooking.
3. Place on paper towel.
4. Enjoy
Please share any recipes you may have, as well, in the comment section below.
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