I mention that for a couple of reasons. One is that we are not really a fishing family. We go fishing pretty much once a year. There’s a program called C.A.S.T. (Catch A Special Thrill), which sets up a day where volunteer boaters take handicapped and special needs kids and their families out on a lake and everybody fishes all morning. We’ve done it three years running, and it’s always a lot of fun. I’m always impressed at the hard work of those volunteers, as well as the organizers. It’s a really impressive day.
Another reason I mention it is because this year was a very special year. It is the year that my curse was broken!
See, every time I would go fishing, nobody caught anything. I don’t just mean me. I mean, nobody. Nobody in our group, nobody in our boat, nobody. I started to get this emotional, gut-level complex. I began to think I was cursed.
But this time, I caught some, Brendon and Jacob caught some, the Pursells (our friends) caught some, EVERYBODY caught some! And since the Pursells don’t really like to eat fish, I got to bring it all home. And, today, I got to cook them!
Now, since I don’t usually catch ‘em, I sure don’t know how to fillet them. But after literally butchering the first one, I kinda got the hang of it, and the rest turned out pretty well. They were all bass. Most were smallish, with not much meat, but there were a few pretty sizable ones.
I’d found, in a cookbook I have, a recipe for a yogurt and dill sauce for chicken. I thought it would taste good on fish, so I looked at it again, and modded it with some additional herbs, and put the whole thing on potatoes. Here it is:
Dutch Oven Yogurt and Herb Fish
12” Dutch Oven
8 coals below, 16-17 above in the baking stage
- A lot of white fish filets. I think there were probably about 10 fish we kept, most of which were 10 to 12” before filleting, and a few were as long as 14”
- 2 small tubs of plain yogurt
- Juice from 2 limes
- Very liberal applications of:
- Dill weed
- Oregano
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Salt
- Pepper (coarse ground)
- Any other herb or spice you want
- 1 medium to large onion, quartered and separated
- 1 lb bacon, cut into 1” squares
- 1 tbsp garlic
- Salt, pepper
- 2 large potatoes, quartered and sliced
I started by Filleting the fish, and putting them all in a big mixing bowl. Then, in another bowl, I mixed all of the sauce ingredients. I poured that over the fish, and stirred it up to coat them all thick. I put that in the fridge to marinade.
I continued by sautéing the bacon, the onion, and the garlic until they were all pretty brown. I had the oven over a lot of coals at the time, probably around 25-27 or so. I added the salt and pepper, then the potatoes. I stirred it all up to coat the potatoes in the bacon grease. At that point, I pulled the dutch oven off the coals, and set it up for the baking, with the above listed coals on top and below.
Since fish cooks pretty quick, I baked the potatoes for about 20-30 minutes before adding the fish on top. Then, about a half hour later, it was all done.
I was kinda surprised by how much liquid there was at the bottom. It was almost like a soup. But the yogurt and the herbs on the fish tasted great! Fish and yogurt are not very strong flavors, so make sure that you really let go with the herbs!
What a great family day! We are ALL relieved that your curse was broken ... except for the fish. The recipe sounds mouth watering delicious. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting! The whole weekend was really fun.
ReplyDeleteMMM... sounds great I will have to try this one!! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Annikab...
ReplyDeleteI went and checked out your "Pull up a chair" blog, and liked some of the comments and recipes there as well. So, I RSS subscribed!
I've created a link to this post in the "Recipes" section of our newest "Cast Iron Around the Web" entry at http://www.cookingincastiron.com
ReplyDeleteTo me, fishin and biscuits are the same. Some people can baked beautiful biscuits and some people just always seem to catch fish. Me I can catch fish but couldn't raise a busicut to save my life. C.A.S.T is a great program!! Glad to see you are a supporter.
ReplyDeleteGary
Thanks for your comments!
ReplyDeleteThere are some programs for the disabled and challenged that give more direct medical and social services. And that's wonderful. There are other programs, like CAST and Make-A-Wish that help provide a more livable life for these kids and their families. And that's wonderful, too. That's really why I'm a big supporter.
And, I'm learning how to cook biscuits...
MRKH