Pickerel with Summer Garden Salad

We are very lucky to enjoy locally caught fish year round where we live.  We can fish from our dock and boat.  If we don't catch enough fish ourselves we have several friends that will keep us in stock of locally caught fish.  The most commonly caught here are smelt, perch, pickerel, bass and blue gill but there are others depending on the time of year. 

Pickerel

Pickerel is the common name for three closely related carnivorous, soft-rayed fishes in the Pike family (Esocidae). The fish pictured was purchased frozen from a food distributer and identified only as wild caught pickerel but appears to be Chain pickerel (Esox niger). Pickerel is a popular fish for anglers.

Pickerel is a lean boney whitefish with nice flavour. The Y-bones should be removed when cleaning. There may be bones remaining in the fillets especially in commercially cleaned fish so use caution when eating. The fillets are small so it is easy to overcook them. This fish really is best cooked by lightly coating then pan frying although larger fillets can be coated and deep fried if desired.

Pickerel Dinner

I used the electric griddle to cook this meal. An electric griddle is a very useful kitchen appliance that can be used to prepare food in a series eliminating extra pots and pan. The meal consisted of herbed hash browns, seasoned pickerel and a summer salad.

Method: Washed and cut 6 medium small potatoes into cubes. Steam until al dente. Remove from heat. Place the steamer basket with potatoes on a plate. Pour the steaming water and set aside to cool for watering plants. Pour a little EVOO and a add a couple of pats of butter to the griddle. Heat to 325ºF. Pour the potatoes onto the griddle. Fry until golden brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper if desired. Push the potatoes to one side. Place the thawed fish fillets on the empty side of the griddle skin side down. Sprinkle lightly with Old Bay Seasoning or seasoning of your choice. Fry until the fillets are just turning opaque. Turn and sprinkle lightly. Cook until just golden brown. Garnish fish and potatoes with fresh herbs.

Summer Garden Salad

My garden is producing nicely despite the below average temperatures. The last couple of days have been quite warm causing a growth spurt in the garden! Anything growing in my garden with the exception of inedible weeds is fair game for the salad bowl. It will be a few more days yet before we can enjoy fresh sweet/hot peppers and peas. I just re-seeded radishes and pole beans so will be enjoying those as they become available.

I made a simple garden salad, dinner plate sized plate with what I could find ready for picking. The salad was made in layers beginning with Chinese lettuce, red leaf lettuce, red onion (store bought), red slicing tomato (store bought), Lemon Boy tomato and nasturtium flowers. I drizzled EVOO over the salad and added a few splashes of lemon juice. Then I sprinkled with fresh chives and fresh rated Parmesan cheese and finally garnished with basil and mint. To serve the salad I cut into wedges pizza style. I thought the colours were quite summer looking!