Tonight I added another fish to my list of legitimately enjoyed meals. This means I’m four for four so far in the Great Fish Initiative of 2012. Here’s the scorecard:
Over the weekend I picked up several haddock fillets. For dinner tonight I baked a fillet, then briefly pan-fried it in honey and pepper. The haddock fillets cost a bit more than the previous fish fillets I’ve purchased, but they were worth every penny. When it comes to taste and texture they are at the top of the list of the fish I have tried so far this year [1].
I paired the haddock with chayote squash, which I mentioned last week. It’s a very cool fruit. Some people call it a vegetable pear. It certainly looks like a pear.
The flesh of the fruit is light-colored and crisp. The flavor is mild and manages to be familiar and exotic at the same time. At first I thought: There are hints of tastes I recognize when I tried a piece of raw chayote squash. But then I tried to identify what I recognized. I could not.
I used the same technique for preparing the squash this week that I did last week. Sliced the squash, pan fried it in a little butter with salt and pepper, then stirred in some pureed ginger. Excellent.
I’m still surprised that I’ve been enjoying fish this year. I think a big part factor is that I am making the entrees myself. While I have tried to appreciate seafood in the past, it has always been at a restaurant or prepared by someone else. Making the entrees myself allows me to tailor the seasoning and preparation. So far I have only had one bad experience. I made a whiting sandwich that was discarded half-eaten. It was bad. So bad [2].
[1]. My official ranking is: 1). Haddock, 2). Swai, 3). Tilapia, 4). Whiting.
[2]. Definitely my worst meal of 2012 so far. The juices from the fish promptly soaked into the bread, and things went downhill from there. I decided that finishing that sandwich might cause a severe set back in my fish appreciation, so I donated it to Oscar the Grouch.