The Fishlady

[fishlady]

Hello and "best fishes"
I'm new to this site but find it very interesting. I'm called "The Fishlady" and I'm the author of "The Fishlady's Cookbook" (The World's Easiest Seafood Cookbook). I found that through all my experience in working with seafood (25 years) that most people are intimidated by those little critters with gills and flippers. So I took the fish by the fin and decided to make it easy for first time fish cooks with my easy to understand seafood book, published by Templegate.
I'm also a columnist for the Decatur Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois with "The Fishlady's Fish 'n Tips". I've done countless seminars and cooking classes and been on Cookin' USA, Nashville, Tenn in prior years.
I'd love to talk to some other seafood cooks. Thanks for reading and "best fishes" to you all.

[Mrs.Butterworth]

Welcome to the forums! As a beginning cook I am just discovering the joy of seafood myself! I have to admit my mom was not so good at cooking fish so I have been turned off to it, but now that I am cooking for myself (heh not cooking mac and cheese, that is) broiled salmon is fast becoming a favorite of mine.

Any highlights you can recommend, either for types of fish or methods for cooking?

[jfb1060]

Hi, Fishlady

Welcome to Chef Talk. Glad you're here. I am very interested in anything you have to share. I LOVE seafood but like a lot of newbies am a bit intimidated by the practical applications.

Outside of frying fish or broiling fish I don't know that I have ever done anything else. I have always seen these wonderful cuisines that feature seafood and have been bewildered at to you fuse ingredients to come up with marvelous inventions.

I catch my own fresh seafood most of the time right off of the beaches where I live. That is so great. There is nothing better than fish that you just caught the same day you prep them.

As you can tell seafood really excites me.

Joe

[nowIamone]

Illinois?? The seafood capital!!! Actually I was born there, (just out of St. Louis) my mother's mid-west roots meant she deep fried.....to a very crispy, crisp, every piece of fish she ever cooked. Since we moved to the west coast and on to Alaska, she tried her technique on every finned friend and crustacean she met along the way; including the huge king crab legs, which she removed from the shell, dipped in pancake batter, rolled in cornmeal and deep fried. She didn't let it bother her for one minute that they were already cooked.

Consequently I've never been afraid of the little finned critters..........I realized you can cook them to a state of rigor mortise so they cannot move if you have any doubt about them arising and crawling off the plate. So, I saute them in stir fry; southwest chipotle chowder them, stuff them, grill them steam them, cook them on cedar planks, taco and enchilada them, snarl them up with pasta, ..........she taught me no fear of fish!

Actually, I have looked at my king crab legs and the deep fryer a couple of times recently thinking of resurrecting the old family recipe............Mom's cooking, you know.

[fishlady]

Originally Posted by fishlady

Hello and "best fishes"
I'm new to this site but find it very interesting. I'm called "The Fishlady" and I'm the author of "The Fishlady's Cookbook" (The World's Easiest Seafood Cookbook). I found that through all my experience in working with seafood (25 years) that most people are intimidated by those little critters with gills and flippers. So I took the fish by the fin and decided to make it easy for first time fish cooks with my easy to understand seafood book, published by Templegate.
I'm also a columnist for the Decatur Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois with "The Fishlady's Fish 'n Tips". I've done countless seminars and cooking classes and been on Cookin' USA, Nashville, Tenn in prior years.
I'd love to talk to some other seafood cooks. Thanks for reading and "best fishes" to you all.

I write a column for The Decatur Herald & Review - love to hear your seafood questions.