Today I offer you an ode to my grand-papa in honour of what would have been his 66th wedding anniversary and the day he passed away four years ago. Pan-fried smelts.
There were few things that grand-papa cooked because grand-maman was a typical old-school housewife. Meals and cleaning were mainly her responsibilities. but on occasion, grand-papa would don the apron.I can still see his face when I remember him standing over the stove, looking eager, excited, pleased with himself about what he was preparing.
I recently came across fresh, cleaned and headless smelts. I didn't go looking for smelts, I never have. I've never actually bought some to prepare myself, but I happened upon them that day and took it as a sign. I got about two pounds, which in retrospect is way too much for three people.
I can't remember exactly how grand-papa prepared his smelts, but I'm pretty sure there was no recipe involved. Nor were there seasonings other than salt, and lots of it!
But I don't roll like that. I used flour as the coating base and onion and garlic powder, salt (a little bit!), pepper, Parmesan cheese (shaky shaky, not fresh stuff). I mixed it all up.
I prepped a coating station - the pile of fish on one plate, the flour mixture on another and a hot pan with melted butter in it.
I dredged a few fishies at a time and then fried them on both sides until they were golden brown.
Review:
I can't say that the smelts were 'just like grand-papa used to make', but they were tasty!
The coating wasn't thick and didn't overpower the delicate fish. The coating was nicely seasoned and fairly crispy given its thinness. Don't be cheap on the butter!
I chose not to eat the tails, even though some people do.
The fish was nice and tender. It doesn't take long for these little guys to cook - it's easy to overcook them!
This wasn't the less expensive or most expensive fish around at about $20 for 3 lbs.
Keeping memories alive through food is a wonderful way to bring family together
0 comments:
Post a Comment