Monday, February 18, 2008

Flounder with a side of slaw...

Max has been a little spastic these past couple of days... apparently a sneaky squirrel (who apparently is well fed!) has taken up residence in the screened-in area of our deck!

He pushed his way through one of the side screens and is running all sorts of brush and twigs up into the rafters, making himself at home. Max has been watching this whole scene and audibly lets us know when the little guy is back - we finally caught a picture of him (or her!) this past weekend...

We had a couple fairly light dishes for dinner - to serve with the main dish tonight, I made this Spicy Asian Slaw. While you can use a regular coleslaw-type mix for this, we enjoy the heartier texture of broccoli slaw and used that instead. Tangy rice vinegar, salty soy sauce, pungent toasted sesame oil and a few shakes of crushed red pepper are whisked together to form a sharp dressing. The slaw, with a handful of sliced green onions, is tossed with the dressing and all that was needed was a sprinkling of chopped parsley and toasted sesame seeds to round it out. Crunchy, and fresh with a zippy dressing, this was a breeze to make and a pleasure to eat.

We really enjoyed that flounder dish we had a couple weeks ago, so I thought we could try it again in a little different fashion with this Cornmeal-Crusted Flounder. The original called for catfish, which is just a bit more fatty than others, but any firm white fish should work well. Flounder is a bit more delicate, but we didn't have any problems working with it.

The slender fillets are coated in a coarse mixture of yellow cornmeal, Cajun seasoning and salt - if your seasoning is salt-free, or maybe quite salty already, you will want to adjust the amount of salt to taste. To boost the flavor and add a little naughtiness, we fried up a few slices of bacon and then proceeded to use those drippings to cook the fish rather than using another type of oil. Toss the cooked bacon in the freezer to pull out at a later date or just munch on it, like we did, until dinner was ready! The cornmeal gave the flounder a nice crunch on the outside, while the inside remained soft and moist - minimal effort for such a tasty reward!


Recipes

6 comments:

  1. Now that looks very good. I prefer the slaw you used as well versus the cabbage. I also bet with left overs it would make a great pita filling or wrap filling with some grilled sesame chicken. Yum.

    I had a bacon night as well in a naughty way, I made a tomato bacon soup with a hefty grilled cheese full of baby spinach, avocado and bacon. Bacon just does the trick sometimes. haha.

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  2. This is my kind of meal. I have a recipe for asian slaw that is similar to this, but it adds jalepeno slices for a hot little zip. That flounder looks delicious and pan fried in bacon dippings was a great, if not naughty, idea. You have to indulge every once in a while. Jancd, Houston

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  3. It is a pregnant Mommy and you will soon have 4 baby squirrels as well as her.....

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  4. I bet your squirrel friend is cold and trying to get warm on your screened porch--it is freezing out there! He must be pretty brave to not get scarred away from the barking...either that or just really really cold!

    That slaw looks great!

    Courtney

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  5. I have ground hogs all summer. They are such a menace. I can't grow anything!

    The fish looks ultra yummy!

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  6. Kandice - Bacon does work wonders!

    Jancd - I could indulge way too often for as much as I love bacon!

    Bumblevee - It could certainly be that! We'll have to see in the spring!

    Courtney - A little of both probably... hee hee!

    Annie - Thanks!

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