Baked Fish

Baked Fish

Two brand new babies were born in our household the other week in my husband’s fish aquarium.  The tiny baby fish match their surroundings so well that at times it is hard to spot them, but soon they will become a colorful orange with black markings and outline like their mother- a sunset Molly.  When my children were small I had an aquarium with fish that needed cleaning out periodically- quite the chore in those days.  When Dawn and Dwight hit their teen years I opted for an outdoor goldfish pond and turned the aquarium into an enclosed still life relieved to cross cleaning an aquarium off my list.  Years later Dana decided we needed an aquarium and bought a thirty gallon tank that he put on his desk and has become his hobby.  Thankfully now-a-days aquariums are a lot easier to keep clean.  The only time I bother with Dana’s aquarium is taking fish water- when he needs to add new- and using it to water my plants.

An interesting thing about fish is that they are sensitive to change so whenever you add new fish to an aquarium it is important to stir up the gravel and move things around to disrupt any previously set boundaries.  We humans often react negatively to any change in our life preferring for things to stay the same and yet life is full of changes.  Change helps us grow and expand in new areas.  I’ve learned along the way that when one door shuts other one will open.

Due to budget cuts at the Herald-Citizen this will be my last column.  A big thank you to all the staff for an excellent job done, along with their professional touch, in publishing my cooking column each week.  It has been great working with you. One of the biggest perks has been getting acquainted with many faithful readers of my column. I hope that we can stay in touch. Feel free to email me at: www. dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com  anytime.  If you want to keep up with the Walker household and all the crazy happenings here at the “farm” sign my guest book on my website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com for automatic quarterly updates.   Meanwhile I shall concentrate on finishing my cookbook that many of you have requested- unfortunately delayed by complications of having Lyme disease that slows me down more than I like to admit.  In the meantime happy cookin to y’all!

Baked Fish

2 pieces of frozen perch, tilapia, or cod
1 tb butter sliced thin
minced dried onion
garlic salt
lemon pepper seasoning
reg salt & pepper
Place fish on a baking tray or pan.  Spread butter around and shake on spices and salts.  Place on the top shelf in the oven and bake at 350º for thirty-five minutes until golden brown.  Garnish with sprigs of parsley. Serves two!

Weekly tip:  Homemade tartar sauce: Mix together well 2 c real mayonnaise, ½ c sweet pickle relish, and 1 chopped hardboiled egg.  Fills one sixteen oz jar or 2½ c of tartar sauce!  

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at:  dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com  For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at:  www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com