The exciting of Life

To begin, you must clean your fresh fish properly in order to maintain it’s quality during the remaining steps of processing. First, use a knife or fish scaling tool to remove all of the scales. Removing the scales early on is a key to easy fish cleaning. Next, remove the fish head by cutting just behind the first set of fins. Now, insert your sharp knife into the area where you just removed the head and make a slit in the belly of the fish. You will want to slit the fish belly all the way down to the vent next to the tail. This should open up the cavity of the fish and you can pull or cut away any viscera or organs from inside the fish. The next step is to cut away any additional fins that the fish may have. Do this by cutting into the fish in a circular motion around the fins and remove them. Finally, rinse the fish body and cavity under cold, running water. Now that the fish has been properly cleaned, you can move on to filleting.

Begin the fish filleting process by laying the fish on one side and inserting your knife into the fish body almost to the backbone. Guide your knife along the backbone, exposing the fillet as you cut. You will have to lift and separate the flesh from the bone as you cut. Next, repeat this process for the other side. Once you have created the two fish fillets, place them skin side down and cut through the flesh next to the tail. Do not cut through the skin next to the tail, as you will hold onto this skin as you separate the skin from the flesh. Insert your fillet knife between the flesh and the skin and use a back and forth motion to separate the two. Rinse the fillets with cold water and be sure to dry them before storing or using.

These simple and easy steps are all that it takes to make the most out of fresh fish. With these steps in mind you can prepare fresh fish for any meal.

Cooking vegetables can be tricky. Over cooking can make vegetables bland and soggy. My belief is that vegetables should not be boiled. Boling not only rob us of vitamin content, it is the main culprit in turning vegetables to a lifeless, tasteless form.

If we cannot boil, how do we proceed?

First option, steaming vegetables is always a good choice. This will leave vegetables full of life. They will be crisp and colorful. It will also not deplete the vegetables of their vitamin content.

By rule of thumb, vegetables will only need a few minutes in the steam.

For those who do not have official vegetable steamers, an easy steamer can be fashioned out a of pot, a metal colander, and a pot lid. Place a small amount of water in the bottom of a given pot. Fit the metal colander into the pot. Start to boil the water. You will begin the see the steam rise. Place your vegetables into the metal colander and place the pot lid over the metal colander and pot. This collection of kitchen items will allow you to steam vegetables as good as any fancy store bought steamer.

Another good option is to cook your vegetables in a wok. The secret to the wok is that it cooks quickly at a very high temperature. Vegetables retain their flavors, textures, and colors with small amount of nutrient loss.

My favorite wok recipe for vegetables is to cook broccoli, carrots, bok choy, and snow peas in a very light garlic sauce. The vegetables remain crisp and the garlic adds just the right amount of flavoring. This combination can be served with any cut of meat.

I hope you will see that secret to cooking vegetables is not to over cook. Vegetables need to remain crisp, full of color. As you learn different tricks to bringing your vegetables to life, these will become the most requested dishes on your dinner table.

A freshly caught fish can be cooked in a thousand and one ways. Any fisherman worth his salt has his own unique way of cooking a freshly caught trout, salmon or whatever fish he caught. So fisherman all across the country has been handed down methods of cooking fish. Here are some tips to get the best out of your fish.

1.Frying

Breading and frying a freshly caught fish is as good as it gets. The smell of butter emanating from the frying pan and the flair a fisherman puts in flipping his catch is worth its weight in gold, almost. For the novice fisherman, make sure that the butter is extra hot but not yet burning. Also, make sure that the fish is well coated in batter. Season your batter to your heart’s content, salt and pepper never goes wrong. You may want to try other herbs and spices with the batter for a more delicious fish.

2.Grilling

At first glance, grilling would seem to be the easiest way to handle your fish. A newbie might assume that grilling fish is the same as grilling steaks or burgers. Unlike fowl or cattle, fish tends to secret most of its own juices when cooked. On a grill the delicious juice drips into the coals.

To prevent losing the moisture, first coat the fish with oil. The oil will seal a part of the moisture inside. Second, keep an eye on the fillets and turn them as soon as a cut would reveal that the fresh fish is cooked halfway through. After being flipped, watch the fish carefully. Remove the fish as soon as it is cooked through.

An option to basting the fish with oil is to wrap it in aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will keep the moisture and marinate the fish in its own moisture. Placing herbs and spices inside the foil with the fish enhances the grilling process and the fish itself.

3.Baking Baking is the best option for the fisherman who does not want to watch over the fish during cooking. The fisherman can prepare the marinade and pre-heat the oven, then pop the fish into the oven for a predetermined amount of time. You may want to check on the fish from the time to time, ensuring that you don’t overcook the fish.

Whatever fish you caught, a good recipe and proper cooking will for sure enhance the catch. Take time to prepare for cooking, a badly cooked fish will no doubt spoil your day. Remember the first rule of cooking, don’t overcook your fish.