sneak peak!

In my kitchen, in about thirty seconds, I will start mixing almonds, vanilla, butter and sugar for some.....

''Butter mullets'' or ''How to clean a fish for the first time''

God I hate cleaning fish.

Today was my first and probably my last experience. Ever.

It's not very surprising since I can barely stand raw meat. But there is something about the insides of an animal that just....let's not go there...yet. My mom bought red mullets from the market and asked me to make supper. I was fine with it. Until I got them out of the bag.  Seven pairs of eyes looking at me with glossy expressions and screaming ''KILLER'' !

Poor Nemo...

I stood there for a good ten minutes, talking myself into actually touching the damn thing! And then came the million dollar question : when I touch, what do I do? Have you ever cleaned a mullet, or any kind of fish?  I've always bought fillets at the grocery store, never the whole thing! So I did what I tought would be okay and what I had saw my mom do when I was little.

Step 0.5 : Overcome your fear to touch the fish.

Step 1 : Scale it. 

Step 2 : You need to pull (with a knife) what is called the anal fin, the pelvic fin and the side fin (pectoral). Don't forget to also pull the ''mustache'' below the mussel's mouth. (I just don't see myself staring at it while eating.) Then, cut through the belly of the fish...and uurrgghh gross....take out whatever's red, gluey and suspicious. You don't need to know what it is.

An oh...I used gloves. No judgement please. And don't feel ashamed to do so. I used surgical gloves to clean the insides. When Mom came back from shopping duty I was almost done. She looked at  me with a stunned expression and litteraly said : ''Baby you did it! Wow! You cleaned a fish! Almost ready to marry, you know!'' Then paused and looked at my post-traumatic expression and added ''Even if I know you'll buy fillets and ready to cook fish anyways.''

God bless my mother. She was never that right.

Exept for my little experience with whatever was inside, the fish tasted good. And I heard no one complain at supper. So let's say mission #1 accomplished!

So here is the recipe. Give me feedback on it. And oh....I'd love to hear whatever anecdote you'd have on cleaning fish. I need to know that I'm not the only one with ''fishy'' issues.


Butter Mullet

INGREDIENTS
(For about 7 servings)

7  mullets
1 cup (2 sticks)  salted butter, room temperature (you could use unsalted butter, but don't forget to salt your fish!)
1/2 cup  fresh green chopped parsley
2 or 3   garlic cloves, finely chopped
black pepper
paprika
1 lemon, sliced
2 or 3 laurel leaves


INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400F.

Clean the mullets and dry them throughly with paper towel. Don't rub!!! You don't want to end up with Scott Towel bits in your food.

In bowl, combine butter, parsley, garlic, black pepper and paprika. Mix well until cream like consistency.

Take a small handful of the butter mixture and throughly butter a small baking sheet. (Your fishes should tightly fit in it.)

One by one, cover ever fish, inside out with the rest of the butter mixture. Set them on the baking sheet.

Put the lemon slices and the laurel over the fishes.

Cover with aluminuim foil.

You can bake immediately or set aside in the fridge for later on. he flavours will be enhanced.

Bake at 400F for about 20 minutes. Set at 500F and take off the alumium foil. Let the ''sauce'' dry for another 10 to 15 minutes.

I served it with sauteed season fresh veggies.

Enjoy!