Allen's Blueberry Granola

Allen’s Blueberry Granola
Several years ago, we passed through Denver and spent the night with my cousin Richard and his wife Louise.  They we're kind enough to provide a healthy breakfast of assorted fruit, yogurt and some really great granola.  I asked what brand granola they buy only to learn Louise makes her own and professed it was easy.  Challenge delivered, I set out to find a granola recipe that our household really liked.  While we like a blueberry version you can add any of your own favorite dried fruits. Cherry is a close second. This recipe makes about 30 servings.  We usually split it into two one gallon bags and freeze one while we work our way through the other.  All the ingredients can be found in the bulk food isle at Whole Foods, HEB or Kroger.  Enjoy

INGREDIENTS 8 cups rolled oats                           1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 ½ cups oat bran                          ½ cup brown sugar 1 cup raw sunflower seeds             ¼ cup maple syrup 1 cup whole raw almonds              ¾ cup honey 1 cup chopped pecans                   1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup raisins                                  1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 cup dried blueberries or cherries

	DIRECTIONS
	1.      Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with sides with parchment paper 2.     Combine the oats, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds and pecans in a very large bowl.  3.     In a saucepan, stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Pour half the wet ingredients over dry and stir to mix then the remainder of the wet over dry to thoroughly coat. 4.     Spread a single layer of the mixture out evenly on baking sheets 5.     Bake until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. When it starts to smell great it's probably done.  Be careful to not over cook. It will burn fast. Be watchful to get it crisp but not over browned.       6.     Cool, then stir in raisins and blueberries before storing in an airtight containers

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Before I moved to Texas 38 years ago, my only experience with TexMex cuisine was Taco Bell. Now a spice set of chili powder, cumin and cayenne are like salt and pepper to me.  I never measure; it is all about color and taste.  Similarly, before I married my wife my only experience with soup was Campbell’s tomato soup.  Now, I regularly watch her assemble a variety of soups from Minestrone to Lentil and Sausage to Tortilla soups. I’ve always been happy to yield to her expertise and just enjoy the results. But one week night she was traveling and I had a craving.  I had thawed chicken breasts and just couldn’t bring myself to have just chicken.  I needed, not just wanted, needed Mexican food.  I went to our Southwest Cuisine cookbook and looked up the Tortilla soup recipe but it didn’t call for chicken.  I looked on the internet for a chicken tortilla soup but it didn’t have the depth of flavors of the other recipe.  I began the fusion of the two recipes and hit on a combination that has great texture and satisfies that need.

This soup is quick to make, flavorful and filling. And if you have any leftovers it freezes well, in fact, it gets better if you let all these ingredients “sleep together”.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 (32 oz) chicken broth

1 cup fresh corn kernels cooked

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chili peppers

(optional) 2 diced fresh Jalapeños

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 pound of cooked (boiled) chicken tenders and cut into bite-sized pieces

Tortilla chips (or fresh fried tortilla strips, 8 tortillas)

Sliced avocado

Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions:

Fill a medium stockpot half full with water.  Bring the water to a full boil and add the chicken tenders and the fresh corn.  Bring back to boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove chicken and corn, set aside and let cool. When cool cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and cut the kernels off the corncobs.

In the medium stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Sauté onion and garlic in the oil until soft.

Stir in chili powder, oregano, cumin, tomatoes and broth.  Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir in corn, chilies, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.

You can serve this soup at this point but if you have the time, put a lid on the pot and let the soup cool completely.  Reheat and serve.

For fried tortilla strips, cut fresh corn tortillas in half and then into ¼ inch wide strips.  Heat two inches of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. When oil is hot, drop a hand full of strips into the oil and cook until golden brown.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all are fried.

Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, top with tortilla chips, avocado slices and cheese.

Freeze the leftovers for another day.

PIZZA NIGHT

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore." Yes, I am a child of the '50s. Yes, my parents subjected me to the Lawrence Welk show and any other television program that featured Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra.  Also in the '50s and '60s there were groups of adults that gathered under the guise of competitive card playing (Bridge) to enjoy  each other's company and a few cocktails.  My parents were avid bridge players, members of at least three different bridge clubs. That meant on two Friday nights and one Saturday night each month, I was left home alone to fend for dinner myself. The decision of what was for dinner was simple, PIZZA.

I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face the first time I ordered a large pizza for myself. She was sure I was inviting friends over as soon as they left for a party. But no, at age 11 I was able to put away a full 16 inch pie all by myself.

When I got to college, the local Shakey’s Pizza Parlor was foolish enough to offer all you can eat pizza on Fridays at lunch.  I would gather my fellow swim team members and we would gorge ourselves on any combination of pizza they dared to put out on the buffet. Eventually, they would try to run us off with jalapeño and pineapple pizza. After a semester of our killing their profits they pulled the all you can eat offer.

Once our girls were of an age they could eat solid foods, Friday became pizza night. It became a long time tradition we all looked forward to. We would pick up a six pack of beer on the way home and place our standard order to Mr. Gattis, a medium pepperoni with black olives and a Fiesta. The Fiesta satisfied the desire for pizza and Mexican food with a mix of spicy ground beef, cheddar and mozzarella cheese and of course jalapeños.  The beer was for the parents at the end of a long week.

No matter where we travelled, and we’ve been fortunate to travel the world, Friday night was pizza night. Recently, we recalled the many locations where we’ve enjoyed pizza. We came up with 17 countries where we’ve found pizza, impressive on many levels.

As the girls reached their teens, we realized their friends had caught on to the fact that if they showed up at the right time, they too could join in Pizza Night. That was when we decided to "kick it up a notch" as Emeril is known to say. We decided to make our own pizza. There is nothing difficult about pizza. And there is little more amusing than watching teenagers assemble their own pizza. We would provide the basics:

• crust (initially it was the prepared crust, Boboli, later it was homemade dough),
• sauce (usually Prego marinara, sometimes homemade)
• cheese (always mozzarella, and as we matured, fontina, Gouda, cheddar, Parmesan, feta, etc.)
• meat (always pepperoni , sometimes ground beef, Italian sausage, leftover chicken breast, etc.)
• veggies (sliced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, olives, asparagus, artichoke heart, red onion etc.)
• herbs (basil, oregano, red pepper flakes)

The teenage boys would load up a crust with everything that was offered. The girls were purists, a simple pepperoni and cheese.

The Friday night pizza party guaranteed we would have a chance to spend time with our girls and get to know all their friends really well. We’d learn all the goings on of the week from not only our girls perspective but from their friends point of view as well.  And I’m pretty sure we inspired more than one young man to go on to be pretty good cooks.

Here are the recipes for a couple of our favorite pies. Just remember, once you’ve got the crust your only limit is your own creativity.

Pizza dough

Don’t let thought of making your own dough hold you back from making your own pizza, the pre-prepared crusts from the grocery are a great place to start. But I will tell you, once you’ve made your own dough you will never look at pizza at home or away the same.

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 ½- 3 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon corn meal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a warmed bowl.  (warm the bowl by filling it with hot tap water, drain and add the cup of warm tap water) Add salt, olive oil, and 2 ½ cups of flour.  If you have a mixer with a dough hook, turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute. If you don’t have a mixer, use a wooden spoon to mix until all the flour is moistened.

Continue mixing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. If you are doing this manually, stir with the wooden spoon until the dough comes together then roll the dough out onto the counter and knead for about 5 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down.

Brush a pizza pan with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal.

Separate the dough into three equal sized balls. Sprinkle the kitchen counter with flour and use a rolling pin to shape a 14 inch round. You can make the crust as thin as you prefer. We like a thin crisp crust.

Form a bit of a collar around the outside as a barrier for the toppings.

Load up the pizza with your favorite toppings and bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Our favorite pies:

Pepperoni and black olive

Roll out your dough and place on pizza round or cookie sheet.  Brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil

Add your favorite tomato sauce (Prego straight out of the jar is easiest)  I  use about 1 cup per pie

Add mozzarella cheese, I use about 2 cups per pie

Add Pepperoni slices, you can find packages of sliced Hormel pepperoni  at the store, I cover the pie completely

Sprinkle the pie with sliced black olives, straight out of the can. You can buy kalamata  olives in bulk and slice your own if you prefer.

Into the 450 oven for 15 to 20 minutes

Asparagus and Parmesan (makes two 14 inch pies)
Slice 1 ½ lbs. of asparagus into 1 ½ pieces and cook in boiling water about 2 minutes until tender. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

In a frying pan melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat and add ½ cup of diced red onion stirring frequently until softened about 5 minutes.  Add in the asparagus and toss frequently for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Roll out your dough and place on pizza round or cookie sheet.  Brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil

Scatter about 1/3 cup of mozzarella over the crust, top with half the asparagus and red onion mixture.

Into the 450 oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and shave parmesan cheese onto the pie.

If you want to add a little color add sun dried tomato before it goes into the oven.

Long live Pizza Night!

My Favorite Summer Beverages

In the summertime leave the brown alcohols on the shelf until the night time temperature drops below 70 degrees (I know in Texas that means October).  And, I recognize some of you believe that Scotch can be consumed all year long. And I know some of you think a whiskey sour is a refreshing summer drink.  I’m just saying if you want a refreshing alcoholic beverage in the heat of summer; go with the clear alcohols, vodka, gin, rum, tequila. And I’ll agree, white wine and beer always work but no oaky Chardonnay and stay with the pilsners, no bocks, stouts or ales.

Here’s the simple rule of thumb, if it’s not better with a squeeze of lime, don’t drink it when it’s hot outside. Think about it this way, what is the temperature of the origin of your favorite brown alcohol versus the clear alcohol? They drink Scotch in Scotland and Crown Royal-Canada to stay warm. They drink Tequila in Mexico and Rum in the Caribbean to stay cool, both with lots of lime.

I’m not going to argue vodka coming from Russia or gin coming from England that’s like the Texans who believe Crown Royal is a year round beverage.

Let’s talk my favorite brands:

Vodka—Tito’s,  this Austin native is half the price of Grey Goose, every bit as good as and has the gold medals to prove it.

Gin—Hendrick’s, a really flavorful English gin that’s been around for more than a century, they must be doing something right.

Rum—Meyer’s Platinum, this is difficult to find but much better than Bacardi. They have retained the rum flavor of their dark rum but lightened it up, really great taste.

Tequila—I’m not going to start this argument with a recommendation. If you are drinking shots you’ve got your favorite. If you are drinking margaritas, it just doesn’t matter.

While all of these alcohols can be consumed straight in the winter time to keep you warm, there are some things you can do to make some very refreshing yet intoxicating beverages for the summer, here are a few of my favorites:

Uncle Ferdie’s Margarita: I promise this is the best margarita you have ever had, you will beg for a second. Before you drink the third you should be warned it will render your legs useless.

The recipe came to us from my brother-in-law who begged the bartender at the old Fort Duncan Officer’s Club to give it to him after consuming possibly hundreds of them during the dove hunting season in South Texas. The simplicity of this recipe is brilliant.

           Ingredients:

1 shot Tequila-your favorite clear tequila will do but it doesn’t need to be top shelf

1 shot Triple Sec-buy the cheapest you can find, it just doesn’t matter

Juice of 1½ large Lime—when you buy your limes at the store make sure you select the heaviest limes you can find, they have the most juice. Squeeze your limes with a lime squeezer; you want all of this nectar you can.

Cracked ice—this is the secret ingredient.  I usually will fill a quart Ziploc bag with cubes, press out the air, seal and bang the bag on the counter until all the cubes have cracked.

Cocktail Shaker

Martini glasses, chilled in the freezer

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

Fill the cocktail shaker three quarters full of the cracked ice, immediately add the Tequila, Triple Sec and lime juice. Shake vigorously until frost forms on the outside of the shaker. Remove the martini glass from the freezer and strain the margarita into the glass without the ice. You should see shards of ice floating in the drink. Add the Grand Marnier into the center of the glass before serving.

You can double this recipe to make two drinks at once. Serve them immediately don’t let the drink sit in the shaker it will get watered down. Immediately after serving the first, you just as well start making the second because the first one goes down like lemonade.

These can be made by the pitcher. Mix equal parts of Tequila and Triple Sec. Keep track of the number of shots of tequila you pour and add 1 ½ limes for each. Mix the Tequila, Triple Sec and lime juice together in a pitcher. As you want to serve, pour into the shaker with the cracked ice shake and serve.

Gin and Tonic

Ahh, the country club summertime favorite, best in the locker room at the 19^th hole or in a lounge chair at poolside  This is the very first alcoholic beverage I ever consumed.( Okay, this is the very first alcoholic beverage I consumed at a legal drinking age.) This requires good Gin and equally as good a tonic. As mentioned above, I recommend Hendrick’s Gin if you can find it. But the tonic is the primary ingredient. 

Many years ago my wife and I stopped into Harry’s American Bar in Paris to escape the summertime heat and enjoy the ambiance of this historic drinking establishment. We met good friends, one of whom is originally from England. He pointed out that at Harry’s they make a Gin and Tonic with a proper Indian Tonic with quinine. Indian Tonic gets its origin in British colonial India, where malaria was predominant. Quinine became recognized in the 17th century and was used to cure and prevent malaria. It was necessary to take quinine regularly in tropical areas of South Asia and Africa. Hey, I live in Houston, Texas. The climate is remarkably similar to South Asia and Africa in the summertime. We have our fair share of mosquitoes that legendarily carry malaria. I think a Gin and Tonic may be required by the health department.

 Gin and Tonic

Ingredients:

           2 oz Hendrick’s Gin

4 oz Schweppes Indian Tonic

Ice

Highball glass

Half of a key lime squeezed into the glass and discarded

Pour gin into a highball glass over ice cubes and top with tonic water. Squeeze in lime juice. Give the mixture a quick stir and enjoy.

          Vodka Tonic

Ingredients:

Replace the Gin in the recipe above with Tito’s Vodka

 Other of my favorite summer time drinks are shown below. Always drink responsibly.

Tom Collins

This was my mother’s favorite party drink. It’s a pretty presentation, a little sweet and   very refreshing.

Ingredients:

2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp superfine sugar
3 oz club soda
1 maraschino cherry
1 slice orange

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin, lemon juice, and sugar. Shake well. Strain into a Collins glass almost filled with ice cubes. Add the club soda. Stir and garnish with the cherry and the orange slice.

Read more: Tom Collins recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink2438.html#ixzz1RxA2rifB

Rum and Soda

If you replace the Coca Cola in a “Cuba libra” with simple club soda and add extra lime you get a very refreshing beverage that allows you to enjoy the flavor of the rum without covering it up with Coke.

Ingredients:

2 oz Meyer’s Platinum Rum

4 oz club soda

Half a key lime squeezed into the glass and discarded

Ice

Pour rum into a highball glass over ice cubes and top with club soda. Squeeze in lime juice. Give the mixture a quick stir and enjoy.

Enjoy summer!

Mama's Roast Chicken

Thank goodness our family didn’t have to eat my cooking every day; we each would have weighed in at more than 250 lbs.  My ability to add fat to a recipe has been recognized and brought under control by my wife’s watchful eye. My daughters have learned to serve themselves if they want a civilized portion, as opposed to mine which is designed to sate teenaged boy’s appetite. (Unfortunately we have never had one around.)

If it weren’t for my wife, vegetables would come only from a can, salads would consist exclusively of a wedge of iceberg lettuce with homemade 1000 island dressing and soup would be courtesy of Campbell’s. And then there’s chicken. In a recent post, you have seen one of three of my recipes for the preparation of chicken (the other two are grilled or smoked).

In future postings we will explore a variety of chicken recipes, courtesy of my wife and our collection of more than 200 cookbooks, but for today we’ll focus on roast chicken.

Before I joined my wife in the kitchen, the only thing I put in a roasting pan was beef. Herbs only existed in a dried form from McCormick’s. The things I’ve learned and shamelessly stolen from her repertoire are legion.

We’ve tried a variety of roast chicken recipes over the years, some called for various herbs and butter under the skin, and some called for stuffing. Our current favorite is remarkably simple, if you have the ingredients. 

Mama’s Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 4-6 lb. roasting chicken

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large bunch of fresh thyme

1 lemon, halved

1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

(If this is too healthy for you see the recipe for gravy at the end of this recipe.) 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Prepare the chicken by rinsing it thoroughly inside and out making sure to remove any excess fat and any giblets that may be in the cavity. Pat the outside of the chicken dry.

Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, lemon and garlic.

Rub the outside of the chicken with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan.

Roast the chicken for 1 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear (no evidence of blood) when you cut between the leg and thigh.

When cooked, remove from the oven. Move the chicken to a plate and cover with foil as you prepare the rest of the meal about 15 minutes.

Slice the chicken into its parts, legs, thighs and breast. I recommend removing the breast whole and then slicing it crosswise into inch thick portions. 

Gotta have gravy? Here ya go:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of fat from the bottom of the roasting pan reserved in a small bowl after roasting

1 cup of chicken stock

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

After you have removed the chicken from the roasting pan, drain all the fat from the pan, reserving the 2 tablespoons, add the chicken stock to the pan and cook on high heat for about 5 minutes, until reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan.

Combine the 2 tablespoons of chicken fat with the flour in the small bowl by whisking it until smooth.

Add the fat and flour mixture to the stock in the pan whisking to combine.

Reduce heat to simmer as soon as the mixture comes together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stir the mixture periodically until you are ready to serve.

If it gets too thick, add a tablespoon of cold water at a time to return to desired thickness.

Serve the gravy on the side.

Brown like Fried Chicken

One of the things I’ve truly enjoyed about living in Texas is the expressions that people conjure up. Texans don’t even know they are turning a phrase; they are just trying to be descriptive so you’ll understand what they’re talking about.

One July afternoon, we were visiting Grandparents in San Antonio. The girls had just completed swimming season where they had spent eight hours a day at the pool working out and playing with friends. I don’t care how much suntan lotion you smear on a child, if they spend that much time in the sun they will eventually become tan.  Needless to say “Nana” (grandmother) couldn’t help but notice how tan the girls had become and began to regale us with stories of how her Alsatian Grandmother would never let her go out in the sun unless she was completely covered and how hot it was growing up in South Texas without air conditioning. About that time, we were joined by my brother-in-law fresh off the golf course, where he gets most of his exposure to the sun. He listened long enough to grasp the conversation and walked up to the girls to compare tans. With all their forearms aligned he pronounced, “You girls are just like me, when you spend time in the sun, you get brown like fried chicken”.  We burst into laughter, but you know it is absolutely the best description of the color of the perfect summer tan.  Ever since, in our family you have not achieved a proper summer tan until you have achieved that “brown like fried chicken” look.

Just in case you’ve forgotten what color fried chicken really is, I offer the best fried chicken recipe ever. Everyone I’ve ever prepared this for has been blown away by how the meat is moist and the coating is crisp. However, it’s best if those who will be dining with you don’t actually see the ingredients or the preparation. Some are offended by the use of lard. All I’m going to say is, lard contains no trans-fats. And you may want to take an extra dose of your cholesterol medication just in case.

This recipe provides a clear explanation for why fried chicken was served on Sunday. You must start the preparation at least 16 hours before the cooking begins.  So, pick your favorite long weekend and give this a try you won’t be disappointed.

Serves 4 servings (I recommend doubling the recipe below. Why would you go to this much trouble and not have leftovers)

• 1/2 cup kosher salt (do not use table salt for brining)
• 2 quarts cold water
• 1 three-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 1 pound lard
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup country ham pieces, or 1 thick slice country ham cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Procedures

To make the brine: Stir kosher salt into cold water until dissolved. Place chicken parts in a nonreactive bowl or pot; add enough brine to cover completely. Refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.

Drain the brined chicken and rinse out the bowl it was brined in. Return chicken to the bowl, and pour the buttermilk over. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours. Drain the chicken on a wire rack, discarding the buttermilk.

Meanwhile, prepare the fat for frying by putting the lard, butter and country ham into a heavy skillet or frying pan. Cook over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, skimming as needed, until the butter ceases to throw off foam and the country ham is browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the ham carefully from the fat.  (If I have spectators in the kitchen, they can’t resist eating the cubes of fried ham. And I must say they are darn tasty.)

Just before frying, increase the temperature to medium-high and heat the fat to 335 degrees. Prepare the dredge by blending together the flour, cornstarch, paprika, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or on wax paper. (I prefer to mix my flour in a gallon Ziplock bag. You drop three or four pieces into the bag at a time, close it up and give them a shake.)
Dredge the drained chicken pieces thoroughly in the flour mixture, and then pat well to remove all excess flour. Using tongs, slip some of the chicken pieces, skin side down, into the heated fat. (Do not overcrowd the pan or the cooking fat will cool. Fry in batches, if necessary.) Regulate the fat so it just bubbles, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on each side, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Drain thoroughly on a wire rack or on crumpled paper towels, and serve.

Fried chicken is delicious eaten hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.

Fish Freshener

Fish Freshener

Three or four times a year, I have a chance to venture out into the Texas bay system and fish for Speckled Trout and Redfish.  Because my fishing buddies are more skilled at consistently finding and catching fish than any guide I’ve ever been out with, I always come home with more fish filets than we will eat in a couple of weeks. That means some of those fantastic fresh filets will be frozen and end up hiding in the back of the freezer for a couple of months.  There are several tips I’d like to share that will significantly improve the flavor of the cooked filet, especially if it has been hiding in the freezer for two to three months.

Before you freeze

·         Always rinse the filets one more time before you bag them up, making sure there is no evidence of entrails on the filet.

·         If your filets have the skin on, for instance Redfish “on the half shell” where the filet is left with the skin and scales so it can be cooked on the outdoor grill, you need make sure that if you are putting two filets in a bag for freezing that the skin side never touches the meat. Always position them in the bag meat to meat.

·         Always squeeze all the air out of the bag before sealing. Some people like to freeze their filets in a bag of water to keep air from causing freezer burn. I think the filet takes on a chlorine flavor when you leave them in tap water.

Thawing your fish

The best method is to remove from the freezer to the refrigerator for a slow thaw. I rarely have thought that far ahead. The next best choice is to thaw the filet, while still sealed in the bag, in cold water this should take about 30 minutes.

The secret rinse

After the fish has thawed and before you cook, give the fish filets one final rinse. While the filets are still in the bag squeeze in half a lemon and add a quarter cup of water. Seal the bag and flip it forward and back making sure the filets are completely exposed to the lemon water. After a quick swish, remove the filets rinse them in tap water and pat dry with paper towels. Now you are ready to cook your refreshed fish filets.