Emergency rations

When Jenise first mentioned the Trident Fish Sticks as a great quick meal option, we tried them, liked them, but found the 5% saturated fat and especially the 12% sodium figures unaceptable.

Bob,

Please share with us the kind of fish and which parts and pieces go into the sticks.

Thanks!

Thanks, Chef. I'll stop by Staples today, and re-label the freezer tonight.

Dave, I buy fresh water fish to cut down on salt, usually the best looking/smelling tilapia filets on offer, and then cut into longish strips, three inches or so, in rough cube size in cross section, dictated by the thickness of the filet. (Our fish monger is good about letting me know if the tilapia was farmed in fresh or in brackish water -- the fresh water tilapia has somewhat lower salt content.

Any white fish works -- I personally like cod very much, partly the taste, partly the increased thickness. Halibut, red snapper, orange roughy and sole also work well.

I see from my cookbook that another recipe I've consulted is at http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/fish_sticks.html

My rent a kids have made sesame fish sticks following a recipe at http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/0 ... sticks.php

All of these freeze well.

In fairness to the commercial types, their technique is very different involving chopping up fish pieces, layering, freezing, etc. But the results are remarkably similar.

[Jenise]

When Jenise first mentioned the Trident Fish Sticks as a great quick meal option, we tried them, liked them, but found the 5% saturated fat and especially the 12% sodium figures unaceptable.

Excellent recipe, Bob. But of course, making them yourself kind of subverts the whole idea of emergency rations. Not that making EVERYTHING youself from scratch isn't the best way to go, it's just that for some of us, it's the only way. We only get fresh firm white fish here, for instance, a few months of the year.

[David M. Bueker]

Emergency rations: Ritz crackers & Peter Pan peanut butter. (or goat cheese on the crackers if I have some warning & can get it)

Dinner emergency rations: Costco duck halves. Throw one on the grill & in 10 minutes I have dinner.

Excellent recipe, Bob. But of course, making them yourself kind of subverts the whole idea of emergency rations. Not that making EVERYTHING youself from scratch isn't the best way to go, it's just that for some of us, it's the only way. We only get fresh firm white fish here, for instance, a few months of the year.

Interesting, Jenise. We have so many options here that buying/making emergency foods for the freezer is always a reasonable option. I'm surprised tilapia and flounder wouldn't be available year around in your area; tilapia is now the fourth or fifth most common farmed fish.

Regards, Bob

PS: We had your Batali inspired meatloaf last night, frozen from a big batch last December, and de-frosted after a dinner engagement fell through at the last minute. Delicious! Thanks again for a great contribution to my own personal fldg. Bob

tilapia is now the fourth or fifth most common farmed fish. Regards, Bob

That may be true Bob, but all and I mean all of the tilapia I've seen in many years come from China. I'm not a Chineseaphobe, but all the tainted food that comes from there, makes me wary.

That may be true Bob, but all and I mean all of the tilapia I've seen in many years come from China. I'm not a Chineseaphobe, but all the tainted food that comes from there, makes me wary.

Interesting, Carl. Our fishmonger at the Market Basket gets all of the tilapia from farms in the Finger Lakes region.

I'm a little more concerned about the omega 3/6 ratios in that fish, but its an "emergency" food here, quick and easy to prepare/freeze/cook. Not a regular item. But maybe we'll drop it from the menu based on the omega issue.

Best, Bob

Spam,
Spam,
Spam,
Spam,

Spam,
Spam,
Spam,
Spam,

Hmm... You getting those Nat Decants emails, too?

Mark Lipton

We were in Hawaii for vacation this past summer and found, as almost everyone already knows, Hawaii is Spam Central. Done right, and in moderation, it’s great stuff. I like having a can or two on the shelf for emergencies whether real or imagined.

[Jenise]

Interesting, Jenise. We have so many options here that buying/making emergency foods for the freezer is always a reasonable option.

I make a number of things for the freezer, but fish products aren't one of them because fresh fish during winter is either Vietnamese farmed Tilapia or the so-called Dover Sole that isn't true sole at all. Freshness and firmness are, respectively, issues. Flounder? Our Flounder is halibut, and the fish are out there but they're not a legal catch year-round.

Obviously, we could get greater variety if someone wanted to fly the fish in and local merchants would sell it, but apparently the demand isn't high enough at the prices it would require for a town of 80,000. I paid $25/lb for swordfish this weekend in Newport Beach where the parking lot was full of luxury sports cars and no one thinks that's a big deal. Up here, that would never fly.

[quote="Jenise"]I make a number of things for the freezer, but fish products aren't one of them because fresh fish during winter is either Vietnamese farmed Tilapia or the so-called Dover Sole that isn't true sole at all. Freshness and firmness are, respectively, issues. Flounder? Our Flounder is halibut, and the fish are out there but they're not a legal catch year-round. [quote]

That's very educational, Jenise, thank you. I've always thought of the Pacific Northwest as fish friendly the year around. We'll be visiting Seattle in August for a few days, and it sounds like a good time explore what's on offer.

New York City has been sponsoring Tilapia growers, and Tilapia from either the City or the Finger Lakes is available year around. Invariably high quality at the Market Basket. I did a bit of research on the ratio of omega 3 to 6 in tilapia -- not favorable, but small percentages of either, and good protein. So I'll keep it in the emergency stack, especially since Chef's suggestion of stickable circles has solved my filing problem.

Thanks for the education. Best, Bob

[Jenise]

Well, wasn't trying to educate you Bob, but just explain why, though you'd think we'd be rolling in fresh fish considering all the water up here, it's not so. There are definitely a lot more options in Seattle. My town is several hours north of there, and fairly isolated, a world unto itself. Bob and I actually got so hungry for fish when we moved here that one night we went to the local Anthony's, a PNW seafood chain that's uncommonly respectable for its ilk, thinking they'd have a larger variety of fresh seafood on offer, but no! They had basically the same stuff the grocery stores have, that I'd been turning my nose up at. Our winter seafood is now mostly shellfish, frozen catfish (one of the few fish I like from frozen), the subject fish sticks, and salmon we smoked ourselves and froze.