Another Fish Tale

  Tonight was fishken for dinner. I call it fishken night because as I once before mentioned I love fish, while my children would never even consider a fish stick. No, my children are spoiled when it comes to dinner and the thought that I would make them eat fish never crosses their minds. They do eat chicken though, and since it is very easy to prepare chicken and fish the same way, we have fishken.

  Tonight I switched it up a little though. I dredged the fishken in panko bread crumbs instead of just the usual flour. The panko bread crumbs give the fish and chicken a little extra crunch. I like to mix the panko bread crumbs with some all-purpose whole wheat flour and spices because it makes a nice crust.

  As a child I ate fish from as early as I could remember. I was born and spent the better part of my childhood in New Orleans, so of course I ate fish. I all kinds of fish; mudbugs (that's crawfish), fresh water fish like trout and my favorite, catfish. I ate salt water fish like cod and flounder, and shellfish like shrimp, crabs and lobster. You name it, if it swam, I ate it; except for octopus and squid, I just can't wrap my head around those.

  I also learned a lot of my eating habits from my Dad, and he had some habits. I learned from my Dad that chipped beef on toast is delicious for breakfast. I learned from my Dad that while Spam alone is not the best food ever, it tastes pretty good in a Bisquick biscuit. The one thing I learned from my Dad that has stuck with me the most, eating wise that is, is that vinegar is awesome on fish. Rarely will I fry fish and not finish it off with vinegar.

  This evening, while dousing my flounder filets with vinegar, Cheddar Buns asked, "Why do you put vinegar on your fish?" I told her "I use vinegar on my fish because I like it like that. Grandpa used to use vinegar on his fish, so I guess I learned it from him." I then explained that the English use vinegar on their fish and chips as well. She didn't seem to care about the fish and chips, nor how Grandpa ate his fish. She wrinkled her nose and said "Vinegar tastes bad, it's sour."

"I like it" I said, and as I looked at My Beautiful Wife I said, "What can I say? I'm full of fish and vinegar."