A New Skill?

I don't think the title is exactly correct because doing something once probably doesn't make it a skill and I probably won't ever do this again.

Saturday our neighbor called with the offer of a 15-inch brown trout that her daughter had caught while fishing with her grandfather. They were about to leave and didn't want the fish to sit in their refrigerator for any length of time so they offered it to us. I asked if it had been cleaned and she hesitantly replied, "no". That was when I should have said thanks, but no thanks. But I thought "Chris has probably cleaned a fish before and I have watched my dad and brother clean fish when I was young, so it should be okay". So I said we would like to have the fish.

Ten seconds later they were walking up the driveway to my kitchen door with a big brown trout hanging on a stick. I thanked them and put it on a cookie sheet We talked for awhile and then Chris came in from mowing the fields and looked at the trout and told me he had never cleaned one before. I was in trouble now. After the neighbors left, the suggestion was to throw it out because it had been out of the water for awhile and it hadn't been gutted yet - both facts causes for concern about how safe it would be to eat.

Being the frugal person I am (sometimes!), I decided we couldn't throw out a perfectly good fish, especially a trout! So I wrapped it up and put it in the refrigerator while I made some phone calls to fishermen in our branch. I finally reached one and he gave me the specifics of gutting and cleaning and preparing a fish. It was exactly as I remembered seeing my dad do it....so I got brave, put the fish in the sink and started to scrape off the scales (under running water so the scales wouldn't fly everywhere - advice from the fisherman). Then came the more difficult part, slitting open the belly and cleaning it out. There is amazingly little "innards" in a fish and, lucky for you, I don't know how to take pictures and download them or you would get visual step-by-step instructions. After cleaning the fish, the head needed to be removed with one quick slice. The fish was then wrapped in saran wrap and cooked for supper on Sunday. Chris wouldn't eat any and I had to put it back in the fry pan a few times because it wasn't quite done when I started to "flake" the meat off the bones to eat it. I guess raw fish, or partially cooked fish, is safe, but I like my fish done. It tasted fine, and I was very careful about the bones.

All in all, it was a "flashback Friday" experience if I can use Hannah's phrase. Probably won't have the chance to do it again, but at least I can say I did it!