reel fears

I opened my freezer and it was chock full of fish. I am not exaggerating. That it's full shouldn't surprise me. The annual Alaskan fishing trip that Mark goes on means we have enough salmon, smoked chum, halibut, rockfish and jumbo shrimp to last until the following year. And to make all my fish-loving friends jealous. Only there's one problem. I'm afraid of cooking fish. Why? Who knows. Inexperience. But my fear has caught up with me. When you quite literally have trouble putting anything else into your freezer without the lid popping up due to Fish Glut I humbly suggest to you that it is time to face your fishy fears. Which is what I did yesterday and what I will keep having to do for a long, long time. (Did I mention how full the freezer is?)

There were a couple of bags of fish heads and tails so I made a stock from them complete with a bouquet garni. And you know, it wasn't scary or remotely difficult. And when that was done I made salmon chowder using the stock. And there was cream and wine and big chunks of potato, carrots, corn and zucchini and lemony thoughts and boy oh boy was/is it good. Close your eyes good.
But let me give you an idea of how much fish I have. I used, at most, one quarter of the heads and tails that we have. That amount made 8 cups of stock. I only need 2 cups of stock to make chowder that will serve 8. To put it simply all of the heads and tails we have would feed roughly 100 people a big bowl of hearty satisfying soup or, alternatively, 50 bowls each for Mark and I. A bowl of salmon chowder every week for a year. Which isn't the worst thing in the world but people, that's from just the heads and tails. I still have fillets and steaks and ... This is why it's better to face your fears - they catch up with you.
So do you have plans for supper?
Hungry?

*