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So I really am getting back to cooking. Or at least I hope. Maybe. I promise that this blog won’t become just an outlet for me to vent about everything.
So today we cook. Now the picture I took to start the post:
I bought a new smoker. I’m a traditionalist for a lot of cooking things. Shortcuts aren’t my style, and I like to challenge myself.
The problem with me and smoking has been that I just don’t have the time to commit to smoking with wood or charcoal. I just don’t. I need something that I can more easily and less actively regulate temperature.
Thus, I got a propane smoker. Hey, at least it isn’t an electric one…
Now on to the actual meat of the post. And by meat, I mean fish. And by fish, I mean I’m eating fish voluntarily now. And by voluntarily, I mean the first thing smoked in my smoker – my smoker – is pollock.
If you’ve ever seen Nora’s happy dance, imagine the gloating and happy-dancing she has been doing because I now eat fish.
I don’t know why fish suddenly stopped tasting bad and started tasting good. It was sudden, much like neat whiskey, mustard, beer, and shrimp for me. Each of those things was offensive to me and then one day, prepared the same way as I had tried before, the switch had flipped and I enjoyed them.
Now before anyone gives Nora an ounce of credit for this, I want to talk about something that I started doing in my early adulthood.
I was a fairly picky eater growing up. This isn’t to say that I didn’t eat a variety of things – I did – but that if I didn’t like something, I really didn’t like it.
And I have an incredibly strong and sensitive gag reflex. So if something was gross to me…you can fill in the blank.
The problem is that as I got older, I started enjoying more complex and varied foods. Good for me, but a lot of those things are derived from things I don’t like.
So I made a challenge for myself. I would try the things I didn’t like before around once a year. I did it with mustard (now I like it), tomatoes (still gross), sushi (still working on it), squid (why did I ever not like this?), beer (now there’s a blog dedicated to it), raw onions (no no no no no no no!), and a lot of other things.
I had tried fish again late last year – can’t remember why – and it was still offensive to my palate. Nora saw me try it. But she was insistent when she bought fish around the beginning of Lent (she’s not Catholic, either, but Lent is the best time to buy fish, come to find out) that I try it again.
And for some reason, it was enjoyable. So much so that I’ve had it a few times each week since then.
(It’s also low-calories, which means I can eat quite a bit of it, which makes it even more attractive.)
It just wouldn’t be a kitchen post without a recipe, so here is the recipe for the seasoning I’ve been putting on my tilapia (which is delicious and light enough to work)!
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Fish Seasoning
2 Tablespoons (or more) Paprika
2 Tablespoons Dill Weed
2 Tablespoons Celery Seed
1 Tablespoon (or more) Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Ground Pepper
Stir together. Liberally apply to fish before cooking. Then smile because Robby has to admit that his wife forced him to try something again and now tries to take credit for everything he eats that he formerly didn’t like before, even if he’s actually responsible and she had nothing to do with it…
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To healthier options and expanding palates!
– Robby