Baked Whitefish with Mango & Avocado Salsa

Abandoned Edibles

1 avocado (bruised)

Local Food

Whitefish (and Trout!) fillets from Bodin Fisheries

(additional ingredients: lemon, onion, paprika, parsley, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, mango, vinegar, red onion, lemon pepper, dijon mustard, etc.)

I brought home a sad, bruised avocado from work the other day, and couldn't figure out what to do with it (you may have all guessed by now--although I no longer work for the co-op, my new job IS in the food service industry!) Then I remembered that I had a few whitefish fillets in the freezer, a mango in my fridge, and all the ingredients to make tartar sauce: I was inspired! Baked fish is super easy to make, too, which made ME super happy. To make the fish, I julienned onions, and made a bed of them on the baking sheet for the fish fillets to 'perch' on. (ha! See what I did there? I ♥ puns) I seasoned the fillets with spices on both sides, placed them on the onions and drizzled them with melted butter and olive oil. Thinly sliced pieces of lemon went on top of everything before I tented the baking sheet with tinfoil and placed it in the oven at 350 degrees.

After about 15 minutes, I took the fish out, set the oven to broil, sprinkled some paprika on, and popped them back in for a few more minutes. While the fish was in the oven, I made a quick lemon vinaigrette with lemon juice, olive oil, djion mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. I cubed up the mango and avocado, and mixed in my vinaigrette with the fruit. I also made tartar sauce for the side, which is, in my opinion, THE BEST tartar sauce I have ever had (more to come on that, later!)

The Verdict
Yum, what a perfect dinner for a summer day!  I must confess, as the picture above so obviously points out, that in addition to my whitefish, I ALSO made a side salad, corn muffins, and some carrot-ginger soup to go with my fish. (note: I didn't actually 'make' the soup...I actually purchased this, and added in leftover mashed potatoes from the night prior to make it thicker.)  My lovah was having a bad day at work, so this was my attempt to turn that frown upside down with a delicious--and gorgeous!--plate of food.  Everything seemed to compliment each other quite nicely, but I must confess something here: the key to this meal, the star of the show, the scene-stealer, the Big Cheese, was NOT the whitefish...it was the tartar sauce!  I swear to god, I make a damn good tartar sauce, one that makes even the blandest fish (like whitefish, let's face it) taste absolutely delicious.  And you know what?  For the first time ever, I'm providing an actual recipe, in case anyone wants to give it a whirl.  It's easy to make, but please, for the LOVE OF GOD, do NOT substitute pickle relish in lieu of the diced dill pickles.  That.  Shit.  Is.  Nasty!  It will NOT taste the same!

Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Creativity: 5

Improvements for next time: none, that I can think of at the moment.  I used up my abandoned avocado AND had some delicious whitefish from Lake Superior for dinner.  Score!

Tangy Tartar Sauce
6-8 servings

3/4 cup Sour Cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 medium sized dill pickles (brunoise)
1/2 small red onion (diced)
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar (or pickle brine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
Additional salt and pepper to taste

Brunoise the pickles and dice the red onion (brunoise is just a fancy term for a small dice!) and set aside. Mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar and lemon juice. Mix in pickles, onion, dill, salt and lemon pepper. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve with whitefish, on the side. Leftover tartar sauce can be stored in refrigerator for approximately 7 days.