I noticed that I was getting hit by a lot of search engines today. They were all finding the same post. Last year around this time I started to review all of the fast food fish sandwiches in our area. Guess what, there is a big search going on for fast food fish. A new fast food place opened in our area, so I may have to review the Sonic fish sandwich. But for now, I’m going to go in a different direction or TANGENT if you will.
Eating fish during lent? Why?? I did a quick search and found out is was more out of ‘eating from the land’ than skipping meat. Apparently (I’m not sure about this yet, the web is full of useless information too), eating fish derived from fasting. Apparently you could eat the food you gathered during a fast. This included vegetables, fruits and the like. It also included fish, since anyone could catch fish. Meat from other animals was the province of the well to do or wealthy.
Other sites have said that this developed to allow the working people something to eat with a high level of protean, just to keep their strength and let them keep working the fields. I’m not really sure about the why’s yet, but I will continue to work on it. That question just got me curious.
And one more tangent…. Easy fish recipe. Works for most firm fleshed fish (Salmon, catfish, ocean perch, red snapper, walleye, ect.)
Aluminum foil
Fish fillets
Tomato slices
Onion slices
Salt
Pepper
Sliced garlic if desired…
Oil of choice or butter
Layer on foil (one serving per foil pouch) from the bottom up
onion slices, tomato slices, fish fillets, salt, pepper, garlic, tomato slices, onion slices. Drizzle with oil or add butter pats. Close up foil. Cook…
Over hot coals 10 -15 minutes per inch flip about halfway through cooking time.
(open one and see if fish is starting to get opaque on the first side, flaky on the second side.) Or use gas grill, or cook in oven preheated to 375.
Wonderful stuff…
Hm, that sounds yummy! I always did wonder about fish on Fridays. I’ll be waiting to read more. And since we’re on the subject, I went through Wendy’s today and saw they have fish now….interesting!!!
Living for 35 years and going meatless during lent. It always made me wonder if fish is meat, too. Mac and Cheese, egg salad (the egg comes from an animal), tuna salad (there again…). Things that make ya go,,, HMMM.
The Ah-ha moment, I have to dig back into Jewish tradition and heritage. Fish (with fins and scales) are of a different classification than meat or dairy. In most Jewish traditions, fish can be served with either dairy, or meat. Some more orthodox traditions, will not serve fish and meat on the same plate. A place to start looking.
@mary911 — most fast food places will serve fish during lent, even if they do not have it during the other parts of the year. It surprised me last year, that our local Arbys did not have fish on the menu.
Look for fish at
McDonalds
Burger King
Sonic
Wendys
A&W/KFC
Dairy Queen
I am hoping that Arbys will have it this year.
Subway should have their tuna salad, but I kind of miss the seafood salad that had the artificial crab meat.
Can’t wait for the fish advertising to begin again… anyone remember the McDonald’s singing fish from last year?
“gimmie that filet-o-fish…gimmie that fiiiiiish”
@Justin – I don’t remember that McD’s commercial… but then again, I never watch tv anymore, so when would I have caught it?
@Mary911 – you seem surprised that Wendy’s has fish; as far as I know, they’ve had it every year during lent for years. I used to work there, and I remember that just as I would learn where the button was to place a fish or fish combo order or right when I would finally remember the prices of it or how to make it, it would disappear from the menu. I’ve always been kind of leery of fish, don’t know why, but as an adult I’m able to tolerate it better. I like McD’s fish fillet, but I don’t know if I’d ever be brave enough to try it anywhere else, let alone cook it up for my family. The recipe sounds good though, and I’ll put it in my basket full of recipes to try when I don’t have little ones underfoot and when I have extra money to try new recipes without having to worry about screwing them up!
I don’t recall the singing fish commercial, either. Although I do remember the novelty plaque of a singing bass of years gone by. Was it a regional thing?
@jamiahsh – the novelty singing bass on a plaque was not a regional thing, but then again, I’m sure you meant that the commercial Justin was referring to might have been a regional thing. I seem to remember reading an article about how the Queen of England was tickled pink about her Billy the Singing Bass, now that paints an amusing picture – teehee!
@taylhis — Two notes on this recipe. It is almost foolproof, the onions will burn before the fish is too overcooked to eat. Sealing it in the foil keeps the fish moist. And for you this may be better, you can do something similar with chicken. I would take out the tomatoes and add some green peppers, but that is me. Cooking time for chicken is a bit longer, I use a meat thermometer for accuracy. I do this for drums and thighs or boneless chicken breasts.
The health “experts” do say fish are healthier for us too- fast food restaurants should have them on the menu all year like McD’s.
Tangent here- I once worked for McD’s and I remember how the FoF would get only half a slice of cheese. A whole slice was too expensive I guess.
justin – I also remember the singing fish commercial. Do you remeber the Wendy’s one about the fish with a name?
taylhis – I will vouch for the fish/chicken recipe. Also, there is some way of getting mozzarella cheese in with the chicken…ask Daddy. He used to do it for my birthday dinner. Don’t forget the 4th of July party – I’m sure we could do up some fish.
@draclet – ooh, add cheese to anything and YUM! Not that that was my concern about the recipe… I just don’t have time or money right now to waste on food if I should screw it up or get a bunch of complaints from people who won’t eat it. Thanks for remembering our 4th of July discussion here in the comments section! 🙂
@derek – when you say that fast food restaurants should have fish on the menus at all times because the health experts say fish is healthy, something tells me they don’t mean BREADED fried fish slathered with tartar sauce served on a bun with cheese! But it’s yummy, so we can pretend it’s healthy, isn’t that how it works? 😉
Our local ARBY’s has fish this year! I won’t comment on how I thought it was. Tasted just like everything else recently.
I’m a pescetarian, so this time of year is nice, as I get more fast food options; not that I eat fast food too often. Taco Bell is offering a shrimp taco, but the shrimp are cooked in chicken stock, so if you are eating fish for Lent, I’m not sure if this counts for you or not… for me, it was something I found out after consumption (they were tasty) that made me a bit upset. I assumed that it was completely lenten…
Welcome to my blog marc, and thank you for the new word in my vocabulary. I’ve never heard of a Pescetarian before. Definitely one for the old memory banks. I won’t be trying the shrimp taco any time soon since I have allergic reactions to them and there cousins lobster and crab.