Baked Northern Pike

My husband went on a fishing trip to Canada a couple months ago, and brought back some walleye and northern pike filets so that I could vicariously experience a part of his trip. I have never had northern pike before, and had no idea how to cook them - and my usual dependable recipe websites did not have any recipes for them. So I took a gamble and Googled for recipes. I decided to go with something simple - I figured that if this fish tasted as good as my husband says it does, then it shouldn't need much to dress it up. I found this simple recipe for baked pike on a fishing in Canada website. There are several recipes on the page I have linked to - I used the last one. I guess soaking the filets in milk helps make the fish less oily, or so I've read.

This was very easy, and the results were great. The simplicity of the ingredients allowed the flavor of the pike to shine through (I don't really like battered, fried fish much for that reason - the coating and the oil usually make it so that you can't really tell what the fish really tastes like) (not that I don't like the taste, but I can't tell walleye from cod or perch when it's cooked like that). I served this with white rice and fresh green beans. A nice, quick meal with simple, delicious flavors. We still have four pike filets in the freezer, and I think I know how I will make them the next time....

Phyllo-Wrapped Salmon with Leeks and Red Bell Pepper

Would you believe that I had all the ingredients for this in my kitchen? I guess that marks me as a total foodie. I have had some salmon filets sitting in my freezer for a while. I also got leeks in my CSA basket, and a search on Epicurious came up with this fabulous recipe. This could easily be served at a fancy romantic restaurant for much more than the ingredients cost. The flavors and textures melded beautifully, and the phyllo packets make for a classy presentation.

I was just making this for the two of us for dinner, so I halved the red pepper and leek mixture. Since I have baked with phyllo before, it wasn't nearly as intimidating to work with those thin sheets as it used to be. I served this with wild rice, and corn on the cob because that's what we had. I think this would go well with asparagus or a salad of field greens instead. This is now one of my favorite ways to prepare salmon.

Grouper with Tomato and Basil

Kroger had a sale on flash-frozen fish, so I bought some grouper. I've only had grouper when I've vacationed in Florida and it was in the form of a sandwich, so I didn't know a good way to cook these. I had to make dinner in a hurry a few nights ago so I made this recipe. It was pretty good, not fabulous but a quick weeknight meal. I don't cook fish very often, so I think I cooked it a little longer than I should have. I used local organic tomatoes, basil, and garlic.