How to Create the World's Best Whitefish Dinner

It's the dog-days of summer and you're faced with tonight's dinner and minimal ambition. Fresh fish is a healthy, refreshing, and inexpensive center-piece to perk up your family during the dog days of summer. With only 12 minutes in the oven or on the barbeque, keep the kitchen cool. A simple potato salad and asparagus, or salad, round out a colorful and appetizing menu selection. Stay tuned and learn how!

Select one Great Lakes Whitefish fillet per person. Live outside the Great Lakes area? This recipe is perfect for bass and the popular farm raised tilapia! When visiting my college room mate Maureen in Maryland, I wanted to cook dinner for the family. No one in the greater D.C. area has ever heard of whitefish, unless they moved there from Northern Michigan. When I described the whitefish for Maureen, she immediately suggested tilapia and to be honest, it works as well or even better than the original recipe fish of choice. We had a delightful Michigan State reunion with great talk, awesome wine, and even her husband seemed satisfied with dinner!

Once you have your fish in hand, follow these simple steps:

1. Start with 3/4-1 cup extra virgin olive oil, and add 2-3 cloves of crushed, fresh garlic and 1 1/2 tsp coarse or kosher salt. Marinate up to 6 fresh fish fillets for 20-30 minutes. If you're only cooking for two, just add enough olive oil so that your fillets are marinated.

2. While you're sipping the chardonnay, line a broiler pan with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and set your oven temperature to 500 degrees. Yes, I mean five hundred! It's a quick, hot oven to create the perfect alternative to fried fish.

3. Roll each fillet in parmesan cheese and then in bread crumbs. You'll need about 1 cup of each for a family of four. You can reduce the parmesan if it's a romantic, couples-only evening for the two of you. Prepare the fresh salad while your fish marinates. You can substitute garlic bread or rice for a potato. If you'd like, try asparagus or some other green vegetables for an appetizing, color coordinated plate.

4. Lay your coated fillets on the foil-lined broiler pan, and spice it up with some paprika and basil or parsley. Just a light dash it it will look pretty and taste great! Bake for 12 minutes at 500 degrees and dinner is ready!! I like my fish with a few slices of fresh lemon, which also provides a colorful accent to your table.

Just a reminder: Don't overcook your fish. Twelve minutes seems like a short period, but if your fish flakes with a fork, it's ready. Overcooked fish is awful. Once the family enjoys this meal, you'll understand how fish is supposed to taste!

Cold watermelon, sherbet, or even a red jello dessert make a nice match with this menu. On a hot summer's evening, prepare the fish in your barbeque, with a simple foil packet, ridged along the sides. You won't even have many dishes! With a hot barbeque, simply check your fish fillets with a fork at the 12 minute point--if the fish flakes, it's ready to eat.