Pecan Tilapia and Wild Rice Corn

Fish, why does it always have to taste so...fishy. I'd probably like it a whole lot more if it wasn't so stinky. I like other stinky food, like blue cheese and garlic. To me, blue cheese and garlic are a good stinky, kind of like cookies baking in the oven is a good stinky. Although, the idea of garlic and blue cheese cookies is not an appetizing one. Go figure.

I made my first leap into the stinky a few weeks ago with Tuna noodle hotdish. I actually liked that, but I wasn't sure if that was because it was so terribly bad for me. Things that are horrible for you always seem to be the most delicious. That's probably why cats like antifreeze so much.

I've been hesitant to try another fish dish because I was afraid I wouldn't like it. I am afraid that if I don't like a food that is new to me, Blockette will follow suit and say she doesn't like it just because I don't. I'm trying to be a good example for her...at least most of the time I am.

I saw a recipe for Pecan Crusted Catfish in the Dec 2009 issue of Woman's day(see bottom of post for recipe), and thought the flavor and aroma of the cooked pecans might minimize the fishy ish that is fish. I showed the recipe to Mrblocko and he agreed, only he suggested Tilapia. He said it is a less stinky fish and I would be more inclined to like it. Wouldn't you know it, the next week frozen tilapia was on sale.

Was I ever pleasantly surprised. The fish was only mildly fishy, but not so much that I couldn't tolerate it. We did have a problem because the fish was not completely defrosted by the time it was cooked. We had to cook the fish a bit longer than the suggested time. There's no picture of the fish because it got a bit mangled in the checking for done-ness process. Next time I'll take the fish out to defrost at least overnight. The 6-8 hours the package suggested was definitely not enough time.

The Pecan fish was paired with Pioneer Woman's fresh corn with wild rice. Wow! They made a great combo. Mrblocko is not a big fan of rice but he will eat it. He does seem to like wild rice a bit better than the plain white stuff though. Even he thought it was delicious. I halved the recipe and it still made bunches. I also substituted frozen corn instead of the fresh. I don't know about you, but it is next to impossible to find fresh corn at the end of November.


I don't know how I managed to pair up a dish I thought I might not like with a dish I thought Mrblocko might not like. Must have been my subconscious saying, "Well if you're not going to be happy with this meal you won't be alone." Lucky for both of us everything turned out so tasty.

Pecan Crusted Fish from Dec 2009 issue of Woman's Day
4 fillets (6-8 oz each) tilapia or catfish
2 tsp honey mustard
1 c pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 450. line rimmed baking pan with foil. fine chop pecans. spread on wax paper. put honey mustard in small cup stir in 2 tsp water. brush one side of fillets with mustard mix, then press in to the chopped pecans. place on baking pan. bake 10-14 min til pecans are lightly toasted and fish is just cooked through.