Cornmeal Crusted Pickerel with Cherry Tomato Relish

In our continued effort to explore the world of our fine finned friends - and to eat as many varieties of them as we can - we decided to pick up some Pickerel this week.  Pickerel is a mild white, flakey freshwater fish which is quite abundent in Ontario, making it a great choice for those of us concerned about sustainability.  Pickerel - sometimes called Walleye - are part of the Pike family, and are also closely related to the Musky.  They are long, thin fish with quite a lot of long, sharp teeth.  They are apparently quite aggressive, as fish go I guess, and survive on a diet comprised mostly of small fish, crawfish, frogs, snakes and small birds.  Sounds like a fish that deserves to be eaten to me!

As Pickerel is new to us, I decided to treat it quite simply for my first time and do a simple breading with a nice fresh cherry tomato relish on the side and a sautée of  my current favourite vegetable - broccolini.  Broccolini looks a bit like broccoli, except it has long thin stems and smaller florets. The flavour is milder that broccoli and the thin stems means it lends itself well to a quick preparation when sautéed in a little olive oil with garlic and salt.

This dish turned out very nicely

Cornmeal Crusted Pickerel

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lb. wild pickerel fillets, skinned
1/4 cup butter or neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

Cherry Tomato Relish
Sautéed Broccolini

Place flour in shallow bowl. In separate shallow bowl, whisk milk with eggs. Place cornmeal, dill, salt and pepper in another shallow bowl. Dip fish, one piece at a time, into flour, shaking off excess, then into milk mixture, then into cornmeal mixture.

See How to Bread Fish by Justin

In skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat; cook fillets, turning once, for about 5 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily when tested with fork. Serve with Cherry Tomato Relish and sauteed Broccolini.