Fillet mine because I am lazy

We like seafood. Just in a Cap'n D's sort of way. You know, breaded in cornmeal and deep fried. Southern style is my preference. So here we are living close to LOTS of seafood and we rarely eat it because...well,  because we are just so lazy, I guess.  

I mean, seriously, crab legs?  Too much work. I never even ate the fried catfish at the Barren River Lodge because they fried the whole darn thing.  Who wants to die choking on a fish bone?  Not me!  If I go out it won't be because of a bone (at least I hope not).

So why were we at the wet market Sunday?  Just looking around and exposing the kids to all the smells.  Plus I told Angie it was the most flies I ever saw in one place.  Who could resist checking that out?  Then this slick dude sells us a couple of big, red snappers.  My only bargaining chip?  "Will you fillet them?  Fillet them and I'll buy them."  He did, so we did.

Here is a long look at the offerings.  Squid, shrimp, sting ray, eel, and more kinds fish than you can imagine.  All laid out on ice and ready to be taken home.  Every once in a while you see some really interesting stuff.  Not exactly the kind of hygiene you find at Pike's Market in Seattle but who ever got sick from bad seafood, am I right?

The big mistake of the day was listening to the fish monger.  He asked me if I wanted the heads and other leftover parts.  Now not wanting to seem like an idiot of course I wanted the heads.  The heads have their own place on most menus.  Even on some signs: WE HAVE FISH HEAD CURRY.  Yummy, just like mom used to make.

So I bring home the fish heads and stuff and boil them thinking all the time of using the stock for something and getting that meat off for some fried rice.  Instead we got a stinky kitchen and a thousand slivery little bones.  But the worst was when I turned it off and got to working on something else.  I came back to find all those flies had followed me home!!!  Nice.

So I got to throw it all away after stinking up the kitchen and maybe ruining one of our two pots (it still smells like fish heads after a few washings).  The frugal side says, "Get the bones, they make good soup."  The lazy side says, "Fish bones are the worst ever, don't bother."  So who wins?  The wife who says, "Its your stinky mess.  Clean it up yourself."

The end of the story?  We fried up those fillets Monday night and they were really good.