How to Fillet A Whole Fish

Fish is fresher if you buy the whole fish: the meat holds its shape and flavor better. It's cheaper, too. Here's what you need to know to choose this option for your menu:

1. For info on buying fresh fish (knowing its fresh, choosing the best fishmonger, etc.) Gorton's has a great site - complete with a printable info sheet to take with you to the store.

2. You will need four tools: a filleting knife (sharp, long, flexible); a chef's knife (large, sharp); a set of needle-nose pliers (tweezers will do in a pinch); and kitchen scissors.

3. You'll face two kinds of fish - round or flat. Preparation is a bit different for each type. (Gorton's explains this well, too.)

4. As for what you do, first, you "prepare" the fish. This involves cleaning it and removing the ooky parts.

5. Then you "fillet" it, which involves cutting away large portions of the meat away from the bone. Skin stays on at this point. If you have a big fish (think shark), you don't fillet: you "steak"... you "steak the fish".

6. The next steps are to "debone" and "skin" the fillets/steaks.

For detailed instructions on all these steps, check out Gortons.com, NoBonesAboutIt.com (they have videos), cutlery.com, foodnetwork.com (more video).

Make Your Own Spice Blends

More and more ready-made blends are available on the shelf: Thai, Jerk, Cajun. Most of their ingredients are probably in your pantry already, why not just buy what you need?

For lots of blend recipes, see JoycesFineCooking.Com, OnlineCookbook.com, ButterBuds.com, DrMirkun.com.

And Paula Deen's house blend? 1 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup black pepper, 1/4 cup garlic powder.

4th Richest Man Lives Frugally

Forbes magazine keeps track of the rich, and lists the top four as: (1) Microsoft's Bill Gates; (2) money-man Warren Buffett; (3) industrialist Carlos Slim; and (4) IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. Kamprad's worth is about $28 billion, according to Forbes.

What Forbes doesn'f focus upon is that Ingvar Kamprad, 79, believes in frugal living. He drives a 15-year-old Volvo: "she is nearly new, just 15 years old, or something like that." He always flies economy class. His home is furnished with his own IKEA furniture. He takes public transportation to work. He asks that all employees write on both sides of the paper.

He also avoids wearing suits, and he likes to eat at inexpensive restaurants. Rumors exist that he replaces expensive Coca-Colas in the hotel mini-bar with cheapers ones from the convenience store before he checks out, to avoid the inflated mini-bar prices.

"People say I am cheap and I don't mind if they do," Kamprad told interviewer Darius Rochebin of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation in a rare interview recently. His goal is to lead and inspire his employees, and to keep as much money circulating in IKEA as possible, so that its low-cost product can reach the most people world-wide. His goal is always to keep IKEA prices low.

Does he offer any advice? Kamprad recommends “Divide your life into 10-minute units, and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.”

Sources:TheTimesOnline.com, NZZ.com, Forbes.com.

Photo: Kamprad giving a lecture at Vaxjo University in Sweden, courtesy Wikipedia Commons.