Swedish sushi, gefilte fish and a catfish fillet for breakfast

Image by Edsel L via Flickr

Gefillte fish balls plated for Passover.

If you count the carp, whitefish and mullet in Mrs. Adler's gefilte fish, I racked up five different piscatorial delights for breakfast this morning.

I started with two of the poached, chilled fish balls from the jar of gefilte fish, which I bought at a 70%-off sale at a supermarket, and added three pieces of raw herring in garlic sauce from IKEA -- Swedish sushi.

I didn't have horseradish, but found a tube of wasabi in the refrigerator and managed to squeeze the last bit or two out on the gefilte fish. 

I added a small salad of organic spring mix and sliced beets, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That was my cold plate.

We fried up Costco farmed catfish fillets dipped in egg and milk, and corn meal for dinner at home on Friday night, so I warmed up one fillet in the microwave while I made a simple egg-white omelet in olive and sesame oils. That was my hot plate.

A great breakfast, and while I'm on a low-carb diet and not eating bread, another way to deconstruct the breakfast fish sandwich I ate almost every morning (with lox, sardines, canned fish salad or almost any other fish that could fit between two slices of bread).

Gefilte means "stuffed," which is how I felt after finishing my meal.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Sushi with cracked pepper, olive oil and kimchi

I continue to work my way through that great block of smoked-mackerel sushi from Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater. See post, "Back in the food-shopping game."

Yesterday, I opened the two packets that came in the box and looked over the inserts from Komego, all in Japanese, which I don't read. I poured the cracked peppercorns and extra-virgin olive oil in separate dishes. This is different. I've always associated sushi and sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi.

This fatty, Omega-3 rich mackerel with rice is good enough on its own, but takes on extra dimensions when dipped first in the oil and then pungent cracked pepper.This morning, I had two more slices and paired one with

Image via Wikipedia

crunchy cabbage kimchi before popping it into my mouth. Delish.