one fish, two fish...

baked stuffed fish! (and there's way more than 2 kinds of seafood involved here...which is part of what makes it so damned good. Almost nothing remotely healthy about the stuff, but who gives a damn!)

Enter, dad's baked stuffed fish recipe, immortalized for all time on the intarwebs. And seriously, this shit's GOOD. He came up with the recipe basically by himself, with a little help from me, which makes it even more impressive, given the fact that he almost NEVER cooked unless it involved fire or clubbing a fish to death on the side of the boat when i was a kid...so. here' goes:

Stuffing:
1 can cream of celery soup
2 sleeves ritz crackers, smashed within an inch of their buttery, flaky little lives
1/2# crabmeat (frozen is fine, imitation is NOT)
1/2#scallops, cut up into smallish pieces
1/2# shrimp, cut into smallish pieces (I usually use native Maine shrimp..the teeny guys usually used in popcorn shrimp)
1 stick butter, melted
parsley (if you want/remember)
garlic powder
onion powder
(these last 2 are to taste...i usually use a quarter teaspoon each or so...As for the garlic, dad and I have discussed the merits of using the new Ritz garlic and butter crackers, but so far have stuck with the original)

Mix everything together (I usually just dive in with both hands...works best. Oh, but put your fish in the baking pan first, then you can just scoop the filling right on top!)
As for the fish, I usually go for whichever sturdy white fish is on sale (9 times out of 10, it's haddock. you can use cod if you want, I just always use haddock...I tend to have it on hand for chowder most of the time anyway, so...), about a pound to a pound and a half of it, depending on how many people you're trying to feed...
Place the fish in the bottom of a baking dish, scoop the stuffing on top. Yes, you'll notice there's a hell of a lot more stuffing than fish. that's the plan. All of this will fit rather nicely in an 8x8 baking pan. Bake covered at 350 for about 40 minutes, then uncovered for another 15-20 or so. the boy likes it paired with some steamed broccoli, I like it with a little salad. Either way, delicious!