Apparently fish is good for you – that is if it doesn’t kill you first. The good news is the oil in fish not only makes you live longer, but it also makes your offspring smarter. No kidding, that’s the latest news from a recent medical study. The bad news is that the mercury we’ve been dumping in the oceans doesn’t make you live longer or smarter. What’s a thoughtful chef to do? Use smaller, younger fish of course. You see fish that haven’t been swimming as long have had less time to absorb all that bad mercury into their body. Thus you get all that good fish oil and limit the bad stuff. Or that’s what the conventional wisdom says. My daughter says this fish dish is just awesome and that’s all that really matters. She’s a smart little cookie. I thank the fish.

Ready

• 1 lb fresh snapper, catfish, or any good white fish.
• 1 loaf stale french bread
• 2 eggs
• Touch of milk
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Dash salt
• Dash pepper
• Dash dried basil

Set

• Food processor
• Serrated knife
• Large frying pan
• Spatula
• Medium bowl
• Large plate

Go

1. Cut your stale french bread into small pieces and chop the hell out of it in your food processor.
2. Pour the finely chopped crumbs into your large plate and mix in 3 healthy pinches of salt, 2 healthy pinches of pepper and 2 healthy pinches of basil
3. Crack your eggs into a bowl, add a touch of milk and beat with a fork. Dredge you fish though your egg mixture and then lay it on the seasoned breadcrumbs. Tamp the fish down, flip and repeat. Both sides of the fish should be coated with a healthy crumb coating. Repeat with all of your fish fillets.
4. Cover the bottom of your skillet with a generous coating of olive oil and turn the heat on medium high. Olive oil has a low smoke point so if you see smoke lower your heat before it burns. Once the oil is hot, lay your crusted snapper in the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and cook for another two or three minutes. Be vigilant as the second side always cooks a little faster.