Canned Fish Recipes Rancho Santa Margarita CA

Yoli Jolliff and her husband go fishing for bluegill often, and she'd like to preserve the fish by canning.

"The only way I know of preparing bluegill is to fry, not healthy for either of us. Is there a way to can it? I would like to use it like canned tuna or salmon. I have a pressure canner, but I don't have any recipes," she wrote.

After Jolliff's plea ran in the Trading Post, reader Emma Dubois of Thayer sent along her recipe for canned fish. "I have tried this with bluegill, trout and bass. It makes a very good snack with your favorite crackers," wrote Dubois.

The second recipe comes from the Web site www.ezfishin.com/recipe.html, which contains many recipes for cooking fish.

Detailed procedures for canning fish of all kinds is on the Web site of the University of Georgia's National Center for Home Food Preservation. Go to www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_05/fish.html; a downloadable guide for canning fish in quart jars is at www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_05/alaska_can_fish_qtjars.pdf.

Emma Dubois' Canned Fish

Fish pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tomato sauce

1 teaspoon ketchup

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Sprinkle of garlic salt

Small slice of onion

To each pint jar filled to 1 1/2 inch from the top with fish pieces add the rest of the ingredients. Cover with lid and ring and process in a pressure canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

Makes 1 pint.

Pressure Cooked Canned Fish

Enough fish to fill a pint jar

1 teaspoon pickling salt

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

Place all ingredients in a pint jar, then proceed with normal canning techniques. When filling the jar, leave 1/2-inch of space at the top for expansion and the juices that will develop.

Cook at 10 pounds pressure for 90 minutes.

Note: There is no need to remove the bones. They will soften in the pressure-cooking process, while partially dissolving from the added tomato sauce and vinegar.

Makes 1 pint.

- Phyllis Hodde of Springfield is looking for the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup recipe, and asked if the Trading Post could get it. Although Olive Garden does generously provide a number of its recipes, this is not one of them.

A similar request from a reader in 2003 yielded several copycat recipes from readers. One of those is reprinted below.

Olive Garden-Style Zuppa Toscana

1 pound Italian sausage

1 large onion, chopped

2 large russet baking potatoes sliced in half, and then in 1/4-inch slices

2 cans chicken broth

2 cups water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 can real bacon bits

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups kale or Swiss chard, chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook sausage in a 300-degree oven until done. Drain on paper towels and crumble.

Place onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water and garlic in a pot and cook on medium heat until the potatoes are done. Add sausage, bacon and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer another 10 minutes. Turn to low heat, add kale and cream. Heat through and serve.

Serves 6.

The Trading Post is compiled by Kathryn Rem. Send recipes and recipe requests to the Trading Post, The State Journal-Register, P.O. Box 219, Springfield, IL 62705, fax to 788-1551 or e-mail food@sj-r.com. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number.