Less Waste, More Treats - the Fish Edition

Our local grocery store had a special on whole Steelhead fish today, so I bought an 8 pound beauty to put under the broiler tonight. My filleting skills are pretty poor, so I asked the young guy behind the butcher counter if he'd filet the fish for me and he happily agreed.  I asked him to save the head, backbone and tail in a separate package and he gave me a quizzical look.  "It's for the dogs."  He smiled and started hacking away at the fish.

When he was done, I was presented two packages that I could swear were almost equal in weight.  (At home a scale revealed that the "scrap" was 30% of the total weight.  After turning on the broiler, I started a pot of water boiling and added the parts that I didn't want to eat.   The filets were given a light coat of salt and pepper, a bit of olive oil and some marjoram (a totally under-appreciated herb.)  Five to seven minutes under the broiler did the trick and that's the same time I turned the "fish stock" down to a simmer.

I prepared the rest of the dinner (saving the kale stems for including in a homemade dog food recipe) and by the time it was time to do dishes, the stock was pretty rich. After straining the stock, I was left with large chunks of fish, which I carefully separated from the bone.  I was surprised to end up with over 2 cups of fish meat in addition to my 8 cups of fish stock.   Baxter, Chloe and Raleigh all received a few bits of the boiled fish, and their wagging tails made me feel like quite the hero.   The remainder went into ice cube trays to freeze, which I'll transfer to a freezer container for surprise treats.

The fish stock will be drizzled over their food or used in place of chicken stock when making cookies. If a dog has a sensitive stomach, rice cooked with a bit of fish stock and water will make a soothing meal.

My fish cost $24.00, seven dollars of which would have been waste.  Instead I have stock and fish cubes for very little effort.  Next time your at the seafood counter, consider asking the fishmonger to wrap up the scraps separately and share a bit of those healthy Omega-3 fatty acids with your best friend.

Note: Raw fish should not be served to dogs, especially fish from the Pacific NW.

For more information about Less Waste, More Treats - the Fish Edition go to this article more about Less Waste, More Treats - the Fish Edition