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Visalia Orange Baked Fish
Submitted by:Terry Lee May


Ingredients
  1. 2-3 lbs fish fillets (use firm flesh fish)
  2. 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate
  3. ½ cup heavy cream
  4. 4 cloves crushed garlic or shallots ( or 2 tbsp )
  5. 1 tbsp olive oil
  6. 5-6 stalks finely chopped scallions (or small bunch
  7. of chives chopped)
  8. paprika
  9. salt
  10. pepper

Instructions
Reconstitute the orange juice using half the water required per the instruction on the juice can. In a medium sauce pan, gently saute the garlic, but do not brown. Add in reconstituded orange juice and cream while stirring briskly. Carefully warm entire mixture through. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Keep on stove over very low heat. Rinse and dry fish fillets, place them on a lightly greased (or Pam sprayed) shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika and pour well heated orange cream sauce over the top. Bake at 350 in a pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes. Carefully serve fish and garnish with finely dices scallions over the top.
Comments
My Grandmother on my father's side was a regent for South Dakota State University in the 50's and 60's. She, along with my grandfather, was also a fantastic cook and restauranteur. In the late 1950's, my grandparents started up a small chain of cafe's and hot dog & ice cream stands throughout South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. By the early 80's they retired finally selling the chain to a corporation that chased them for 15 vyears to sell the business. Today that business and chain are now know simply as the Zesto's (formerly May's Cafe and May's Zesto Footlongs and Ice Cream). Anyone who's ever been to the College World Series in Omaha has probably experienced a Zesto shake or malt with a footlong hot dog or BBQ pocket sandwich. When covering the College World Series, ESPN would send runners to the Zesto in Omaha (across the street from the stadium) every day for malts for the crew. It was this exposure that sent the populariety of the Zestos into high gear by the early 1980's. My grandmother had this recipie for baked fish she served in the cafes that was like no other. It was never dried out or leathery like other baked fish I had ever experienced. When they came to California to visit us in the 60's and 70's, my grandmother made us her version of baked fish which we all enjoyed. Later in the 1980's when I first moved from my parent's house on my own, I made the fish in the same way as my grandmother, except that I added in the orange juice and used orange roughy fillets instead of the hard to come by walleye. It is so good, that my non-fish loving wife at the time would even eat it. The dish is named after the towm which I was raisd in, Visalia CA.