Fish

"What exactly are we making here?" asked my son Tim as the blender whirred with liquid neon. "It looks like green sludge. " "It's Petits Pois Sauce, a lovely springtime accompaniment made with, well, little peas," I told him. "It's French. " We had only just begun the cooking endeavor: teaching my kids a recipe they could prepare on Mother's Day. And already I was getting, shall we say, gentle resistance. "Who do you think is going to eat this stuff, really, Mom?" he continued.

1 cup light miso * 1 cup mirin (sweet Japanese wine) * 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped 2 teaspoons sambal (Vietnamese hot chili paste) 4 pieces of boneless, skinless cod, about 1 1/2 pounds 1. Combine all ingredients except the fish, and stir to blend in a nonreactive container. 2. Place cod in a 9-by-13 Pyrex dish, spoon the marinade on top, and turn fish to coat on both sides. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least two hours, or overnight.

DAVID WRIGHT hit a two-run homer to become the Mets' career RBI leader, R.A. Dickey outpitched Mark Buehrle in a crafty duel Wednesday night and New York beat the visiting Miami Marlins, 5-1. Jose Reyes singled with one out in the Marlins' eighth inning for his first hit against his former team in eight at-bats, eliciting yet another chorus of lusty boos from the crowd that once adored the ever-smiling shortstop. Lucas Duda had an RBI single and pinch-hitter Mike Baxter hit a two-run double in the eighth, helping hand the Marlins their fourth straight loss.

Anglers along Pennsylvania's creeks and shorelines might find themselves a little more elbow to elbow than usual during the opening days of Pennsylvania trout season. The state Fish and Boat Commission has sold about 20 percent more fishing licenses than at this time last year, a potential sales bonanza that could put an additional 60,000 anglers on Pennsylvania waters. It's not clear, however, whether the extra licenses mean extra anglers or eager anglers who got out on the water early.

Ever since ballparks became food courts with dugouts, teams seemingly have competed to sell the grossest items their caterers can concoct. This one might be it. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League are selling a gigantic fish sandwich they call the "Moby Dick. " The 4,000-calorie beast consists of five quarter-pound fish fillets, eight slices of cheese, six ounces of clam strips, a third of a pound of French fries, a cup of coleslaw, plus lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and tartar sauce.

Benny Lai was already deep into the research for Grill Fish Cafe in West Philly, grazing the coast of Vietnam with his family, before he realized what his vision for the old Vietnam Cafe space was becoming: an Asian take on Greek Dmitri's, simple seafood plates with a light Vietnamese touch. There's grilled octopus and crispy shrimp (but not D's "pil-pil"-style; the garlicky pepper-and-lime dipping sauce here is cut, like Viet coffee, with a dash of sweet condensed milk.) My favorites, though, were the kind of affordable, straightforward entrees that make normally pricey seafood accessible for neighborhood regulars - crispy flounder streaked with spicy ginger and scallion oil; tilapia simmered in cilantro tomato sauce, and this generous slice of Scottish salmon, marked on the grill then splashed with gingered soy and fresh mint.

Anglers from the ages of 5 to 60 dotted the shoreline at Laurel Acres Park pond Wednesday morning, and cast their lines at the annual "Mr. Gary's Fishing Derby," run by a Mount Laurel school bus driver. Gary Kelmer, 60, who adorns his bus with fishing paraphernalia and often bestows his kindergarten passengers with bright-colored rubber lures, invited district students and their parents to share his love of the outdoors at the friendly catch-and-release competition he has overseen during 15 consecutive spring breaks.

TEN DAYS AGO, they were in Palm Beach, Fla., at the NFL owners' meetings - Jeffrey Lurie, Andy Reid, Howie Roseman, all of them. Amid the old money and the pounding Atlantic surf and the $22 room-service omelets, the Eagles had no idea they were about to be confronted with a roster crisis: the ruptured Achilles' tendon of All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters. Roseman, the Eagles' general manager, was in Palm Beach with his family. He said he arrived back from the meetings last Tuesday.

Vegetable cooking spray 2 medium-size onions, cut into  1-inch pieces 2 medium-size carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 cup curly-leaf parsley leaves 3 pounds skinless salmon, cut into 2-inch pieces 3 large eggs ½ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup sugar, or to taste 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to  taste 2 teaspoons freshly ground  black pepper, or to taste ...

One look at those big teeth and that eel-like body, and Gary Stolz knew: A northern snakehead had been caught in a tidal area of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. The three-pound, 24-inch fish was caught Thursday, on the west side of Route 420. It meant that this odd and ugly invasive species, so bizarre it's been dubbed "frankenfish," was continuing its slow but sure colonization of the region's waterways. Whether it fits seamlessly into the food chain of the region or its voracious appetite for fish, frogs, and even small mammals allows it to take over the aquatic ecosystem is still a matter of conjecture.