Friday today, so, in deference to tradition, it's fish for dinner. We're well served for fish shops here on The Fylde, so off I go to the best of them and spend £3 on two nice fat plaice. Home they come, and it's off with their heads, tails & fins, then into an open oven dish with a liberal dressing of olive oil, dill, marjoram, lemon slices, cherry tomatoes & sliced chestnut mushrooms. 10 minutes later (time enough to savour the opening of Henry Purcell's Dioclesian in Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert's 1995 recording) - perfection!

Were it not for the fecking bones of course...

I confess - this is all new to me; I'm all at sea, floundering indeed, so I seek advice, recipes, recommendations, dressings, sauces, dos and don'ts, FAQs, old wives tails and sailor's yarns; in short, I seek the collective Mudcat wisdom of culinary fishy folk-lore. Bring it on, I beg you; let's make next Friday something really special...