Fish tonight, but not just any fish!

The sturgeon never ceases to amaze folks.

The largest freshwater fish in the world, it can live more than 100 years, tip the scales at 1,500 to 2,000 pounds and reach 20 feet in length.

It’s a primitive fish that, according to fossil records, lived more than 175 million years ago. For its uniqueness, some think it belongs in the same category as the (now extinct) wooly mammoth  and  the saber-toothed tiger -- both disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, about 12,000 years ago,

Other just consider the sturgeon a “good-eatin’ fish,” like halibut or swordfish.

If you’re NOT an angler or a friend of a "Sturgeon General "-- with no access to this tasty fish -- you can sometimes buy farm-raised sturgeon in the supermarket or order it in a restaurant.

We recently marinated a freshly caught sturgeon with a lemon-garlic base, popped it on the grill, and served it with green salad and a crusty bread. Delicious!

Lemon-garlic marinated sturgeon

Pound of sturgeon, cut into two six-inch strips

Marinade
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic
4 fresh bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
Zest of one medium-sized lemon
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

Pulse the marinade ingredients in a blender, and then pour into a zip-locked plastic bag. Add fish, seal the bag, and shake -- or use your fingers to move the marinate around.  Refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight

Remove marinated fish from sealed bag and place on a barbecue grill for a total of about 10 minutes. At the five-minute mark, flip it over and grill another five minutes. (This is a tender fish and will cook fast.)

Serve with rice or a green salad with crusty bread.

You can use this marinade for halibut, swordfish or striped bass, too.