Dear Barbara: We love fish at our house. The problem is that each type of fish has filets of different sizes, and I never know how long to cook them. I’m also torn between buying frozen fish or fresh fish. Everyone says fresh fish are better. Does that mean frozen fish are of lesser quality? — Tonya from Galt

Dear Tonya: Let’s start with the first question. Out there in “fish land,” there has always been what they call, the “ten minute rule.” This is a good rule of thumb when cooking fish. Take a ruler and measure the thickness of the fish at its thickest point. You want to cook it approximately 10 minutes per inch. So, if the fish were only half an inch thick, you would want to cook it for 5 minutes, or 21⁄2 minutes per side, if it is on the stove rather than in the oven. That doesn’t seem very long, but remember, when you take it off the heat, you always have some residual cooking. If your fish is wrapped and sealed in foil, you would want to add maybe five minutes so the foil can heat up.  This would be for fresh or thawed fish. For frozen fish, add five more minutes.