While children younger than 14 in Roman Catholic families are not required to fast or abstain from meat on Fridays, a meal of fish sticks will be a crowd pleaser for kids and adults. The recipe is based on one by Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle.

    Tartar sauce:
    3/4 cup regular or light mayonnaise
    3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
    2 tablespoons chopped capers
    1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

    Fish sticks:
    1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs or Panko (see Note)
    1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
    1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
    2 pounds cod, halibut or sea bass or cod in large pieces, skin and pin bones removed
    1 stick unsalted butter, melted
    Nonstick cooking spray
    Lemon wedges

To make the tartar sauce, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the fish sticks, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Combine the bread crumbs, dill and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl or pie plate.

Place butter in another bowl.

Cut the fish into uniform "fingers," about 1-by-4 inches. Season lightly with salt. Dip the fish into the butter, letting excess drip off, then dredge in bread-crumb mixture until well coated.

Arrange fish on prepared baking sheet, allowing about 1 inch between each fish stick. Spray top of fish with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake until golden on top and fish begins to flake, about 5 to 8 minutes. Cool on pan 3 minutes.

Serve with tartar sauce. Garnish with lemon wedges.

Note: Panko is a Japanese bread crumb available at gourmet stores and in the Asian section of some supermarkets.