OT Before During and After

Last Sunday my wife cleaned the freezer out.Found this in the bottom.All dated 5/12.She says we better get rid of this to make room for this years catch.It was a hard decision to make but I gave in and let her fry'em up.The only thing better than Crappie and Blue Gill is more Crappie and Blue Gill.

All that needs is some grits and coleslaw and me sittin in front of it. No better fish that crappie are as we call them here in Florida specks.

Is it Blue Gill, Sun Perch, Red Eye, or Brim? How do you process
them? I have fried them whole, took the back strap off them and
just fussed with the bones in a fillet.

This year, before the drought that we probably will have to
endure again kills off all my stocked catfish and the naturally
aspired perch, I bought a big cast net.

I am going to feed them as usual, by hand and when I see
Channel Cats feeding, I'll get the net and do em in.

I know the wash tub will be full of perch too so I am thinking
about adding them to the harvest.

I used to make up my own batter with a water/flower first coat
then a swim through egg and milk and a corn meal top coat;
grease (Canola oil) between 350 and 400F in an cast iron Dutch
oven, frying them till they float.

Nowadays, I use the mix from the Coon-a$$es in Louisiana for a
superb treat.

Other thing I learned by watching one of the reality tv channels
had to do with potatoes for fries. After seeing what they do to
them, all I buy now is frozen fast food ffies and they are superb
in Canola oil; come out nice and crisp and delicious.

Thanks,
Mark

That looks really good.

I clean'em with a 8 inch filet knife.My friends say I take too much time but I don't have the mess of guts and rib bones to deal with.Also the old school method IMO does a cleaner job.The secret breading is corn meal, salt, and pepper.
It's black crappie,whiite crappie and good old blue gill.Most came from the same lake as this little guy.

that really looks good! is it hard to fillet a bluegill? I catch them in our pond,I cooked some without filleting them,too many bones

It ain't hard Larry.A good sharp knife and a little patients .One of my uncles taught me 40 years ago.The only trouble I have is every once in a while I'll get a visit from the oldest Ritis brother named Arthur.Also a nice flat cutting board helps.

Nothing better? I can think of a lot of things that are better, like a big steak!

Rick

Larrystein;

Make a cut behind the gills from the breast to the top of each side. Then turn your knife and run it down each side following the back bone and ribs all the way to the tail. Cut each fillet loose.

I do the same thing with catfish. I then turn the fillet over and fillet the skin off. Works slick and much easier than pliers and nailing to a board. Make sure the knife is sharp.

Larry

And HushPuppies.....

My buddy Kevin caught this crappy a few years back. 1/4 off the state record. It swallowed his curlytail lure completely in one bite. I held it up so he could get a picture of it.



Does anyone have a good fish batter recipe? I'm not a real big fan of the cornmeal breading.

Louisiana Fish Fry Products, Ltd. 5267 Plank Road. Baton
Rouge, LA 70805. 800 356 2905. www.LouisianaFishFry.com.

They have New Orleans style Fish Fry, a Shrimp Fry, and crawdad
prep. among other things.

Ingredients in the fish fry mix: (Corn flour....not meal....it's
smooth and tasty), salt, lemon juice powder, spices and the little
add ons.

Directions per the pkg: Dip fish in a bowl of cold water and
shake off excess.
Roll them in the mix.
Deep fry at 350F till golden brown.

I have an up take on this: Heat oil to 400F and don't put so
much fish into one cooking as to over power your grease nor it's
heat source; 350 minimum temp, very important to crisp sea
food.
Fry till they float at which time they will have a nice crisp light
golden color.

When sea food floats, it's done, not cooked to death like a lot of
folks down there like which is an abomination to me. Some of
the burned up shrimp they say is so great, you can't get the
hulls off it it's so burnt up, and for them to do that to the
goldmine of seafood they have down there; shame shame. I
used to vacation at Lafitte, LA. so I know first hand.

Put the fish on a good source of grease absorbent and serve as
soon as possible after coming out of the hot oil. I like Canola oil
as it leaves little residue and fish is crisp, flakey and delicious.

I have found the best answer it to keep the oil above 350, even if
you have to pull the fish out till the oil recovers and put it back
in, not recommended but better than cold grease. Low grease
temp makes for greasy, oily tasting fish and I like them dry, crisp
and light.

I use a candy thermometer immersed in the grease to monitor
the temp. Temp IS important.

Shrimp you do the same way except they have a Shrimp Fry. I
prefer Gulf (of Mexico) Wild Caught fresh shrimp (not pre boiled)
in the super market, even if I have to wait for the season. The
browns are the best to me.

The head is already off, size 31-40 or fewer are nice for frying.
Peel the scales off up to the last joint where the tail connects.

The shrimp do best if "butterflied" which just means slitting the
shrimp almost all the way through top to bottom, front to the
rear section holding the tail. Then, when battering, use two
fingers with the ends turned back and push the shrimp into the
batter on both sides, making "butterfly" wings out of it. If you
don't cut all the way through both halves will be tied together in
the center which is what you want.

You eat them with your fingers, holding by the tail and dipping
into the sauce (mentioned later) When you get to the end, pick
the meat out of the last joint...it's great. Again they float when
done and overcooking just makes them tough.

A side of Fast Food style frozen french fries, (they have a special
process to make them special like you get at the FF shops),
some onion and cocktail sauce (essentially ketchup with some
horse radish} to give it a little hammer. Beverage of choice,
whatever that is, and life is good. Iced tea is great if you aren't
into brewed spirits.

Yum Yum!!!!!

HTH,
Mark

I have some flounder in the fridge from a good friend in NC. I'll have to try that recipe. Thanks!