BellaFoodBlog.com – Beautiful Food

This is a nice recipe for fish lovers and is especially fun for kids who have caught fish and would like to eat them.  While you can occasionally find pan fish at the market the best way is to set out to the nearest fishing hole and look for large Bluegills, Perch, or Calico Bass.

I happened across a hole in Bantam Lake the other day full of Calicoes, also known as Crappie.  I dropped a small white fluke to the bottom and every time I pulled up I had another nice sized fish.  The only times they didn’t bite was when they had chewed the tail off the fluke.  I had 18 fish in as many   minutes and made a nice fry up!

A bunch of pan fish (at least 4 per person)
Flour
Corn Meal
Breadcrumbs
Eggs
Butter
Old Bay Seasoning, Salt, Pepper, Garlic to taste

Fillet the fish.  This is somewhat time consuming and not the easiest thing to do but by the time you have done a few you get the hang of it.  You must have a fillet knife and it must be very sharp.

Lay the fish on its side and cut down through the meat just behind the head. Insert the knife along the top edge of the fish and slide it down along the backbone.  Lift the edge and hold the meat while working the knife down along the bone to free the fillet. Don’t cut through the very bottom, but flip the fillet over and hold the knife flat between the meat and the skin and cut the meat from the skin.  Flip and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and so on.

Wash the fillets and remove any small bones you can feel.  While wet dredge the fillets in a mix of corn meal, flour and seasoning.  Dip in beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs.

Heat butter in a large frying pan.  A tip that will keep your house from smelling like fryed fish is the fire up the grill and bring your frying pan outside to cook the fish.  Place fish in pan and fry flipping over half way, repeat until all pieces are fried.

Serve with tarter sauce, lemon, fried potatoes and vegetable, or you make fish sandwiches!

This is a great recipe for fish lovers and those who do not like fish.  It was traditionally made as leftovers from a big Sunday dinner of baked fish, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.  You can do it that way or special make the ingredients for the cakes as I do now.  Warning this is a multiple day process.

I usually like to make a good amount at once as it is some trouble and they freeze well.  The recipe below is based on 2 cups of fish or about one pound.

2 Cups Cooked Fish (Poach or Bake the day before)
2 Cups Mashed Potatoes (Cold)
1/2 Cup Sauteed Vegetables (Celery, Onion, Peppers)
½ Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
Spray EVO (PAM) and Butter
Old Bay Seasoning, Salt, Pepper, Garlic to taste

Start with fresh skinned fish fillet, as always best from your local fishing venue but you can certainly purchase a fine substitute in any supermarket. Best fish I have used is Stripped Bass, but almost anything can be used including Bluefish as I did this June. Cod, Pollack, Halibut, Sole, and so on can be used and if you are buying choose the lowest priced fish that is fresh.

First Day

Clean and cook the fish with butter, salt, and pepper.  You can bake it, or poach in a frying pan with a little water, of cook it on the grill.  Easiest way is probably baking it but whichever way cook it until the flesh flakes easily with a fork.

Make Mashed Potatoes as you normally would using an equal weight of potatoes as you have fish, for example, I had five pounds of fish fillet and used five pounds of potatoes.

Crumble the cooked fish with your fingers and refrigerate that and the mashed potatoes.

Day Two

Chop the vegetables and saute in EVO and butter.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Old Bay Seasoning.  Be generous with the butter as we want the vegetables nice and soft and in a butter sauce.

Add the vegetables, fish, mashed potato, breadcrumbs, and eggs in proportions as above.  Knead it all together and add small amounts or stock or water if it is too thick, or add more breadcrumbs if it is too thin.

Spread wax paper on your work surface and lightly dust it with breadcrumbs.  Fill a quarter cup measuring cup tightly with the mix and using a butter knife clean off excess.  Scoop contents to the wax paper and repeat 12 times.  Dust the tops of each mound with crumbs and flatten into a cake.

Prepare a 9 x 16 shallow baking tin by covering in foil and spraying liberally with PAM.  Preheat to 475 F.

Place cakes on pan and bake for 11 minutes, then spray liberally again and flip cakes.  Cook another 11 minutes or until done.  Remove cakes to foil sheets to cool.

Repeat process until all cakes are cooked, BUT do not eat any at this time (I only ate 6 or the 75 cakes I made this time and Aspen ate two).

Wrap cooled cakes in plastic and then in plastic freezer bags.Now you reheat them in a pan with butter or in the microwave for 30 seconds, or freeze for up to six months.

Some pictures: