Eating panfish, suggestions?

[jad2t]

I know many of you on here eat bluegill. Yesterday I was catching some in the 8-9" range and decided to keep a few to see if me and the wife like them. I cut the heads off, scaled and gutted them and plan to fry them. Just wanted some suggestions from anyone who regularly eats them. I know you can pan fry them just like that and eat it off the bone. The coconut oil is ready! Any proven flour/spice combination is what I'm looking for. Thanks!

[Alphahawk]

I just roll them in corn meal and fry them up. One of the best eating fish out there IMHO. Eight and nine inch Gills are some nice ones by the way....congrats.




Regards

[Tnriverluver]

I fillet every fish I keep. Cannot stand bones after getting several stuck in my thoat when I was a young teenager. Google "Parmesan Baked Crappie"!!!!!!! We now cook this all the time and it is some of the best fish I have ever eaten. Especially using bream!!!! It works well with almost any fish with the thinner type fillets including bass, crappie, talapia, halibut, flounder, whatever. I found this recipe over on Crappie.com and was not a big fish eater before. This has changed all that now since my wife can't eat it often enough.

[MNfisher]

I also fillet and skin all my crappie and bluegill. I am not a fan of pulling bones out of fish either. Small rainbows is the only fish I gut and chop the head off.

Pan fry or deep fry are my favorite for panfish.

[tkwalker]

I 'm not big on Corn meal over Flour when it comes to frying fish ... But what we use is a ZATARAIN's Fish-Fri Crispy Southern Style batter mix (enriched corn flour) ... It is pre-seasoned so no salt or pepper needed ... Since the gill is pretty big boned The sweet meat just slides off of the bone . I normally take scissors and trim all of the fins off .. Deep fry in a Fry Pappy and take an extra Crestor pill ... <'TK><

PS ... If you do get some bones , Hey, eat them like trout... Chew them up real good this separates the goodies and discharge the bones ...

[jad2t]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I definitely can't do flour because I don't eat any grains (the gluten does bad things to my digestive system... details I don't need to go into lol) but I do like to substitute coconut flour often especially in fried chicken or fish recipes and that's what we did. We tried a few different ways (olive oil, coconut oil, dipped in egg, no egg, different spices) and the winning combo was coconut flour with garlic powder, a bit of salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Dip it in egg, then get that batter all over it, put it in some very hot olive oil for a few minutes on each side.

That was delicious! Definitely messy though. If I decide to do this more often I might invest in some sort of fryer. Most white fish meat tastes the same as was the case with these little guys but the texture makes it really good. The skin is good too when it's nice and crispy, like skin off some fried chicken.

[tkwalker]

That was delicious! Definitely messy though. If I decide to do this more often I might invest in some sort of fryer. Most white fish meat tastes the same as was the case with these little guys but the texture makes it really good. The skin is good too when it's nice and crispy, like skin off some fried chicken.
__________________
Jimmy

Jimmy, I am with you the scaled skin is as good as the meat .... ..And you are right ... a lot of white meat fish taste the same ... Try a fry Daddy or Fry Pappy ... a consistient 350 degrees ''' to fish ... Can't speak of your delima with flour ... that must be bad ... But !!! Garlic is always Gooooood !!

To me Gills are 2 steps above Cats and Crappie ... Cats you have to vent the meat so it cooks through out and must remove the red muscle so it doesn't have an uncooked wet taste .. crappie .. to me always taste like dirt ... My opnion .... Don't take offence .... Walleye, Gills (toss up) Sauger, Bass, paddlefish, crappie and cats .... ... All good but some take more prep than others .... <'TK><

[jaysouth]

Gut and scale, leave head on. Stuff cavity with your favorite herbs and a slice of lemon. Salt and pepper, lay fish on medium grill. Usually five to six minutes on each side will cook the average gill or crappie.

Use a fork to lift the skin off, add more salt and pepper and a drop of lemon or cider vinegar. Eat the 'filet' on top and then use a fork to remove the backbone. Enjoy the second 'filet'.

A slight variation is to stick a green stick in the mouth a couple of inches and cook over wood coals. Indeed, this is the way that most fish are enjoyed worldwide. Whether a fancy French restaurant in Paris or a native village in Latin America.

[Headhunter]

I fillet all my bluegill. If they are not big enough to fillet, no keep. I use a bowl of buttermilk and tony chacere's fish fry seasoning and fry. Have not had anyone do anything but ask for more.

[Travis C.]

I used to do the homemade meal batter and beer batter some but once I found this:



I stopped doing all that and only use this anymore. We get it a Kroger.

[creekcrappie]

Originally Posted by travis c.

i stopped doing all that and only use this anymore. We get it a kroger.

x2

[Gene G]

No matter what you batter with, just forget your egg, milk, beer, or other dip. Just rub your filets (or whole fish) with a little yellow mustard. Yes, the kind that you put on your hotdog. It doesn't take much. Just a tablespoon or two. Try it. I promise you'll repeat it the next time that you fry fish.

Gene

[tacklemake]

We like the fish filet and beer batter with a little old bay spice in it then deep fried till golden brown.............woody

[vincent]

Originally Posted by jad2t

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I definitely can't do flour because I don't eat any grains (the gluten does bad things to my digestive system... details I don't need to go into lol) but I do like to substitute coconut flour often especially in fried chicken or fish recipes and that's what we did. We tried a few different ways (olive oil, coconut oil, dipped in egg, no egg, different spices) and the winning combo was coconut flour with garlic powder, a bit of salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Dip it in egg, then get that batter all over it, put it in some very hot olive oil for a few minutes on each side.
P.

Are you Paleo dieting? Try this http://www.pachakam.com/recipe.asp?i...%20Pollichathu . Or google 'karimeen pollichathu'. This is a recipe from my native state Kerala in India. Substitute Pearlspot fish with bluegills or crappie. Quite some work here, but my friends and I do this occasionally, as recent as last Sunday. Last Sunday, we tried a LM bass and it wasn't bad. If you don't have plantain leaf, you could do this in a foil paper. You get plantain leaves from K_&S stores on Nolensville Road. Good luck.

I'll be feasting on some of these things in a couple of weeks as I fly home for my vacation.

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by vincent

Are you Paleo dieting? Try this http://www.pachakam.com/recipe.asp?i...%20Pollichathu . Or google 'karimeen pollichathu'. This is a recipe from my native state Kerala in India. Substitute Pearlspot fish with bluegills or crappie. Quite some work here, but my friends and I do this occasionally, as recent as last Sunday. Last Sunday, we tried a LM bass and it wasn't bad. If you don't have plantain leaf, you could do this in a foil paper. You get plantain leaves from K_&S stores on Nolensville Road. Good luck.

I'll be feasting on some of these things in a couple of weeks as I fly home for my vacation.

Yep, I'm a fan of the Paleo Diet and adhere pretty strictly to it. That looks like an interesting recipe but too much work!