need perch recipes!

[Jedburton]

Hey guys I caught a bunch of perch yesterday and am looking for some recipes. I have one from cable guy, but am also looking for some others to try. Any tips on filleting those things easier would be helpfull too.

Jed Burton
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[AFDan52]

[][font "Arial"][red][size 2] Hey Jed, would you be willing to share some of the recipes that you get?[/size][/red][/font]

[font "Arial"][#ff0000][size 2] AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[Jedburton]

definitely I just need to waite until I get some more. Only one so far.

Jed
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Perch are not big to begin with, so efficient filleting means more for the table and less for the garbage. Bad filleting is known as making little ones out of big ones.

If you are using a regular knife, SHARP is vital. You need to be able to just glide the blade through the rib cages to make nice clean slabs. However, my recommendation is an electric knife. You apply only enough pressure on the moving blades to move them down along the spine. The serrated moving blades do the rest, to slice off perfect fillets. it takes some Practice, but once you get used to an electric, you will wonder how you ever did it with a plain knife.

There are lots of pictorial websites on filleting fish. You can get the theory down from the pics, but there is no substitute for "hands on". If you can, find someone who is experienced and watch them for a while. Then, with them guiding you, try a few yourself.

The good news is that perch are plentiful enough that you can get a lot of practice, and even if you botch a few, it is not wasting a scarce resource. A perch filleting operation is more like a production line than filleting a single fish...that is if you have scored well.

Recipes? Perch are firm, sweet and tasty. It is tough to ruin them, but there are a lot of ways to take advantage of their goodness. Frying is the most popular. My favorite dry coating is a 50/50 mix of Bisquick and yellow corn meal...with some salt, garlic powder, black pepper and a shot of cayenne for heat. Put it in a big strong plastic bag and shake up three or four fillets at a time to coat with the mix. Do not dip them in milk or egg or anything first. They will fry up with a light but tasty coating that does not overpower the natural flavor.

You can make all kinds of batters...from tempura to beer batter, made with pancake mix. I do not like a fish dish that is more coating than fish, and with small perch fillets that can happen.

You have a choice in cooking oils. Peanut oil is what the pros use, because it can be heated hotter without smoking and does not break down as fast. You can strain it and keep in in the refrigerator between batches. It costs more, but you get more use out of it. Any good oil will work.

Perch is a close cousin to walleye, and can be cooked with some of the same recipes. For a quick and easy fry...no batters or coatings...simply dry the fillets with a paper towel and saute them in a mixture of two parts real butter and 1 part olive oil...into which you have stirred some fresh minced garlic. Perch fillets are thin, so about three to five minutes on a side is more than enough to get a bit of brown coating going.

If you want to make a "scampi" style flavoring to the above recipe, soak the fillets in a cup of sherry wine for 45 minutes to an hour before cooking. That gives it a super flavor, and the alcohol cooks off before the fish is done. Don't soak the fillets too long or the end result will not be good.

One of the simplest and healthiest ways to do perch fillets is "foil broiling" in the oven. Arrange the fillets close together on a piece of foil, on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and seasoned pepper. Shave some curls off a stick of butter and place a few around the arrangement. It will melt and run over the fish. Squirt on a bit of lemon juice and put on a shelf about halfway down in the oven, under the broiler coils. Watch for the fish to turn white and flaky to the fork. That will take about five to eight minutes. Don't overcook. Serve in shallow bowls and pour the buttery liquid from the foil onto the cooked fillets to serve.

If you like a coating on your baked fish, you can also use one of the "shake and bake" type coatings on perch too.

If you have a good recipe for "popcorn" shrimp...use it on perch.

If you like "Buffalo" wings...make up some hot spicy Buffalo perchettes.

If you like Chinese...coat and fry perch fillets in the batter and serve with some sweet and sour sauce for dipping. BBQ works too.

One of my favorite perch recipes is "Shrimp-rice stuffing". Precook some white rice and layer about an inch in a glass baking dish. Saute some mushrooms, onions and celery in butter until mostly cooked. Spread on the rice. Take a can of cooked cocktail shrimp and sprinkle them around on the veggies. (You can chop up larger (cheaper) shrimp too...but they are not as flavorful) Now lay the uncooked perch fillets over the rice/veggies/shrimp mixture. Season with garlic salt and seasoned pepper and then dot generously with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for about ten to 15 minutes...until the butter has melted and the fish has turned white and flaky to the fork. Use a spatula to lift off the fillets onto plates or shallow bowls. Use a big serving spoon to scoop the buttered and juiced rice mixture on or beside the fish fillets. Sounds complicated, but it is quick and easy.

Then, you can soup bake them. Put a layer or two in a deep baking dish. Mix up a can each of cream of mushroom, onion and celery, with enough milk to make it liquid. Sprinkle on some seasoned pepper, but no salt. The soup is usually salty enough. Pour the soup over the fish and bake at 350 for fifteen to twenty minutes...depending on the size of the fillets and the depth of the soup mix. When the fillets flake, they are done. Pour the soup leftovers over some cooked rice or noodles.

I am attaching my recipe for "pigout perch chowder" at the bottom. This is designed to be very flexible. You can change all kinds of things around to suit your own tastes.

Yeah, those pesky little perch are great eating. I gotta admit I have made many a trip with perch in mind. The danged walleyes and smallies that interrupted my pursuit of perch were often just an added attraction.
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Somebody posted up a ceviche recipe. Should be great with perch! We made a batch last week with stripers and it was great. Here is our version of a "traditional" ceviche recipe attached.[/size][/font]
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