Fried Fish

[Don]

Good Ole Donny Boy's Fried Fish

Mix one half flour and one half cornmeal dry batter.

Coat wet fish filet in dry batter mix.

Dip battered fillet into buttermilk.

Go back and coat with dry batter mix again.

Fry until done and season to taste.

Peanut oil is awesome to fry in but it is expensive. I mostly use less expensive oil or shortening.

I love to fry fish when we camp. I hang a dutch oven from a tripod over the fire so I can adjust the heat with the length of chain. As oil or shortening is heating, I throw a slice of raw potato about the size of a quarter into the grease. Temp is 350 degrees when the tater floats to the top. Fish go in at 350 degrees and are done when they float to the top.

Mmmmmm Mmmmmm Good

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Sounds good! I'll have to try it. I didn't know the trick about the potato. Thanks.

[Don]

We fried up a big mess of trout for some friends earlier this week with this recipe. Filets didn't last very long.

Don

[Steve Smith]

Good potatoe trick. I've got another thanks to my long past Mother. Float a standard wooden kitchen match in the oil. When the match ignites, the oil will be 350 degrees, and no, it will not ignite your oil. Scoop out the burnt match and fry away. Another pair of coatings I like is saltine crackers or Kelogg's corn flakes food processed into a course meal.

[WebFreeman]

Any tips for keeping it at 350?

[zander]

I have always used the match trick too, much to the horror of onlookers at times. I do one thing different then what I've read here. Instead of rolling the fillets in milk or buttermilk, I roll them in French's yellow mustard and get them good and completely yellow, then I roll in the fish fry mix and cook. It makes them really tasty but the mustard is not overwhelming at all. In fact, a lot of times, you'd never know it was there unless you were told or saw me preparing them. Give it a try sometimes.

[DOITLOOKIT]

For all you who might be gluten intollerant, try crutching up Rice Chex and dip your filets in it and fry. If you are alergic to corn and flour products as I am they make it as the only alternative.

[rps]

My mother couldn't cook except at top speed, blast furnace burn temps. I learned other ways. Try this:

Make sure the fillets are cold. Buy Panko (Japanese bread crumbs. If I can get them in Eureka Springs, you can get them anywhere. Ask the grocery store guy to order them if you can't.). Season the Panko with garlic powder, onion powder, Old Bay, salt, and white pepper. Put the seasoned Panko in a zip lock. Shake the fillets in the zip lock to coat with the dust from the seasoned Panko. Shake the fillets off and put aside. Put the Panko in a pie tin. In another pie tin, crack two eggs and one Tablespoon of water and whisk together. Dip the fish in the egg mixture to coat and shake off excess egg. (The Panko dust helps the egg adhere.) Roll the egg dipped fillets in the Panko tin to coat. Put the fillets on a cake rack while the oil heats.

Heat good oil (low chloesterol, no trans fat oil)in a large, heavy cast iron skillet to 350 - 360 degrees. The oil needs to be 1/4 inch deep. Use a instant read thermometer instead of a match.

Pan fry only until golden on both sides.

The French call this method of coating the fish panne, pronounced panA. Enjoy it.

[Danimal]

For a super great fish-fry seasoning, add a packet of powdered buttermilk ranch dressing mix to your cornmeal/flour. Dan-o

[Dutch]

I have found that when I cook several batches if I have 10-15 people to feed, I get better results if I leave the flour out. It tends to burn after a few batches.