Alright, Spotted Bass FOR Food - Seriously!

[speedo]

The thread on spots at Shasta seems like a good opportunity to ask, without getting hammered, "how do you cook spots?"

I generally don't care for fresh water fish, tastes to "lakey" to me, except for cats, which is weird considering what they eat! I've been thinking about trying some spots, though, but have no idea how to cook them. Since I probably wouldn't keep any "overs" (Oroville) I guess you'd have to cook 'em whole. Can't imagine trying to filet a 12" spot, but I supposed it could be done.

So, any favorite ways to cook spots? Gut 'em, scale 'em and fry 'em?

[ttb31183]

I have never cooked spots, but you could fillet them, even though they are small. Just like you would a crappie or perch. Then beer + pancake mix deep fried. That should be pretty good.

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Yes you can fillet the 12 inchers..Makes two very nice fillets..Roll them in cornmeal and fry them up, or go with the beer batter..Enjoy..

mac

[Sacto John]

FISH TACOS!

I marinade filets in Taquilla, lime juice, fresh garlic, and chili powder for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Throw them on the BBQ till flakey, serve with a white sauce made of equal parts yogurt and mayo on tortillas with shredded cabage and fresh salsa. Yummy. Don't forget the Pacifico!

[Claudio Silva]

Place them in a glass baking dish with Lawrys pineapple teryaki 30 minute marinade,butter,garlic powder and whatever other spices you like. Top with fresh pinnapple rings and bake until flakey.

Fish Candy

[Burke]

You can cook it Chinese style as a whole fish.

After cleaning the fish, place the whole fish into a dish that you can place into a pan for steaming.

Stuff the body cavity with fresh sliced ginger and green onions (cut into 3-4 inch stalks). Sprinkle white pepper over the outside of the body. Steam the fish until you can pull the meat with a fork from the backbone of the fish (pick the thickest part of the fish). Just before serving, heat up a mixture of soy sauce and oil and pour over the fish (I use lite soy sauce and use a mixture of 3 parts soy sauce to 1 part oil - one cup of mixture for a 1 1/2 - 2 lb fish). The soy sauce/oil mixture will mix with the flavor from the white pepper/ginger/oil contained in the water that collects in the dish.

Serve over rice (pour some of the "mixture" over the fish/rice).

[Mr B]

Cut the fillets into strips about 2 fingers wide.
Roll the pieces in flower.
Dip the pieces in an egg mixture.
Shake the pieces in a bag of crushed up Cheese-Its.
Fry in oil on both sides or deep fry.

The kids love this one too.
Home made fish stix.

Mr B

[NaCl]

You guys have no respect for those of us who are on tough diets! Everything sounds sooooo damn good! HAR HAR!

.....NaCl

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Ain't it the truth..No diet here, but they all do sound good..

macv

[TBONE]

All you need is a bottle of beer, a bass, and a blender. Mmmmm that's good bass!

tbone

[Steve]

Dude, its a snap to fillet a 10 inch spot, let alone a 12 incher. And you get a good piece of meat off this size fish. Try it sometime, you will be surprised.

Now, ya gotta fry the little bassturds. Get some flour and put it into a gallon freezer bag, then add all of your favorite seasonings (through time youll figure out what you like in your flour). Dont forget lots of salt. I find a bit of cayenne gives the fish a little kick. Cut the fillets into small chunks, then put them in egg. Next, throw the egg washed chunks in the bag and shake like hell.

Finally, just deep fry them. You can get a small deep fryer at any place such as WalMart. Deep frying is much better than trying to fry in a pan. Once you add the floured chunks to the deep fryer, they will cook quickly. Once they float give them an additional 20-30 seconds then remove and lay on paper towels.

You can dip the chunks in any kind of dip you like. My favorite is ketchup with a little tabasco. Youll love this.

Spots are very tasty, and the smaller the better. Dont think that you cant get a good size fillet off a small bass, you can and you will. Two 12 inch spots will be more than enough for one adult. Give it a try.

[Bill K]

Every reciept listed sounds good, but I like mine plain. Fillet and seasoned with salt and pepper and fried in good old butter. Nothing better as fresh, fresh fish. Bill K

[aNNieNsaLTIE]

[/b]TRY SOME FRESH GROUND PEPER, GARLIC SALT, DICED GARLIC. ROLL THE FILETS IN A EGG YOLK COVER W/ TEMPURA BATTER. HEAT THE OIL WHEN THE OIL HEATS THROW A FEW SLICES OF JALAPENOS AND START THE COOKING.

[ONTHETHING !!!]

Dang lets eat!!!!!!!!!

if you let the fillets soak in buttermilk for a while it takes away the real fishy taste. Then do the floor or any other batter and deep fry,dont forget some hushpuppies and fried okra.

cal me when its ready ON THE THING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Fried slickum, haven't had any of that since leaving Texas..Definitely goes well with fish..

mac

[kalan]

*NM*

[SethB]

I fillet 12" shasta spots all the time. Its not as hard as you might think. Fried fish and potatoes with some freash salsa for breakfast, yum. Im hopping to have some soon myself.

[Guest]

Here's a Food Network tip for you.

You can get rid of that "lakey" taste with any fish by allowing the fish to soak in either whole milk, 2% or my favorite butter milk for anywhere from 1/2-3 hours before preparing. This is something that I picked up from cat fish that was in the fridge for longer than I wanted but works well with Telapia and other fresh water fish.

You can also go Iron Chef style and substitue bass for other types of fish by doing a search for fish recipies at www.foodnetwork.com.

Aiyah... Cuisine! (Iron Chef)

[speedo]

We need to do some serious cooking, friends!! I am amazed at the fantastic recipes. I'm particularly happy about all the advice to go ahead and filet the little bugggers, 'cuz that means no gutting and scaling!! (PETA observers please note, I will properly and humanely "dispatch" them prior to filleting)

Here's the refinement. On my "bass boat" (see sig) I have a full galley, stove and barbecue, but there's no way in, uh, heck that I'm frying fish inside the boat. (I'll save that for home.) How 'bout bass on the bar-b?

Any good recipes for a barbecued bass?

Thanks for all the recipe ideas, now all I need to do is brush up on my filleting skills, which are really rusty.

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

I used to grill ocean perch..I would clean and scale them, then chop the head off..Stuff the body cavity with onion and lemon slices, place them in an aluminumfoil boat, top them with butter and a good white wine (one you can drink), seal the aluminum foil and grill for about five or six minutes per side over medium hot coals..Unwrap and enjoy..When done correctly the meat will slide right off the bone and out of the skin..

mac

[Sacto John]

See my post above for BBQ recipie.

[speedo]

Ooops! Your's was one of the first posts, too. I LOVE fish tacos!

So, how much slippage, so to speak, when using the Barbie? Do you need to figure an additional 50% for what invariably gets dropped between the grates?

Thanks!!!

[mark poulson]

If you put some aluminum foil over the grill first, and poke drain holes in it, the fish will still cook, and you won't lose any through the grill. Enough hole lets the smoke flavor come up, too.

[Gator]

actually - for fish on the grill, I have a tray with holes in it - dont know what it is called but it works well, you can pre-treat it with Pam to keep the fish from sticking and it is easier to clean and work with than foil.

[Sacto John]

I have a fish grate that I bought at a BBQ supply store. It works great.

[Johnny C]

First I would like to say that I like some of the recipes on this post..THANKS..This is the way I have done it for years and you can get the kids to do the breading...

Make sure before breading ALL bones are removed. There are usually a few left along the lateral line just behing the stomach cavity. You can easily feel for this..

First cover fillets with a flour mixture of flour, white pepper and garlic salt.

Second dip in beaten eggs (three is good for twenty fillets from 1 1/2 to 2 lb. spots.

Third cover fish with a mixture of Italian bread crumbs and lemon pepper (or cajun spice)..

Fry in olive oil over medium high heat. Place fillets on paper towel to soak up excess oil. Cook all these fillets becuase they make damn good cold fish sandwhiches...Enjoy..Johnny C

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

And everyone always talks about catch and release..Now we are releasing them into the hot oil in a skillet..Great thread..Great recipes..

mac