Thinking about cooking some blues

[gillplate]

Ok so I went back to my skin on fillets and removed skin. For some reason it was hard taking the skin off. I soaked in milk and baked. Wow that's good eating. Tasted like a stronger Maui Maui. I'm surprised.

Slice that skin off. sharp fillet knife, lay on cleaning/ cutting board skin down, light pressure downward on the fillet with your non-cutting hand, run knife between the skin and flesh horizontally. easier to do as you fillet them leaving the tail tag of the fillet connected to the carcass.

[Slobber Bob]

Take skinless fillets from a 1 to 2 lb bluefish. Cook them the same day or no later than one day. Spread olive oil in a baking pan, make sure fillets are covered lightly with olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle some Old Bay and some blackened seasoning on one side. A short time in the oven, broiler or grill and you will have some fine eating.

The put the filets over some fresh tomatoes from the garden, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over it, dash of basil and coarse sea salt... yummy!!

With the fillets poached (basically boiled for like 4 minutes), I flake out the meat, just like tuna from a can...

I add a blend of seasonings including old bay, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder. I also add finely diced onions (when they fry up, they caramelize a bit...giving a sweet taste), and dried herbs like parsley, oregano.

I add an egg as an emulsifier to bind all the ingredients together. I form the fish cakes by hand and coat them in panko bread crumbs. Then I pan fry them till golden brown on each side.


So its a little different than my crab cakes now that I think about it. For my crab cakes I don't add all that extra stuff.

Some fish taste great when originally prepared but suck re-heated. Fish cakes are also great for turning the leftovers into a something good.

[Frogsauce]

Ok so I went back to my skin on fillets and removed skin. For some reason it was hard taking the skin off. I soaked in milk and baked. Wow that's good eating. Tasted like a stronger Maui Maui. I'm surprised.

Don't try to cut the skin off the filets. Just peel it off. Next time we are out I can show you how I learned to do it from my wifes family (all island people in the pacific). It's super easy.

[Deverall]

Fried is always good. Sprinkle with lime and vinegar chilli sauce.

[Longtrav]

Don't try to cut the skin off the filets. Just peel it off. Next time we are out I can show you how I learned to do it from my wifes family (all island people in the pacific). It's super easy.

Thanks, sounds good

[MetroMan]

So I snapped some pics earlier this week...

First, go out on a Walk-on trip with Walleye Pete and catch a bunch of blues. Remove the skin from the fillets. Dont worry about cutting the dark meat/blood line out. It doesn't matter much with the fish cakes



Poach the fillets. Place them in hot water for about 4 minutes. They really don't take much time at all.



Remove the fillets and allow them to cool...



At this point, the fish is very bland. I guess the hot water carries away a lot of the fats & oils in the fish that give it that strong flavor. Thats why earlier I said that it didnt matter much to bother cutting out the dark meat

Using a fork, or by hand, flake out the meat. At this point, you must remove as much water from the fish as you can. I grab the fish by the hand-full, and squeeze the water out. If you dont do this, you'll never be able to make the fish cakes stay together.

With the fish all drained, I added diced onions after flaking it out...



Add whatever seasonings you want at this point. Poaching the fish really strips down the strong flavor of the blue fish. At this point, you can really build it back up to whatever flavor profile you desire. Its REALLY versatile at this point. I keep it simple...










Now you have to add eggs. The protein in the egg yolks is an emulsifier. It is basically the "glue" that will hold the minced fish meat together, allowing you to form the fish cakes. The amount of egg you'll need will vary. I add enough egg to ensure the fish can stick together.






Now you just pan fry them. The meat is already cooked, so you basically are aiming to get a golden brown crisp on the outside. The bits of onion caramelize, giving little bursts of flavor.



The final result...




I never liked blue fish until trying this. I enjoy them with a carribbean-style scotch bonnet pepper sauce (super spicy). This is a versatile reciple...you can create any flavor profile you like.

[MetroMan]

I froze a batch of them as well.

[Cowpokey]

I froze a batch of them as well.

You must have been full! Those wouldn't have lasted in our house...they look delicious.

[chex]

This is like the cooking channel!

I grow scotch bonnets. They're super spicy. On the scolville scale (measures spiciness), scotch bonnets are UP there (150,000 - 300,000 compared to 6,000 in a jalapeno), but they have a very particular aroma, sweet rather than smoky (habaneros are more smoky).

Metroman, you are the man of much more than just the metro.