What's for dinner tonight?

[Kmartinson]

2 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

Made a sandwich from the leftover smallmouth bass from last night, along with a side of asparagus for lunch:

I like the bass if it's in cold water but often times the summer bass is mushy to me. I dont love crappy either. Do you batter and fry it?

[corydd7]

Made some corned beef in the slow cooker last night. I've never made it like that but boy was it good. My wife and dad were happy campers. 

I have the cooking day off today as a reward. Watching everyone cook meatballs, chicken cacciatorre, among other Italian dishes.  I'm suffering from a slight hangover so I can't wait to shove my face full of food later.

[wolc123]

39 minutes ago, Kmartinson said:

I like the bass if it's in cold water but often times the summer bass is mushy to me. I dont love crappy either. Do you batter and fry it?

No, bass isn’t a good fish to fry, because there is too much oil in them.  Maybe that’s the issue with your crappies also.  Fish oil is very good for you, and keeps the fillets moist through the healthier cooking processes like baking (that’s how my wife did these), broiling, or grilling.  I think bass is a lot better than fish with less oil it (perch, walleye, etc) when cooked that way.  
 

Summer bass taste the same as those from cool water, if you keep them alive and in tip top condition.  I wear out more livewell pumps, than I do fishing reels, in order to keep them that way.  
 

If you can feel the fillets twitching, after you remove them, you know they will taste good.  They get “mushy”, like you describe, if you let the fish die in a cooler.  You can get away with that with perch and walleye, but not bass.
 

I am only a half hour from the nearest boat launch, but if is real hot out, and I have a full livewell, I’ll throw a few blocks of ice in there for the drive home.  As soon as I get home, I put the garden hose in there, to give them some cool  aireated water.  Many times, I’ll have 15 bass to clean (if I take out a buddy and his kid), and that garden hose keeps the later ones as fresh as the first one that I fillet.  The harder it is for me to “catch” them, out of livewell, the better they taste.  They only get mushy, when they are floating belly up, before you fillet them.  

I didn’t loose a fish “early” last year. They all expired from a quick knock on the head by my shilalah (wood hammer handle), before I took of their meat quick with my fillet knife. 
 

A vacuum sealed is another key item to making them taste great out of the freezer.  I dry the fresh fillets with paper towels, then vacuum seal.  If you do that, they taste exactly the same, after a year in the freezer, than they do the day that they were caught.  

Edited March 13, 2022 by wolc123

[NYBowhunter]

Smoked chuck roast. 

[Chef]

Corned beef and cabbage




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[GreeneHunter]

4 minutes ago, Chef said:

Corned beef and cabbage




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Getting a Jump on St. Patty's Day ?

Edited March 14, 2022 by GreeneHunter

[Chef]

Getting a Jump on St. Patty's Day ?

Yea… I’m traveling Monday Tuesday! Going to meet up with [mention=5278]The_real_TCIII[/mention] at a work event

Then Thursday I have interview for a big promotion at work… so today was the only day


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[crappyice]

I’m in for early corn beef too. Wife is away to take care of her mom for the actual holiday so I was forced To eat this early!


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[GreeneHunter]

1 minute ago, Chef said:

Yea… I’m traveling Monday Tuesday! Going to meet up with @TCIII at a work even

Then Thursday I have interview for a big promotion at work… so today was the only day


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Ever use this instead of Mustard ?  I grew up with this , I'm from an Irish Household !

[WWJD_Hunter]

 

[Kmartinson]

Home made chilli relleno! Tomato oregano sauce! Fried onion blooms! Delicious.... thank you google.

[johnplav]

Simple… shrimp + salad 

[Paula]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:10 PM, Chef said:

Yea… I’m traveling Monday Tuesday! Going to meet up with [mention=5278]The_real_TCIII[/mention] at a work event

Then Thursday I have interview for a big promotion at work… so today was the only day


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Good Luck

[Paula]

Eggplant

[Unit8R]

On 3/13/2022 at 2:16 PM, wolc123 said:

No, bass isn’t a good fish to fry, because there is too much oil in them...

All great info thanks. I'm a panfish guy but will keep bass at around 13 inches in length... smaller seems firmer and tastier to me. Smaller fish have les mercury (always cut away belly fat) as well. I've heard the warm/cold water debate about bullheads but not bass but sure makes sense.

We are coming up on chain pickerel season, can't keep em off your lures. If you have the patience and know how to clean them the meat is spectacular.

[virgil]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:12 PM, GreeneHunter said:

Ever use this instead of Mustard ?  I grew up with this , I'm from an Irish Household !

my wife is from Ireland.  'Chef's Sauce' is a staple.

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, Unit8R said:

All great info thanks. I'm a panfish guy but will keep bass at around 13 inches in length... smaller seems firmer and tastier to me. Smaller fish have les mercury (always cut away belly fat) as well. I've heard the warm/cold water debate about bullheads but not bass but sure makes sense.

We are coming up on chain pickerel season, can't keep em off your lures. If you have the patience and know how to clean them the meat is spectacular.

Most of the bass we eat comes  from the Upper Niagara river, Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence river.  A big change in those places, the last 15 years or so, has been an increase in growth rate, as a result of the massive forage base provided by round gobies. 
 

That increased growth rate has resulted in tastier bass with firmer meat, because they are younger on average, at the same length, as they were prior to the arrival of the round gobies.  A 19 incher these days is still relatively young and tasty.  Prior to the gobies, I used to release most bass over 15”, but now I only release the ones over 20”, in these goby-infested waters.  
 

Sometimes, in the old days, it took a while to weed out the big ones, and get a nice limit of 12-15” eaters.  Now, I can usually get in and get out quick, keeping the first 5 bass that I catch.  I only released 1 over 20” last year.  
 

Reaching greater size at younger age also minimizes the mercury and other chemical meat contamination, which builds up as the fish get older. 

This is the 20-1/8 incher that got to go back last year:

[Nomad]

I’m sorry Fla. doesn’t do Italian food well . This was very bland , I’m spoiled as a guy on my crew was an excellent cook and his linguine and calm sauce was to die for . Very disappointed tonight .

use some bone stock, butter and lots of garlic people .

[Marion]

[Kmartinson]

Some grilled venison and potatoes. Just butter, salt and pepper tonight. Something green with a light Cesar dressing!

[NYBowhunter]

[corydd7]

Looks great NYbowhunter. Your helping me build my appetite, mine is done at 7pm

[Bionic]

Simmered for a good 5 or so hours, cirned beef is fork shreddable, the way we like it.  Made Rueben quesadilla’s with it, sauerkraut, shredded corned beef, swiss, and dressing inside.

[Marion]

Simmered for a good 5 or so hours, cirned beef is fork shreddable, the way we like it.  Made Rueben quesadilla’s with it, sauerkraut, shredded corned beef, swiss, and dressing inside.

Never would have thought to do that. Looks delicious. May have to give it a shot!

[Bionic]

13 hours ago, The Jerkman said:

15 hours ago, Bionic said:

Simmered for a good 5 or so hours, cirned beef is fork shreddable, the way we like it.  Made Rueben quesadilla’s with it, sauerkraut, shredded corned beef, swiss, and dressing inside.

Never would have thought to do that. Looks delicious. May have to give it a shot!

I forgot where we got this idea from.  We trim the slab of fat off, and simmer the corned beef until it can easily be shredded. We simmer it with Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and the spice packet too.  Swiss, then sauerkraut, then beef, more cheese, and thats the construction of it.  Dip in thousand island, or add it to the inside of the quesadilla!