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Fish Tacos

Fish Recipes

Canned Pike

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp oil (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Put fish in pint jars.

Put ingredients on top of fish.

Process at 11 pounds for 100 minutes.

Note: You can debone fish and clean all 'red' meat off fillets, however bones may be left in since they will become soft under canning pressure.


Pike Dip

Dip Recipe 1

  • 1 pint canned boneless pike
  • 1 (8 oz) pack of cream cheese
  • 1 tsp of liquid smoke
  • 2 tbsp prepared horseradish
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

Squeeze as much water out of the fish as possible.

Throw everything into a kitchen aid mixer and let it mix at low speed for a few minutes.

Serve cold with multi-grain crackers or something similar.

Dip Recipe 2

  • Pike fillets (~1-2 pounds)
  • Chicken stock
  • Green onion
  • Black olives
  • Green peper
  • Green olives with pimentos
  • Mayonaise
  • Creole and Old Bay
  • Cheddar cheese

Boil pike fillets in chicken stock until cooked and easily flakes apart (save a little of the chicken stock for later).

Let fillets cool in the fridge for a bit.

Meanwhile, finely chop up the green onion, black olives, green pepper, and green olives with pimentos.

Take cooked fillets out of fridge and shred apart, remove any remaining bones.

Add shredded pike meat to the finely chopped veggies and add just enough mayonnaise/miracle whip to coat all of the fish (you can add a little bit of the chicken stock to thin out the mayo).

Add some finely shredded cheddar cheese and the seasoning.

Mix together well and put in fridge (best if it sits overnight).

Serve with crackers.


Grilled Fish Taco

  • 4 fish fillets (walleye, pike, perch, or catfish)
  • White corn tortillas

Marinade

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp chili pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic salt

Pico de Gallo

  • 1 cup chopped red cabbage
  • 2 roma tomatoes diced
  • ½ cup red onion diced
  • 1 tbsp cilantro
  • 1 tsp lime juice

Lime Sauce

  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup mayo
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Siracha or other hot sauce

Combine olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, chili pepper and garlic salt. Marinate the fillets in this mixture for at least 30 minutes, up to 8 hours.

Remove fillets from marinade and place in foil ensuring they’re still evenly coated with the marinade. Seal foil packets so they can be flipped on the grill.

Grill for 10 minutes, flipping half-way through on medium high heat or until fish is white and flaky.

Meanwhile, dice tomatoes, cabbage, red onion and cilantro. Mix with lime juice to make a pico de gallo.

Combine sour cream, mayo, lime juice, garlic powder and hot sauce to make fish taco sauce.

Serve fish atop tortillas with pico and taco sauce.


Shrimp and Black Bean Soup with Pike

  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can whole tomatoes
  • 3 14.5 oz cans of reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
  • 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
  • 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pound peeled, deveined raw shrimp, about size 40 cut in two pieces
  • 1 pound baked pike
  • Vegetable cooking spray or butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Lemon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake pike on sprayed cookie pan, season with lemon pepper, cook till firm.

Spray large saucepan with cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot.

Add one tablespoon of butter sauté onions and garlic until tender, about five minutes.

Process onion mixture, tomatoes, and one can chicken broth until smooth; return to saucepan.

Add remaining 2 cans broth, black beans and herbs to saucepan; heat to boiling.

Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, adding shrimp and crumbled pike during last 5 minutes.

Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.


Pike Chowder

  • 2 cups diced northern pike sprinkled with seafood seasoning
  • 4 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 3-4 diced potatoes
  • 1 stick celery
  • Carrots
  • 1 can cream of celery soup
  • 1 can whole corn
  • 1 can evaporated milk

Cook potatoes, onion and carrots until done.

Add evaporated milk.

Add cream of celery soup.

Add fish.

Add whole corn (drained).

Simmer 20 minutes until fish is flaky, season to taste.


Poor Man's Lobster

  • 2 1/2 cups white wine
  • 1 small onion
  • 4 lemon slices
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp peppercorns
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • 1.5 pounds fish (3/4 inch thick)

Boil 4-5 minutes until fish turns snow white.

Serve with melted butter and fresh lemon wedge


Cedar Planked Pike

Soak a cedar plank for at least 1 hour or longer until the wood becomes saturated. Keep plank in water until ready for use.

Pike Fillets (Rub quantities should make enough for 2 decent size fillets), 2-3 fresh sprigs of rosemary

Rub:

  • 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Mix rub ingredients thoroughly.

Apply to fish.

Set aside.

Heat your grill to 350 degrees (better with charcoal than with gas but both work, you can also use your oven just be careful the wood plank will smoke).

Place rosemary on soaked plank on grill for 5 minutes prior to putting fish on it.

Place fish on plank overtop the rosemary and cook until tender.

Do not flip fish. Serve on plank.

Pickled


Simple Pickled Recipe (Modified from a Hank Shaw recipe)

(Ingredients - per pound of fish)

Brine: 1 cup kosher salt, 4 c. water

Pickling solution:

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp pickling seasoning
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Peel of 1 lemon
  • 1 medium red onion - thinly sliced

Pickled Fish Recipe

1/2 gallon of fish (de-bone, take the lateral line off, and remove all 'red' meat from fillets)

Cut fish into bite size chunks

4 cups water + 1 cup salt

Soak for 48 hours

Drain and rinse in cold water and cover with white vinegar for 24 hours, drain.

 

Brine

  • Onions
  • 2 tsp peppercorns
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4+ bay leaves
  • 5 whole cloves (more is better)
  • 1 tbsp All Spice whole

Combine and soak for 10 days.

Option – add a jalapeno to spice it up a bit.

For a double batch of fish, triple the brine.


Smoked Northern Pike

Brine:

  • 5 cups cold water
  • 1/4 cup canning/pickling salt
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp (or more) minced garlic

Steps:

Prepare fillets with skin off, ribs and peritoneum removed, and Y-bones in tact (help hold meat together when cooking).

Prepare brine, whisk until salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Tip - use a large stainless steel bowl.

Place thoroughly rinsed fillets in brine and submerse completely. Tip - place plate on top to keep meat under liquid surface.

Cover bowl with clear wrap and refrigerate two days.

Pick preferred smoking wood type. For light colored meats, I prefer fruit woods (i.e. cherry, chokecherry, apple). Feel free to mix flavors.

Place wood chips in box and rinse to dampen. Place wood chip box and water dish in smoker and preheat to 170F-180F. While smoker is preheating, grease meat racks with cooking spray or a wrapper from a stick of butter. Briefly rinse fillets and place on greased racks. Place a tray below racks to catch dripping water/brine.

*After the smoker has started to produce smoke (not before!) place meat racks into smoker allowing enough spacing for proper circulation of smoke and heat. Cooking time is about three hours. If a fully loaded smoker, you may need to add a half hour + to your total cooking time.

Remove meat when done and allow to rest for a half hour or longer. I place the meat racks in the oven to rest as it is an insulated and sealed container.

Store fillets in vacuum seal bags and store properly.


Spicy Pike Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 1 lb deboned pike fillets
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Batter

  • ½ c buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp hot sauce
  • 1 cup flour

Sauce

  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Extras

  • Hamburger buns
  • Lettuce
  • Pickles
  • Spicy mayo (equal parts mayo, sour cream and hot sauce)

Instructions

Whip together buttermilk, eggs and hot sauce for wet batter.

Dredge fillets in flour, then batter, then back in flour, then fry until golden brown

Let fillets dry on a wire rack

Mix spices and then add ½ c of leftover frying oil to create a spicy sauce

Dip fried fillets in the sauce and place on buns with desired toppings


Parmesan Crusted Walleye

Ingredients

  • 4 walleye (or other fish) fillets
  • 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbs Old Bay Seasoning
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 C breadcrumbs
  • ¾ C parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooking spray

Sides

  • Green salad
  • Potatoes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine flour and Old Bay and set aside.

Beat eggs.

Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and salt and pepper and set aside.

Dip fillets in flour mixture, then egg, then bread crumb mixture.

Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Spray the top of the fillet switch cooking spray and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden.


Fish Cleaning and Cooking Tips


Transporting Fillets
in North Dakota



How to Clean
a Walleye for Transport



Cooking and Cleaning Walleye
(after transporting to home)



Removing Y Bones from
Northern Pike