JohnnyArcher
Well-Known Member
These things are awesome and you only need to catch about 4 medium sized bluegills to make 2 good sized patties.
Start off by cleaning your fish. Don't worry about getting the bones out, just make sure you take off the heads, fins, guts and scales. Wrap each fish in aluminum foil and bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Once they're done, take them out of the foil. The meat should slide right off of the bone. Be sure to get all of the tiny bones out.
Fluff the steamed meat with a fork. The next step is to make the mixture cohesive with a binder and there are a couple of ways you can do this.
If you have any potatoes handy, boil one or two for about ten minutes. You're not aiming to cook them all the way through, you just want to soften them enough to shred them and have them cook the rest of the way when you fry it all up. Once they're boiled for ten minutes, shred them with a cheese grater. I like to leave the skins on, but it's totally optional.
If you don't have any potatoes, you can substitute bread crumbs or even Grape Nuts cereal (exactly what I used in the ones pictured). If you resort to the Grape nuts, just take about a half of a cup of them, mix with a half a cup of water, add some Italian seasoning and microwave it for a minute and a half or so to soften it up.
Now that you've got your potato shreds, bread crumbs or Grape Nuts mixture, mix it in with the flaked bluegill meat. Beat an egg and add that too. Season to taste, but I'm a fan of regular pre-mixed seafood seasoning, plenty of garlic and some salt/pepper. Shape some patties by first rolling a ball of the mixture into a ball and then pressing it flat. The mixture can still be a little sloppy at this point, so don't try to make them too big.
Cover the bottom of a frying pan with vegetable oil and heat it up. Put your patties into the hot oil and cook for around 4-5 minutes on each side or until they are nice and golden brown. Take them out of the oil and drain on a paper towel.
I've tried them with ketchup, tartar sauce and even cocktail sauce but so far, they are the most delicious on their own.
Enjoy,
Johnny
Start off by cleaning your fish. Don't worry about getting the bones out, just make sure you take off the heads, fins, guts and scales. Wrap each fish in aluminum foil and bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Once they're done, take them out of the foil. The meat should slide right off of the bone. Be sure to get all of the tiny bones out.
Fluff the steamed meat with a fork. The next step is to make the mixture cohesive with a binder and there are a couple of ways you can do this.
If you have any potatoes handy, boil one or two for about ten minutes. You're not aiming to cook them all the way through, you just want to soften them enough to shred them and have them cook the rest of the way when you fry it all up. Once they're boiled for ten minutes, shred them with a cheese grater. I like to leave the skins on, but it's totally optional.
If you don't have any potatoes, you can substitute bread crumbs or even Grape Nuts cereal (exactly what I used in the ones pictured). If you resort to the Grape nuts, just take about a half of a cup of them, mix with a half a cup of water, add some Italian seasoning and microwave it for a minute and a half or so to soften it up.
Now that you've got your potato shreds, bread crumbs or Grape Nuts mixture, mix it in with the flaked bluegill meat. Beat an egg and add that too. Season to taste, but I'm a fan of regular pre-mixed seafood seasoning, plenty of garlic and some salt/pepper. Shape some patties by first rolling a ball of the mixture into a ball and then pressing it flat. The mixture can still be a little sloppy at this point, so don't try to make them too big.
Cover the bottom of a frying pan with vegetable oil and heat it up. Put your patties into the hot oil and cook for around 4-5 minutes on each side or until they are nice and golden brown. Take them out of the oil and drain on a paper towel.
I've tried them with ketchup, tartar sauce and even cocktail sauce but so far, they are the most delicious on their own.
Enjoy,
Johnny
