Frying Crappie!

Like those big Fish Dinners?

You know, the kind that you see on TV. They have enticing commercials advertising onion rings, fries, catfish, and hush puppies for only $99 down $99 a month for the next twelve years! You know how inexpensive onions are. How about potatoes?Is it the batter or special oil they use that make each meal cost an arm and a leg? NO! They are just greedy. They could sell the same meal for $3.50 but instead they rob five or eight bucks out of you. How many hours did you work to make that money? YOu can spend that time having fun while fishing and get a meal two or three times that size for half the price AND still have left overs! You can't buy Crappie. You can catch plenty of Crappie.

Think that it's too much work to catch, clean, and cook some fish?
It isn't. If it were, it would still be worth it.

It is a bit hard to describe the cleaning process acurately and you can probaly find out somewhere else if you look, so I am going to focus on cooking a nice fried fish dinner WAY BETTER than ANYTHING you can get from a fast food or dine-in place. I like Crappie and this recipe fits it well, however you don't have to use Crappie, could use all kinds of fish, including Catfish.

Your Crappie fillets should be clean and in a bowl of clean water. You can also make this recipe with all kinds fish fillets you get at the store(But it isn't anywhere near as cheapor delicious!). In fact, one day my father caught a 8lb. Catfish and since we didn't want to clean it, we GAVE IT AWAY. The person we gave it to knew his fish. He said: "A fish like that will set you back $15 at the market!" and he was right(He was also afraid we wanted something in return for this awesome FREE fish!).

Start by getting a resealable plastic bag and put your batter in. This can be simply flour or cornmeal with a little pepper or whatever desired spices you would like the most. Put a Crappie fillet or two in the bag and close it up and shake well until the Crappie pieces are thouroughly coated.

Next, put the Crappie in some hot oil to fry it up. When they are golden brown you know they are ready. I enjoy an entirely fried meal, this way you can use the same skillet, oil, etc. and there is a bit less to clean up. If you are watching your fat intake you may want to substitute fried stuffs with other things you like, or you can pay a little extra and fry with one of the healthier oils such as Grapeseed Oil or you can use Canola Oil.

If you are frying your meal mostly or entirely, you can slice some onions and reuse your fish fry mix to make onion rings. You can also get some mushrooms and fry those the same way. Of course, you can't forget about the fries(Chips to you Brits!). If you do this you can get a very good(And usually expensive!) meal very cheaply, especially if you live close to a lake. If you want to save time and effort and have a few extra bucks, you can buy frozen onion rings or pre-battered mushrooms and other "fry-ables". This all goes well with a little Ketchup or Ranch Dressing.

BTW, it would be easier to go fishing too, if gasoline wasn't so freaking expensive. That makes it a lot more inconvienient to go to the lake, and for some it might even be cheaper to buy your fish. :-(
But The Crappie, ah... the Crappie.

Feel free to add your comments/recipes/tips.

Thank You for Reading!FissionMan