WANTED: PICKERAL RECIPE

[County Boy]

Does anyone have a favorite pickeral recipe? I know that they are bony buggers, so any tips on making them tasty?

[ice fishNH]

My favorite recipe is to throw them back in the hole!    Actually I have never tried eating pickerel - caught plenty of them, but just toss them back in.

[County Boy]

My favorite recipe is to throw them back in the hole!    Actually I have never tried eating pickerel - caught plenty of them, but just toss them back in.

Thats usually the same with me but this time I figured I'd give it a whirl. It may be delicious but I'll never know until I try.

[Phoenix]

Scale, but do not eviscerate. Fillet leaving the skin on (remember to take off the rib cage). Lay the skin side down and cut across the fillet down to, but not through the skin. Do this every quarter inch or so. The bones dissolve in the hot oil and if you do it right you'll be eatin good in the neighborhood

[County Boy]

Thanks for the tip Pheonix, I'll give it a whirl!

[Fish Monger]

 
Throwing them back was going to be my response!!!!
Parboil them. It makes it easier to get the meat off the bone.

[icejunky]

Well, when all else fails. I always carry a small margarine container with frozen bacon grease and a bag of spiced up bread crumbs or crackers. (usually dill and salt an pepper). Makes for tasty eating right out on the ice if you have a coleman. works for just about anything

[Skiff]

Pickeral are like smaller versions of northern pike, so I don't see why the boneless method of filletting them wouldn't work, then use any of your favorite fish recipes.  Here is a link to the Pike forum where Grump is doing the de-boning to get rid of those Y-bones - great series of photos:
  http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=14855.0

[Sax_]

fillet them and throw in a meat grinder and make some patties  yummmy

[evanrose]

Definitely keep them for a good eating.  Filet like a perch and grind to a fine quality to also grind the bones.
Make fish cakes, gefilte fish, asian fish balls, and dumplings. 

#2-  If you like pickled fish, pickerel is excellent too. Look for the Pickled Pike recipes online and substitute the pike with pickerel. The bones disolve in the pickling process. I did it and it was outstanding.


Evan 

[rob-s]

scale them, then cut them every other bone/big ones every bone, into steaks, about 1/2 in thich. batter and fry. when eating pick up by the backbone
 put in mouth and peel/slide meat from bone . if cooked right there a tasty fish

[wolfpak3770]

Me and my crew fillet and grind'em. make fish patties. My buddy also pickles them. Pickeled pickeral on crackers, a good snack out on the ice.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Save all of the legal size Pickerel you catch, don't bother gutting, fileting or anything else and just bag them up and freeze them. Wait until a good hot week in July and dump the contents of what you have on a 4x8 sheet of plywood and leave it there for about a week. Take a shovel ( if you can get close enough ) and remove the Pickerel from the plywood and cut the plywood into serving size sections. Cook however you like and enjoy!!!!...... Not really guys... Pickerel are EXCELLENT eating fish and there are many ways to enjoy them. Besides the ones I have seen mentioned. We like to parboil the de-boned filets for about 8-10 min. in a saucepan with a Tbsp. of Sea salt then let stand until room temp. Drain, refrigerate overnight covered and then flake and fix it up just like you would Tuna fish. Makes excellent sandwiches, trust me......WK

[ICE LUNATIC]

I filet them and then run them through a meat grinder,usually twice to make sure all the bones are gone.Then i add pepper,bread crumbs,garlic and mix it all together,making fish burger's out of them.Cook up and then put on a hamburger roll and add some tarter or cocktail sauce!

[Mugz]

 

[Rangerclay]

fillet them and throw in a meat grinder and make some patties  yummmy

Yep that's what I do!  I don't even remove the Y bones if they are less that 20" long.  They grind right up too. 

Ranger

[cnyfishing]

I just fillet them like you would pike, fry them, add some tartar sauce, then eat 

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Don't know if any of you like pickled herring, but I have also pickled the filets ( from Pickerel ) and it's pretty good. The pickling process softens any of the "Y"  bones etc. so that you would never know they were there. WK.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Sorry, I forgot to mention, a good friend of mine whose family has owned a cottage on Lamoka lake in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of N.Y. told me this one. Scale the fish first and make sure you get all the scales so it's clean. Then filet the fish,and with a VERY sharp knife ( filet knife or whatever you choose ) score the filets cutting through the flesh down to the skin but not through the skin, keeping the cuts  very close together...1/8" or less. About every 3-4" or so, cut through the skin to form a serving size portion. Bread, Batter or do your favorite mix and deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. I have never tried this personally but he says they're great and you would never know they had the "Y" bones in them...WK

[Bob1958]

Talked to a chef who suggested putting the pickerel fillets, bones and all, into a blender instead of a meat grinder.  With a little coaxing (stop and start, push down with a spoon), I got it to turn into a paste, no sign of any bone.  Then, added chopped onion, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Dip patties or small pickerel balls into egg wash, dip in more breadcrumbs and fry.  You can add eggs in the mix, but it makes the cakes spongy.

I've eaten pickerel several times, and the meat is excellent.  It's white and mild, and if you have some patience, baking a large one and picking around the bones produces a great-eating fish.  I don't bother with any under 15 inches, but I keep everything longer than that.

[bart]

Pickerel Patties! I've gotta try it! Thanks for bringing this topic(Hardwater Cuisine) to my attention.

[ralwag]

 Check this out for pickling them. All you have to do is steak them, bones will dissolve in jars.
http://www.WNEP.com/Global/story.asp?s=1313747

[brewer]

Just cracked open a quart jar of pickled picks.  Hmmmmmmmmm goooooood.  I'll add a little more jalepeno next time.  Check for the pickled pike recipies in this forum and start there.

[digger953]

Talked to a chef who suggested putting the pickerel fillets, bones and all, into a blender instead of a meat grinder.  With a little coaxing (stop and start, push down with a spoon), I got it to turn into a paste, no sign of any bone.  Then, added chopped onion, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Dip patties or small pickerel balls into egg wash, dip in more breadcrumbs and fry.  You can add eggs in the mix, but it makes the cakes spongy.

I've eaten pickerel several times, and the meat is excellent.  It's white and mild, and if you have some patience, baking a large one and picking around the bones produces a great-eating fish.  I don't bother with any under 15 inches, but I keep everything longer than that.

a food processor works good to just gring the fillets p y bones gone add seasonr\ed bread crumbs 1 egg mix together and either bake broil or deep fry yum o