In late May I wrote a story about a small Maryland fishing charter and its struggles and successes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While early on in the virus’ spread across the United States, I’ve since returned to Stevensville to go duck hunting with Capt. Brandon Moore and First Mate Stephanie Shields.
They’re still doing well and business has gotten better as more folks are wanting to fill their freezers with some extra meat as we all still weather this pandemic. And although their fishing season has been over for a while, they’ve had plenty of folks sign up for sea duck hunting. We weren’t as successful this year as last year, nor as successful as some of his other patrons, but it’s nice to see Moore and Shields are still finding success on the Chesapeake Bay.
But this story isn’t about ducks or that trip. Instead, I’d like to talk about how I utilized the striped bass we caught all those months ago and how it’s sustained me, my girlfriend and my family since.
The first vacuum-sealed bag of bass was used quickly, as I turned roughly 3 1/2 pounds of it into a fish fry for myself, my parents, my siblings and their significant others, my grandmothers and my girlfriend. It may sound like a little bit of fish for a large crowd, but the fish was so dense that small fillets were enough to finish off a robust dinner all of us pitched in for. There was one problem, though: I didn’t bring any type of coating for the fish! While I recommend not forgetting your flour or cornmeal, I brainstormed with my dad and girlfriend fast and came to the realization we had some extra Ritz crackers and bread. I quickly toasted bread crumbs in a cast-iron skillet, crushed the crackers into a semi-fine powder and set that aside after tossing in some salt, pepper and paprika. Two eggs in a bowl gave me a good wash to help the makeshift camp coating stick to the meat, and they quickly went into a super-hot cast-iron skillet with some canola oil. About three minutes on each side over the open fire was enough to cook the fish perfectly and give the crust a nice golden finish. It was a hit.
A few months later, my girlfriend, dog and I were on our way to a Getway Cabin near Lisbon, Ohio, with another pack of fish ready to cook. Determined to not forget my flour this time, I was going to do it justice and make it correctly.
But, once again, as I pulled out all of the ingredients I came to the irritating realization I had once again forgotten the flour.
Looking around to see what I had at my disposal, I saw a bag of Mr. Bee’s sour cream and onion potato chips.
“Am I really about to do this,” I thought? But, with no options other than the chips I really had no choice. Once again, I crushed up the chips, added some black pepper to the mix and set it aside. One egg wash and a rolling in the West Virginia chip mixture per fillet later, they were carefully set in a cast iron pan over the campfire and cooked to a crisp, golden brown.
This was surprisingly delicious and turned out to be a good way to overcome adversity and work with what you’re given. Would it be my first choice in a perfect situation? No, but now I had two great recipes to pull out at camp.
That was about four months ago. The final bag of bass sat in my freezer, calling to me at random intervals, but I didn’t know what to do with it and wanted a special time to cook it. That time came Monday night as I was figuring out what to cook for one of the first dinners in our new house.
Wanting to do something different with the fillets than an egg wash and flour coating, I thought a southwest dish would be a good way to finish it off. I grabbed my cornmeal, some whole milk, spices, hot sauce, oil and rice, and began putting everything together.
I first started my rice. I then mixed garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika and ground cayenne into the cornmeal and set it aside. Then, I poured the milk into a shallow bowl and added some hot sauce, then soaked the fish fillets in it for about two minutes. In the meantime, began heating my oil. Once the fish was done soaking, I pulled it out and let the extra milk drip off. Next, I tossed it in the cornmeal mixture and let the excess fall off before adding it to the hot oil for about three minutes per side. Once golden brown, I pulled the fillets out and let them rest on paper towels on a plate, finishing them with a little bit of salt and pepper for taste.
While the fish rested, I mixed the hot sauce with greek yogurt and a teaspoon of cold water. Once at the consistency I wanted, I set it aside. Once the fish and rice were plated, I spread a little bit of the yogurt sauce on top of the fillets and garnished them with fresh dill. It was a great way to finish the striper off.
If you have some fish left over from your summer and fall excursions and would like to use this recipe, I’ve listed it below. Enjoy!
SOUTHWEST STRIPED BASS WITH RICE AND HOT DILL YOGURT SAUCE
Ingredients:
Fish and rice
2 pounds of striped bass, filleted
3/4 cups of cornmeal
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tablespoon hot sauce
Canola oil for frying
1 package of Vigo yellow rice
Hot dill sauce
1 cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon hot sauce
Fresh dill sprigs
Instructions:
- Start your rice. Follow instructions on the package.
- Mix dry ingredients in a shallow dish, set aside.
- Mix hot sauce and milk in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
- Start heating canola oil in a deep pan or cast-iron skillet.
- Pat dry fish fillets, season with salt and pepper.
- Add fillets to milk and hot sauce mixture. Let soak for two minutes.
- Once done soaking, pull fish out and let excess milk drip off. Add fillets to cornmeal mixture, tossing until entirely coated. Let excess cornmeal fall off.
- Add coated fillets to hot oil. Fry on each side for three minutes or until golden brown.
- Once finished frying, set fish on a plate lined with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
- While the fish rests, make the sauce. Mix hot sauce and greek yogurt. Use more or less hot sauce for taste. Add a teaspoon of water and mix. If you want runnier sauce, add a teaspoon of water until your preferred consistency is met. Mix in fresh dill.
- Plate rice and fish. Spoon sauce over fillets. Garnish with more fresh dill. Enjoy!
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