Cooking the first catch?

[JeepMike]

Hey guys! I am hoping I start catching gamefish soon, and with the rumor being whiting should start showing up in a few weeks, I want to get my cooking stuff in order. I have an oven/stove but I hate it, and flat out won't use it. I do, however, as any self respecting man would have, a grill! Now I am only 24 and don't have a whole bunch of cooking experience lol, in fact, in college I survived on ramen noodles and conning girls into cooking for me! Haha. The big question...

Can I wrap cleaned fish or fillets in aluminum foil, then place that on the grill? If so, what are some things I could do with it (on the cheap) to make it taste really good! I am planning on going on an almost all fish diet in the coming months (cut down on food costs, plus it's just so much darn fun!)

I was thinking of something I could grill up quick, and serve to a buncha beer drinking buddies? Thanks everybody! Oh and if your in the neighborhood once I figure out how to cook, stop on by and I'll feed yah!!! :):)

[Jesse Lockowitz]

if ur gonna do the foil/grill thing..


put a couple thin slices of lemon, a little minced garlic(if u like garlic), and some butter, and a little beer, very good and fast/east.



Jesse

[Fishbreath]

Oh man, there's lots you can do with fish on a grill. If you catch a nice sized puppy drum, mmmm...good!

What I like to do with nice filets is season the fish with herbs and garlic, a little olive oil, salt and pepper, throw some sliced green and red peppers, some sliced sweet onion and then wrap it up in aluminum foil and place on the grill. A long rambling sentence but the food is worth it! You can also vary it and add a bacon slice on top or put some ginger spice...be creative!

Also, check out the RECIPES forum here...;)

[BubbaBlue]

Another suggestion.

If you're doing the fillets in foil, try smearing a fair amount of mayo on them first. Then add your favorite seasoning... Old Bay, JO, lemon pepper, cajun, whatever. Wrap in foil and cook.

The mayo goes away during cooking and adds to the flavor and moistness of the meat.
.

[roadkillal]

Here is my recipe site, so quick and easy my brother could cook it. It is a free web page on Yahoo so if more than 2 people click on it a day it becomes available. I can't stand them that is why I have stopped updating it.
http://www.geocities.com/roadkillal1959/great_outdoors.html

[narfpoit]

Another suggestion.

If you're doing the fillets in foil, try smearing a fair amount of mayo on them first. Then add your favorite seasoning... Old Bay, JO, lemon pepper, cajun, whatever. Wrap in foil and cook.

The mayo goes away during cooking and adds to the flavor and moistness of the meat.
.

This is where it is at. My dad did this one day last summer and I dont think I have cooked any fish since that didnt have some mayo on it. It works for chicken too. It just seems to bind your seasoning onto the meat and seals it to keep the meat from drying out. My favorite is to and garlic salt old bay and paprika to the mayo. you can also thin this mixture with some oil or melted butter so it spreads on your fish well.

[saltandsand]

Only thing I can suggest is to start to cook more fish than you can eat (assuming a decent catch.) Take them off the heat early and then chill them, use the ones that you reserve to make fish cakes. There are dozens of ways to make delicious fish cakes....and I like them as much as they are cooked for the first meal. Also consider fish chowders...absolutely scrumptious.

[sprtsracer]

All good suggestions! Wrap in foil with butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper; wrap in foil with olive oil, lemon, S&P and Old Bay; wrap in foil with butter, paparika, lemon, S&P; coat with mayo and add butter, herbs, S&P, etc; wrap in foil and add butter, cajun seasoning, butter and hot sauce; wrap in foil...etc, etc, etc. Just vary what you do to avoid monotony. Also, some of the firm fleshed fish lend themselves to being broiled directly on the grill. Just depends on what you catch. Heck, some people even put blues on the grill (waist of good bait in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat!) Also, like fishinmama said...check the recipe forum. Lots of good info there. Just have enough beer around so that if you screw something up, no one will know and they'll think it was one of the best meals they ever had!!!:D

[Openboat]

I had written this for Rob’s board and not used it, hope it helps.

We tend to season with Lemonpepper (not the salt free kind) and grill or broil everything thicker than a spot.

Btw, running a taste test by serving three or four types of fish at one time is a lot of fun. Start with the mildest (often the smallest) and end up with bluefish. The results have been surprising.

And here is another vote for the bluefish recipe Ginny put up. When we know that some at the table are not thrilled to have fish on the menu we often serve a few cooked with this old standby. The following was written for someone who was new at cooking fish.

Grilled/broiled fish for those who do not like fish.
(Good for bluefish and just about anything else).
(If serving bluefish, pre-soak the fillets in milk for about 1 hr, in a refrigerator.)

Best with fillets that are between ½ and 2 inches thick.
Thicker can be steaked (boneless) or sliced into two fillets.

Sauce:
1/3 Butter or margarine
1/3 cheap white wine (we like a jug Riesling)
1/3 Dijon mustard
liberal dose of Lemonpepper
Heat, mix, and have on hand for basting the fish.

Place fish on grill
• If fillets are thin, then do not plan to flip during grilling. If skin is still attached to a thin fillet, place the fish skin side down.
• If fillets are thick, then we prefer to flip them during grilling (when they appear to be ~2/3 done). So if the skin is still attached, the thick filets are placed skin side up, and after turning the skin side is down when the fish is done.
Baste with sauce
• After the fish is about 2/3 done, baste liberally with sauce.
• If more flavoring is desired, reapply after a few minutes.
• Allow the sauce to cook into the fish.
Removing cooked fish
• If skin is not attached, just lift off grill and serve.
• If skin is still attached, use a fork/spatula to go around the edges separating the skin from the meat. Then starting from the tail end of the fish, slide a spatula in between the skin and meat as you lift the fish from the grill.

Variations:
• Foil. Some people prefer to make a boat of foil on top of a grill when cooking fish. This can be helpful for thinner fillets.
o If this is done than the fillets are not turned and are cooked skin side down (with or without the skin).
o If skin is on the fillets, just before taking the fish off of the grill, holes are punched in the foil, causing a grease fire that is allowed to char the skin to the foil. Then the fish is lifted off of the skin as described above.

We cook our fish as above, just that we only use Lemonpepper.
And unlike most, we prefer our fish well cooked and flaky.
Have fun!