First you need to catch some fresh fish in this case 8 speckled perch (crappie) similar consistency to flounder, perch, other flakey white meat fishes also suitable:



Which you simply catch off the dock:



Once filleted, you get a mix ready: 1 cup cornbread mix (flour & cornmeal) + 2 tablespoons corn starch (makes them very crisp) salt & pepper the fish or if using the cornbread mix for hushpuppies as we do: salt/pepper the mix put fillets in the mix and make sure they’re dusted (no egg or anything else needed on the fillets). Cornstarch will do the work of crisping.

Oil: we use grape seed oil. Light & leaves no aftertaste at all. We want just the fish & coating.



Put enough oil in a pan to at least cover 1/2 width of fillets - set to fry at 400º when the fillets
go from clear to white 1/2 the width - flip and brown them on the other side.



When the last of your fillets are browned, mix up a quick hushpuppy batter: hushpuppies - take the leftover cornbread mix you’ve dusted the fish with, add 1/4 cup chopped onions and milk (or a mix of milk/beer) to make a thick batter that will form balls.
Drop these into the grease - same temperature and brown.



when you get them browned as shown - pull them out and put more in:



Until your whole batch of fish and puppies is done:



Add any extras you want - we have to have coleslaw at the minimum:



For the coleslaw: shred 2 cups cabbage (and 1/4 cup carrots if you want color):
add 3 tablespoons mayonnaise or enough to cover if making more coleslaw
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon sugar + 2 tablespoons watermelon rind pickle juice for the kick (or 1 teaspoon sweet relish if you can’t find rind pickle) - taste till you get it right

How grape seed oil cooks - coating is crisp, fish is cooked without saturation:



I'm one of the luckiest on earth - should have been dead at 26 in a Thrush crash nobody thought I'd survive and now get to do this everyday if I want to. Pretty fortunate.

Good luck with your fishing - from a 60 year old cabin on the lake.

Awesome stuff, the cooking info plus the life story. Thanks.

What's a Thrush Crash? BTW, got some great groceries there for sure.

-- thanks and you're welcome.
Thanks for that too - Thrush below:

Good looking food for sure. Glad you survived the crop duster crash.
Did you have an engine failure or catch a high line wire? I have a friend that used to do crop dusting and when he go to the end of a field he had dusted before, there was a brand new power line that was not there the year before. He lived, but said he lost his nerve to ever do it again.

I understand your friend completely. You never get over it - even if outwardly you do. In my case, lost power on takeoff with predicable results - you simply glide to the scene of the accident. Glad your friend made it too.

That looks very good! Glad you survived the accident. Awesome post!

Thanks for that - I'm glad to be here.

Great looking meal and lake house

Looks delicious! I will try cornstarch addition. You might want to try buttermilk in your hushpuppy mix next time - that is how we like it.

Looks good, the only thing I use is Louisiana fish mix (blue bag). Simple and a wife stealer!

-- Thanks Luke, I appreciate that. The house is really a cabin, was the former general store for this small area. 920 sq ft large.
Yep - there's a lot you can do off the basic recipe, buttermilk is great! You'll be pleased with the cornstarch - doesn't take much to crispy goodness - another trick is using a rack instead of paper towels (like I did for 40 years . . .)
I bet it is.

You are a blessed man.

Your recipe is spot on. I like using corn meal, flour, and corn starch as well. I’ve found in my fried-fish-related “research” that it is the best combo of dry mix. Do you coat your fillets in anything? I like making a combination of egg dipped fish and franks red hot wing sauce dipped fillets. My girlfriend is not too keen yet on the hot sauce soaked fillets but she is coming around. Do you use a binder or anything to cook your fish in your fry mix?

-- Thanks Bill, I certainly am and realize that. Give thanks to God every day.



We don't coat them anymore, simply found the fish in the mix alone allowed the cornmeal to fry and also sear that outside flesh (so the inside is moist). Agree on Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce - I use it to dip my fish too when I want a change.

Other thing we learned on the crispy is use a wire rack and let them drip. Happy eating!

Can’t beat a crappie fry

That is for sure - yours looks great!

Forgot to add - there's a video for the direction challenged . . . Doubt many will need it from all the previous, but if you do:

Awesome thread!

Thanks Banker - March . . . hard to believe I've been away that long. (made up for it today though)

Enjoyed the post, thanks

You're most welcome - happy eating!

No fries with mine, just coleslaw. and double order of crappie. what time ??

Beautiful post, and nice place to hang out.


`

Thanks Jim - we are very fortunate and realize it and both believe God led us here. Used to live in Hernando Beach, FL - arrived as a kid in 1962 when there were 2 houses (a house & lot on a canal: $4500) and saw it grow to 750,000+ in the immediate area with no signs of stopping. Taxes on 85 feet of water frontage grew over 3K and insurance to match with a bump up each year. The red tide taking the fishing away ended "the dream." So we started looking. Connie had been born in Alabama, and grew up crappie fishing as I had in Clermont fishing specs with my Granddad. Started looking up the best lakes for them - this one popped up - homes on the best lakes: this old cabin came up. Looked very similar to an old cabin my father had built for deer hunting. The place kept coming back in the search, no matter where I searched - so we decided to look at it. Came up here, and it's old, a little gnarly, but livable. There's old concrete pads around that we can't figure out, the realtor is late, so we had plenty of time to look at everything and think. We're sitting on a corner of a concrete pad and Connie suddenly said: "I want this" - and I can actually hear her because there's no traffic on the road at all. So we bought it. 1/2 acre on the water. We had no idea this was the original fishing camp for this area. The docks & piers have fallen into the water and are now fish attractors. It's a great place to test out my lure ideas - if you can't catch one here . . . time for another occupation. Taxes: on 480 feet of waterfront: $300 - Business license: $4 - a bag of salad mix we'd buy in FL for $4: $1.50 - on and on and on that way which made a lot of other things possible again (we can help others).

So I believe truly, God led us here to Lake Eufaula, Alabama.

Happy fishing to you.

Hernando Beach as it is now:

That’s the batter mix to use on speckled trout. Peanut oil and only peanut oil at 375. No other oil is as good. 400 gets close to burning the oil if you aren’t paying attention. Dip them in milk and roll in the batter. Don’t let the oil get much below 375 or they become a little greasy.

Frying a bunch tomorrow for fathers day.

We used to fry up trout too (in FL) and used that bagged mix on them. Sheepshead is good with that too (we had them under the dock daily).

I am so glad you do not post this stupid [censored] on TFF anymore. You have single handedly ruined this section.

I guess everyone can't be a crappie fan - but thank you for your comment and kind demeanor.

This a big my bad.... I saw he M and though mathgeek since he has ruined this with his BS. I even meant THF since he tried that [censored] over there. That looks legit and I apologize guys.

Don't worry about it at all. We're good and always were..

Looks fantastic!

What a prick