I'm getting tired of buying expensive fish batters at the store. I've used a corn meal, salt & pepper combination before, but it doesn't have the tangy flavor that I'm looking for. Any favorite do it yourself recipes out there? I've been cooking sandies lately. Adam

Offered one of my favorite waiters at a great Chinese restaurant some frozen fresh caught cat today (He is Spanish) His reply was, "Great, I'll make some fantastic soup"
?????????????? Soup??????????

White corn meal, Flour, salt/pepper and mix in some Tony Sacherezs (SP?) for the spice you want. Wally Marshal's "Critter Fry" is really good also.

I HAVE USED THE UNCLE BUCKS MEAL AND WAS NOT IMPRESSED, THEN I PICKED UP SOME "LOUISIANA"
BRAND FISH FRY. IT WAS GREAT. I BOUGHT IT AT KROGER FOR $.99. I BELIEVE IT COMES IN A REGULAR WHICH HAS A LITTLE SPICE IN IT AND A "HOT" WHICH WOULD OBVIOUSLY HAVE MORE.

Adam, depends on how you want to fry it. If you like the corn meal type of fry, then that's about as good as your gonna get. However, if you batter it like a chicken fry then it'll be different. Take the fillet, put salt, pepper and garlic powder on it (amounts depend on taste). Then roll the fillet in flour, then dip it in an egg/milk combo, then back into the flour. All you have to do then is fry it in a pot or pan. Remove when they float. This will be and look more like the "Long John Silver's" type of fried fish. I like this a lot better than the corn meal type of fry. This will put a good batter on the fish.

Let us know, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it . . . mmmmmmmm!!!

cgstrange

salt,self-rising cornmeal and flour,garlic salt,black pepper,LAWRY'S HOY & SPICY SEASONING SALT.

The season salt gives the kick that your looking for.

Keep Reel'n
Vance

For what it's worth, Crappie World magazine has
fish recipes in every issue. Not just fish batter for
frying, but also recipes for baking, broiling, grilling,
etc. You might check that out. Of course, you get
lots of articles on how to catch crappie also.

Actually, there are two ways that I have always fried my fish and have converted many non-fish lovers. First, I never use milk or egg. Sprinkle fillets with lemon pepper. That'll bring the moisture out of the fish and will negate the need for egg/milk. Mix corn meal, salt, pepper, Tony Cachere's, a little flour and a little more lemon pepper and you'll get the tang you're looking for.
Another way I learned from the rigs off the coast it so scrap my method above and coat the fillets in French's mustard then in the dry mix and fry. It's unbelievably tangy and crispy!
Good luck and let me know how it works out.

Last weekend I got the grilling idea from my northern brother and did the following. Put aluminum foil on my gas grill, poked some holes in it, threw in a handful of hickory chips from the store on the side opposite the foil, and heated up the grill pretty hot. I (will lighltly next time) sprinkled Tony Chacheres Cajun spice on the filets, basted some olive oil on the foil on the grill and put the filets on for about 6 min. Right before I put the filets on, I turned down the flame on the side with the foil so most of the heat would be indirect from the other side. The grilled sandies had a subtle smokey flavor, and were very moist. It worked so well, I'm going to try it again soon.

I am not sure this is cheaper then what you are using but here is the way I do it for crappie. It works for sandbass but for some reason it allows the red stripe taste to come through. If you are using sandies I recommend removing most of the red meat.

Take a box of saltine crackers and run them through a food processor until they are well crushed. Using Miller Lite (1) make a beer batter mix starting with a full can of beer in a mixing bowl, add a tablespoon of black pepper, you can add a teaspoon of red pepper or Tabasco if want a little spice, (2) then add flour until you get to the consistency you want. I like it so it just barely runs off the fillets when they are held up. Soak the fillets in the batter 10-20 minutes, making sure they stay cold. Remove the fillets and roll them in the cracker crumbs then drop them in 375 degree oil. I use a thermometer to maintain as close to 375 as I can. It makes real crunchy fillets.

After I have fried the fish I make jalapeno hushpuppies in the same oil. It gives them a great taste.

(1) I don't know why but Miller Lite tastes better in this than any other beer I have tried and I have tried many. Budweiser makes it taste awful as does the dark beer I drink these days. The Antler Lite from Big Bucks works good, too. Not bad drinking, either.

(2) No salt the first time you try it. The salt from the saltines is enough for me.