Junk fish, cooking and eating

[SurfPlug]

Thanks for the tip about skate as that is definitely a lot easier. I don't suppose you have to bleed skate as you would dogfish? I was just thinking that skate likewise part of the shark family or maybe I have it wrong.

[vpass]

I ate Dogfish afew times, and thought it was good. I would eat them again. Anyone ever eat a Sea Robin. I'm sure they make good soup.

[DarkSkies]

A capt on a party boat long ago showed me how to take care of sea robins. He cuts off the head, guts it, and bakes the tail and body whole. Leave the skin on, just bake it as is.

If I ever get a big one, I'll take it home and eat it.

Sauteed and baked with spices, garlic, Italian dressing, baked on a tray at about 350 degrees. I would usually only cook a large one.

I ain't ashamed to say I've eaten them, and thank the party boat Capt for turning me on to them.

With the way fisheries management laws are going, in the future they might be the catch of the day!

[SurfPlug]

A capt on a party boat long ago showed me how to take care of sea robins. He cuts off the head, guts it, and bakes the tail and body whole. Leave the skin on, just bake it as is.

If I ever get a big one, I'll take it home and eat it.

Sauteed and baked with spices, garlic, Italian dressing, baked on a tray at about 350 degrees. I would usually only cook a large one.

I ain't ashamed to say I've eaten them, and thank the party boat Capt for turning me on to them.

With the way fisheries management laws are going, in the future they might be the catch of the day!

Does it really taste like chicken as I have heard?

[hookset]

That's what I heard too. I never brought any home. I thought it would be too much work. I'll have to them a try.

[DarkSkies]

Does it really taste like chicken as I have heard?

SurfPlug... to me, sea robin tails don't taste like chicken. They taste a little like sea bass, maybe a little stronger. It also depends on how you cook them.

[porgy75]

Did anyone ever eat windowpanes, the very skinny flounder you catch in the fall? I never tried them, it looks like there would not be enough meat there.

[SurfPlug]

Did anyone ever eat windowpanes, the very skinny flounder you catch in the fall? I never tried them, it looks like there would not be enough meat there.

I had always thought that window panes or sundials had little meat. They don't get thick like fluke or winter flounder.

[captnemo]

Mike O, this post is for you. Hope it works.

[dogfish]

Eating skates, ok.
Dogfish, no thanks!

[dogfish]

Found some ray recipes.
Andrew Zimmern was eating sting ray tacos on the show the other night.


Living on a boat, we depend on fish for our daily nutrition. Lately, all I've been catching is ray, which we love. Surprisingly, none of our cruising friends accept our gift of ray, though they have no problem accepting Mahi mahi or tuna. "Not a good fish," they say... I say they need to know how to prepare it.
I grew up eating ray on fridays... it's a French thing, I suppose. Usually, my mom would poach a big piece of ray, skin, bone and all. Then, she would peel the skin off and take the bone out, reserving the meat on a hot platter placed on top of a pan filled with steaming water. Meanwhile, she would prepare a sauce of blackened butter and capers. Throw a big stick of butter in a pan, heat it until it turns black and add some capers. Pour the sauce on the fish. Finally, pour 2 tblsp of vinegar in the hot pan and deglaze the juices at high heat, pour on top of the fish. Marvelous, but a bit unhealthy to my taste, although we did prepare it this way 2 days ago, without blackening the butter.
On the BBQ? Yes, it's possible. I marinated a portion in oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, and rum for 2 hours, then threw the piece on the grill and grilled slowly. Did I not cook it enough? Although the taste was very fine, the texture was a bit chewy, so not my favorite.
I've added a few recipes below. Basically, the idea is to thin out the fish into 3mm thick slabs, then cook them at any sauce you like. I find that ray is better over-cooked than under-cooked due to the highly gelatinous structure of the meat. Have fun and experiment!

Worried? What? Me?

General Directions

1 - Catch yourself a ray! Watch out for the stinger! Immobilize the ray and chop off the tail. Since only the wings are comestible, slice off the wings and throw away the spine. Rub the goop off the skin with coarse salt, rinse and refrigerate for 6 hours at least. I find that it's easier to handle the fish when cold. But it's not absolutely necessary.

2 - Skin the wings - Take one portion of a wing (I made 8 portions with the ray in the photo above) and skin it. Insert a sharp filleting knife under the skin and peel it off.

3 - Debone the fish - With a sharp filleting knife, separate the flesh from the bone. You will end up with 2 wings and some flesh from the back, more or less depending on the location of your portion.

4 - Prepare the meat - If the portion is thick, thin it out by slicing off a 3 mm thickness. Remove the shiny-white nerves. Cut into portions. Some pieces will be larger than others. You may not have to cut into small pieces, depending on the recipe you choose.

RECIPES

1 - Ray winglets

1 - RAY WINGLETS (Appetizer) Season the strips of ray with salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Dredge in flour. Heat up oil in a pan and saute the ray fingers for 1 minute. Serve with lime.

2 - Ray rounds

2 - RAY ROUNDS (Entree) Out of the wings, fashion some rounded shapes. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic. Lightly dredge in flour. Saute in hot oil (healthier than garlic/butter) for 2 minutes on each side. Drain and pat dry in paper towel. Serve with spicy red bean puree.

3 - Ray tacos

3 - RAY TACOS (Entree) Season strips of ray with taco seasoning. Saute quickly in 1 tbsp of hot oil. Prepare all the fixings for tacos as you prefer. Here: cabbage, tomato, cheese, mild red salsa and hot green salsa. Serve with warm tortillas.

4 - PESTO-CRUSTED WINGS (Entree) Slather 2 wings with good quality pesto paste (or make your own: basil, garlic, pinons and olive oil blended together). Heat up a pan, spray PAM non-stick spray at the bottom of the pan. Sear the wings 30 seconds on each side. Reduce the heat, cover and cook another 2 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Serve with pasta.

5 - TAHITIAN PAPILLOTTE (Entree) In heavy aluminum foil, place a portion of ray (skin, and bones OK) - Add the following:
- 1 thumb of ginger, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 Roma tomato, sliced
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rum
Heat up the oven (or BBQ) on high. Place the papillotte on a pan and bake for 15 minutes on high. Lower the temperature on low and cook another 10 minutes or until done, depending on the thickness of the fish. Serve with jasmine rice.

Let me know how this turns out for you!

http://ninisrecipe.blogspot.com/2013...s-recipes.html