Junk fish, cooking and eating

[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.

[VSdreams]

Pan-fried Skate Wings with Capers
4 servings

Cut the wings off the skate soon after landing it and keep them cool as the flesh is very perishable. Rinse the wings off when you get them home and soak them for a couple hours in a mixture of water to cover them with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice added to it. Pat them dry and put them back in the fridge for a couple days to age. The aging supposedly improves the flavor of the flesh.


Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless skate wings
(about 1-1/2 pounds total)
1/2 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour for dredging
3 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sweet red peppers,
cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/3 cup drained capers
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1. Put the skate fillets in a dish large enough to hold them in one layer. Pour the milk over them and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Turn the fillets in the milk so they are coated on both sides.

2. Scatter the flour over a large dish. Lightly dredge the fillets on both sides in the flour.

3. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high setting. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the fillets. If it is necessary to do this in two batches, use the same oil. Sauté on one side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until golden brown, about 3 minutes more. When the fillets are done, transfer them to a warm platter or serving plate.

4. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and return it to the heat. Melt the butter and add the red peppers, shaking the pan frequently until the butter turns light brown. Add the capers, cook briefly, and add the shallots, vinegar, and parsley. Cook briefly then stir and pour the sauce over each fillet evenly. Serve immediately.

[seamonkey]

Here is a recipe for skate wings I just found -


Skate wings seared in blackened butter is a chef's special in many finer restaurants.

Removing wings from a skate (or ray) is fairly easy. The trick it to cut around the hard cartiage that runs down a skate's back, acting a lot like a topside shield, protecting the animal's internal organs.

Wearing gloves, use your thumb to feel for the topside shield. Thumb along the hard area from head to tail. You'll feel the shield widens about 1/2 way down to the tip of the tail. Knowing that hard zone allows for easy cleaning.

Skates can be a ***** to hold -- due to sliminess -- so getting a super good grip is essential -- and yet another trick to quickly cleaning one. Gloves are kinda indispensable. Also, you'll need a fiercely sharp fillet knife. Hopefully you've mastered sharpening a blade, including the essential leather stroping to reach razorish edging.

Placing a skate on a flat hard surface to clean is standard procedure. Give it a go to learn the fish's layout. Jam the blade in the wing just just past the gill plate. Cut toward the tail. Again, cut the wing off as close to the hard area as possible. The removed wing should have a slightly rounded shape where the cut wrapped around the area where the shield was widest.
I prefer holding the skate wing firmly in my left hand and carving off the wing with my knife hand (I'm a rightie), following the path of least resistance, i.e. along the shield. Hand-holding the skate this way actually allows the knife blade to more naturally follow the line of the back shield.

A little practice will allow the cleaning of a slew of skate. And you do need a few if you intend on filleting the removed wings. Perish the thought. You'll get twice the meat by simply skinning the wings and cooking them. Then, either fork off the meat as you eat or scrap off the meat and serve atop rice.

[captnemo]

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

[dogfish]

Eating skates, ok.
Dogfish, no thanks!

[paco33]

They found a way to cook lionfish, check out this article,

Chef Kerry Heffernan is nevertheless up to the task. The fish arrives whole but stripped of its nearly 20 toxic barbs. Heffernan knifes it up, dredges the plump, white fillets in Wondra flour (it has less gluten and produces a crispier coating) and sears them in grapeseed oil. The fish is then plated with wilted pea shoots, brown butter sauce and garlic scapes (the edible sprouts of immature garlic) and served to a room of judges: other chefs, media types, and officials from Food & Water Watch, an international nonprofit organization that works to improve the safety and quality of food and water.

http://www.nj.com/homegarden/index.s...e_species.html

[seamonkey]

How to cook cow nosed rays, found this on the internet


1) Cut the wings off the still flapping ray. There will be ALOT of blood.

2) Chill wings.

3) Fillet meat off center tendon, skin, and Cut into manageable chunks.

4) Soak in a light brine, in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Change brine if it appears bloody.

5) Soak in milk for ~8 hours. (optional)

6) Marinate in Italian Dressing, or your favorite ready made marinade.

7) Grill...until done.

8) Meat will not be fishy, and will have the consistency of Pork.

[jigfreak]

Thannks for that seamonkey. I got spooled a few days ago jigging peanut bunker on a bucktail. Maybe I will cut the wings off the next cownose I bring in, and do my part to rid the area of these bastids.

[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