Example Article for Rifles and Recipes
Power Up The Grill— It’s Fish Tonight!
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Power Up the Grill— It’s Fish Tonight!
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
We’re in that schizoid time of year when one Friday to the next you don’t know if you’ll be simmering hot soup or roasting in the backyard. Like my last recipe post: When I wrote it up the temperatures were in the 50’s and snow was predicted above 6,000 feet. ‘Preheat the oven to 400F,’ I said. Should’ve added ‘An Airfryer will only take one to minutes longer’.
This week I may be dooming us to an Arctic Blast, but as I write it’s 90, has been for 3 days, and all I can think of is just how much air conditioning can I afford?
So, we’re turning on our other favorite heat blaster, the grill on the patio. And, while I know Canyon Ferry doesn’t have lots of pike, judging by all the big-lake-sized boats on the highway, fishermen will go anywhere to fish their favorite. Pike is one of mine. For one thing I’ve never seen a dead, gutted, out-of-the-water trout or walleye attack the hand that fillets it. It was several years ago at Ft. Peck Lake, as my husband, John, was about to grasp the fish and add it to our cooler of ice. John had to grab the knife in his right pocket with his left (off) hand, open the knife blade and force the pike jaws apart to free his hand. Each tooth drew blood, and John’s wrist and hand oozed blood for 2 days.
It’s just one reason I love eating pike!
Pike Kabobs with Peanut Barbecue Sauce
Serves 4
Pike flesh is firmer than a lot of other fish and makes kabobs possible. It's not like sticking a piece of red meat on the skewer, but if you thread the fish onto two parallel wooden skewers and handle the works with a bit of care, they have one advantage over red meat: it only takes about 4 minutes to cook a pike kabob. Just a bit more gentle, you can do this with walleye.
INGREDIENTS
juice of 1 lemon, about 1/4 cup
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1 pound pike chunks, 1 inch thick
COOKING
1. Combine the lemon juice, peanut butter and Worcestershire sauce in a saucepan or glass bowl and liquefy on stove or in the microwave, 10-15 seconds at a time. Add the sugar and curry powder, mix well and set aside.
2. The pike chunks can be taken from fillets or steaks, but they must be at least 1 inch thick. Cut into 2-inch lengths and thread 2 wooden skewers through the fish, with the skewers set at least 1/2 inch apart. (You don't even have to soak the skewers first: the fish will be cooked before the wood catches fire.)
3. Preheat a propane barbecue or start 4 dozen briquettes. Start cooking on the briquettes when they're white hot; turn the propane unit down to high once it’s preheated. Brush the sauce on the fish, top and bottom, before putting the kabobs on the grill, then cook, turning and basting twice, about 5 minutes total. The fish is done when you can easily flake off a piece and the flesh is opaque white rather than shiny. Serve with more sauce and your favorite cole slaw or green salad.
Eileen Clarke has written 2 freshwater fish cookbooks, both out of print. But she posts all kinds of recipes on her blog. Hate pesky ‘Y’ bones? Photos and text on that can be found in an April 5, 2022 post, page 5. https://www.riflesandrecipes.com/blog/
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Eileen Clarke
Image 1 Caption: Pike Kabobs
Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
