That post bluegill leftovers? got me thinking. Why don’t we get a list going and share the recipies. There is already a good number listed there. Can we add to that here?
Michael,
Mine is almost too simple to post, but here is our favorite:
- Pat fillets dry with paper towel
- 1 cup flour seasoned with salt & pepper…dust with this
- Dip into a couple beaten eggs
- Coat with very finely crushed Keebler Club Cracker crumbs…NO substitutes!!!..This is the KEY ingredient!
- Fry in 375 degree veg oil until they float.
- eat until you burst.
It’s a real simple recipe, but those Keebler Clubs (green box) beat the heck outta saltines, bread crumbs, etc. TRY it.
Mike
My all-time favorite way to go is just a slow sautee in a little butter with a bit of salt, pepper and a little lemon.
#2 would be to boil the fillets in a pot of water with a packet of seafood boil and then dip then in butter laced with a little dill.
I just throw em in a little fish fry batter (Louisiana Fish Fry is my favorite) kicked up with some Tony C’s cajun spice and pan fry 'em.
The wife and I do not eat much fried food anymore and the way we prepare our bluegill fillets is to dip them in Dale’s Seasoning and throw them on a hot griddle. A couple minutes on each side and they are ready. Layer a plate with some rice and cover with fillets and “eat up”.
We have also tried boiling them in crab boil, as mentioned above, and they are great that way too!
Here is one I use quite a bit. Take two fillets, place on a plate, place a slice of cheese on each fillet. Stick in the Zapper & cook until done (about 45 seconds). Remove from Zapper and make into a sandwich. One quick lunch.
Tim
Put fish on a semi circle of parchment paper, add a little each of red onion, bell pepper,sliced garlic, fresh thyme or tarragon, olive oil, and white wine. Fold in half, and crimp the edges like a pie crust. Bake in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes. This is wonderful, in a fancy eatery it’s called ‘‘en papillote’’ and is very costly. Even with free fish.
fish tacos!!!
prepare fish any way y’all like. coat corn tortilla with olive oil and blister in hot frying pan or griddle. form into taco envelope, add fish, and Chipotle Pineapple Salsa.
Chipotle Pineapple Salsa
1 small fresh pineapple, trimmed, diced
1 sweet red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 1 fresh lime
1 teaspoon mashed canned chipotle chile, in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons adobo sauce from can of chipotle chiles
Combine pineapple, red pepper, cilatro, lime juice, chipotle and adobo sauce
in large bowl. For best results, refrigerate, covered, for a few hours or overnight.
Note:
Pineapple Dice
First, slice off the crown. Then rotate and cut a thin slice off the bottom. Stand
upright. Cut along the curve, about 1/4 inch in from “eyes”. Cut four side pieces,
leaving a core about 1 inch square. Cut each side into 1/4inch strips; turn and cut
across into small dice.
Love it - so where are you folks when we beg for recipes for What’s Cooking? DUH…where do you think the recipes come from?
Hugs anyway,
LF
No self-respecting catcher of trouts would want to hear about some bluegill fillets, miss Deanna. 
There’s no sense in wasting your time!
Zac
Also… Greenlantern, that sounds dang good!
I mentioned the salt water recipe on the “extra gills” thread. When I fry -(MOST OFTEN!) - wash; pat dry and put in a paper bag that contains flour, cornmeal, garlic/onion powder and salt; remove from bag and shake off exess; place in hot oil until GB&D and EAT!
years ago I cought about 5 gallons of small BGs. We lined the bottom of a 9x13 glass cake pan with bread crumbs topped with fillets, covered with canned spaghetti sauce and baked it. Then sprinkled with parmesan cheese. We called it a “poor mans piza”
Desertman
I’d like to take you up on that one but then I would never get to eat it again.
Fishin’ squirt,
Michael E.
I like to make “gill salad”
Clean and scale fish
Boil fish in some Old Bay seasoning
Rake all the meat off the bones with a fork
Mix with salad dressing, dill pickle relish, onion, celery, carrot, squeeze of lemon, then season to taste: I like to use alittle Tony Cachere’s
enjoy on your favorite snack crackers!
aa
Michael,
Go ahead…Fly fishers are “self healing”!! 
Mikey
The most important thing about preparing bluegills or any other fish is not in the cooking. They should be kept alive or directly on ice until you are ready to clean them and then put on ice or into the refrigerator right away. I have seen people throw their catch on the bottom of an aluminum boat for hours or leave them overnight before cleaning. The best way to fix those fish is to put them in a hole next to the rose bushes.
Alright then, now I just need to catch the fish… just wish I had the place and means to get there. (You can’t drive youself legally when you are 14 you know) I feel like “a fish out of water.”
Yes, pun intended.
Fishin’ squirt,
Michael E.
Michael,
I feel for you. While it’s been 49 years since I was 14, I remember hiking (or hitchhiking) a long way to get to good water. Problem for you young people is that the world today isn’t a place where you can do what we did. I’m just hoping you can always find someone down there to take you fishing. The Good Lord knows you could be in to far WORSE things!
Tight lines,
Mike