Bass in Black Pepper Sauce (the French is too hard to pronounce)

I bought a cookbook! It’s been years since I bought a real book! This features fish recipes from around the great lakes and I found one for bass. It’s sort of a steak recipe converted. Click SHOW MORE for info on the tackle, the fish, the lake, and the recipes.

- - -. INFO ON THE EQUIPMENT, FISH, LAKE, VIDEOGRAPHY, ETC. - - - - -

LURE: a 3/16 ounce, chartreuse Buzz King from Strike King Lure Co., and a NedLockZ jig head, 1/15 oz. in green pumpkin. On it is a 3 inch TRD HogZ in molting craw.

THE BOAT: is a Bass Hunter that I ordered from Bass Pro Shops about 12 years ago. They no longer sell it. Also, the Bass Hunter company seems to be out of business. Boats like it are still sold under the name Sun Dolphin. Do a Google search for “two man fishing boats.”

THE MOTOR: A Minn Kota, Endura 55. It has a short shaft for small boats, and has 55 LBS of thrust. It runs on a single 12v, deep cycle battery. This exact model has been discontinued.

THE LURE is an unknown brand of a 2 inch curly tail plastic jig in purple and silver flake. It is attached to an unknown brand of 1/16 ounce jig head in silver.

THE BAITCASTING REEL is a Shimano Calcutta 50B, from 2004. This model is no longer made.

THE BAITCASTING LINE is Firewire Stealth Braid in moss green, 15 pound test, 4 pound monofilament equivalent.

THE BAITCASTING ROD is a Shimano Compre, Model CPC68MC, 6’ 8” fast action, medium power. Suggested lure weight ⅛ to ¼ ounce. Suggested line weight 6 - 12 pound test. Purchased April 2017.

THE LAKE is called Lake Ketchabigwon (named by native Americans). It is almost 6 acres and is located in NE Ohio. It sits on 37 acres of property. The lake is private. It has a maximum depth of 12 feet.

FISH IN THE LAKE are largemouth bass, bluegill, white crappie, black crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish, and grass carp

WHY KEEP SMALL BASS AND RETURN LARGER BASS: We had biologists come out and do an electroshock survey of the lake. They found too many small, stunted bass. There is only so much biomass to go around, and there are too many mouths to feed. Their advice was to remove all bass under 12 inches, and to release the bigger ones. This rule is usually the opposite in large public lakes.

WHERE TO GET A CAP LIKE MINE: You can get a “Juanelo Bait & Tackle” baseball cap here, . In fact, you could put your own name on it!

VIDEOGRAPHY:
The principal camera is my iPhone 6s Plus on a tripod. I also use an iPhone 5s as a close-up, counter-top camera when cooking. It is mounted on a small tripod. I use a Rhode microphone indoors to help lessen the echo. The video is edited on my MacBook Pro using Final Cut Pro X.

BACKGROUND MUSIC is called “Just Like My Old Dad,” purchased from audioblocks.com

- - - - - - - - - - - RECIPES - - - - - - - - - - - -

LOW-CARB CREAMED SPINACH

3 Tablespoons butter
16 ounces of spinach leaves
1 box (8 oz.) of cream cheese
6 tablespoons of fresh grated Romano, parmesan or asiago cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put 3 tablespoons of butter in large skillet and melt it over medium-low heat. Add the spinach, and toss it in the melted butter.

Add the 8 oz. of cream cheese in two stages, 4 ounces at a time. After the first 8 ounces melts, add the second 4 ounces.

Stir in grated or shredded Romano, parmesan or asiago.

BASS IN BLACK PEPPER SAUCE, (a.k.a.BASS AU POIVRE)

Recipe from the book “Lake Fish: Modern Cooking with Freshwater Fish”
by Keane Amdahl (Author), May, 2017. NOTE: my recipe is for double the sauce.

Serves 2-4

1 to 1½ pounds of largemouth bass fillets
salt
2 TBS of olive oil
5 TBS butter
8 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped
fresh cracked pepper (1 TBS for sauce, and ½ teas. for fish)
2/3 cup cognac, bourbon, or whiskey
1 pint heavy cream (16 ounces)

Pat fish fillets dry and season with salt. Add olive oil and butter to a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Once butter has melted and become brownish, add in fillets and thyme and sear until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and finish cooking, about 1½ minutes. Remove from pan and season with fresh cracked pepper.

Remove skillet from heat and add in liquor. Carefully place pan back over the heat and let simmer until reduced by at least half. Stir in cream and freshly cracked pepper and continue to simmer until reduced to desired consistency, about 5 minutes. Either place the fish back in the pan and spoon over the sauce to coat before serving.

from
http://www.cooking-recipes.net/peppers/bass-in-black-pepper-sauce-the-french-is-too-hard-to-pronounce/