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Recipe for Silversides


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#21 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 24 June 2013 - 08:44 AM

This is no longer a game. Last week caught another 100 or so silversides, immersed them briefly in ice water, then prepared for eating as before. They were still very good! Head and abdominal contents did not offend once they got inside consumers mouth. Consumers were kids participating in one of our multi-day outreach events, instructors and chaperons. This shall be expanded upon with pickling next go around.

#22 mattknepley

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Posted 24 June 2013 - 08:52 AM

Reminds me of the "Crunchy Frog" chocolate, made by the Whizzo chocolate company.

Crunchy Frog is good, but Larks' Vomit is still the best...
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#23 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 24 June 2013 - 08:55 AM

I am serious about this.

#24 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 19 August 2013 - 12:33 PM

Below are how some of the critters we prepared looked. The included virile crayfish. white river crawfish, brook silversides and red fin shiners. Virile crayfish had superior mouth feel (not overly crunchy) while brook silversides had a mild flavor relative to the shiners. Earlier in the season the shiners noted as being more flavorful.

Dressed and washed.
http://gallery.nanfa.../130801_421.jpg

After breading and frying.
http://gallery.nanfa.../130801_422.jpg

#25 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 19 August 2013 - 12:40 PM

We need a picture of you with a fork and a chef's hat. Did you feel full or guilty?
:)

#26 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 19 August 2013 - 01:17 PM

I have picture but not with proper attire for HACCP kitchen so to stay out of legal trouble no picture will be shown. I did not consume enough to become full because of all the kids we fed them to. About 60 kids in all got to try them which required a little more than 5 lbs of critters in aggregate to prepare. There was no guilt, just a little apprehension in feeding whole fried fish to Americans. We Americans like to waste a lot by consuming fillets only.

#27 Guest_IsaacSzabo_*

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Posted 19 August 2013 - 11:31 PM

That's pretty neat. Are you eating the whole crayfish (including exoskeleton) or picking the meat out?

#28 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 20 August 2013 - 03:42 PM

Exoskeleton is consumed as well. Mouth feel for medium to small animals is similar to popcorn. Bigger animals are harder to relate to. We stress value of exoskeleton / chitin as a fiber source.

#29 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 20 August 2013 - 08:44 PM

Does chitin have "fiber" in it? I didn't know that. I'm not sure what fiber is, now that I think about it. Except that it is made of some kind of fibers?

#30 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 09:10 AM

Interesting. I never really thought about eating smaller crayfish. I've always just let them go and kept the big ones. Any advantage to soft-shelled ones?

#31 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 09:11 AM

Chitin is a polymer of sugar residues with a little nitrogen added. Bonds between those residues are very similar to those between glucose residues of cellulose (classic plant fiber). Such bonds are very difficult for most animals to break so the chitin and cellulose largely pass through the digestive tract chemically untouched. Organisms that do have ability to make use of the residues generally host a diverse community of microbes that break the fiber down. The fiber of both types and the many others associated with plants and bacteria cell walls can look like loosely intertwined strings or even sheets at the proper magnification.

#32 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 09:13 AM

The whole critter taste good. The soft-shelled and the way we prepared them you are eating more than 85% of the animal while the typical manner of consuming larger crayfish you actually make us of at most 25% of the live biomass harvested.

#33 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 23 August 2013 - 12:18 PM

This really interests me. I plan to can my own sardines. Might try various species, but big silver shiners held in cool clean water for a couple of days are what I plan to try first.

#34 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 11:03 AM

Some of my co-workers have been into canning buffalo and carps. Another did a fine job of pickling grass carp in wine vitae like done with herring and Y-bones were not removed. The bones softened up very well. I like the grass carp version better. I would really like to pickle mooneye or goldeye since they have bones like a herring.

#35 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 04:59 PM

Yeah it is weird. I will eat anything with flesh. Sorry you guys get attached!

Stay away from me. :l

#36 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 05:14 PM

Stay away from me. :l


Aww, don't be scared, as far as humans are concerned, that has been limited to my own fingernails. Now if we end up in Donner pass, stranded mid winter, the story may change. :biggrin: But really, I like trying new things. I cannot bring myself to try raccoon or opossum though.

Sorry to stray off topic Centrarchid, just could not help myself. I would love to hear about your coworkers canning techniques!

#37 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 06:04 PM

How about this:

Cleared and stained, and THEN eaten :-)

#38 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 06:12 PM

The whole critter taste good. The soft-shelled and the way we prepared them you are eating more than 85% of the animal while the typical manner of consuming larger crayfish you actually make us of at most 25% of the live biomass harvested.


This comment confuses me. What part is the 15% and what are you doing with it?

#39 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 26 August 2013 - 09:02 PM

The 15% is the discarded carapace, hepatopancrease, and grastric mill with a few small attached goodies.

#40 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 27 August 2013 - 07:07 PM

Ah, yes - we don't know what they are for, but those are the only parts of the animal we never eat.

Shades of Gary Larson.




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