Three Easy Fried Cisco Recipes

Cisco are a popular Utah fish, caught only at Bear Lake for a short period of time. Although these fish are not known for having a lot of meat, they are fun to cook and easy to eat. The meat is typically very high in fat content -- to the point that you can almost squeeze the oil out. Cisco is a soft-boned fish and when you deep fry them, the meat is easily removed from the bone.

Although some people will drop the fish straight into the fry oil right after catching hem, provided is a recipe for an easy batter mix.

Clean & Skin the fish as you typically would any other fish

Cut off head and tail

Prepare the Batter mix with the following ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup flour
A shot of Tabasco sauce, chili powder, or black pepper

Combine amounts until you reach consistency of pancake batter. Place fish in batter mix and flip it to cover both sides well.

With oil at 375 F, lay fish in deep skillet or shallow fry pot and cook until crust is golden brown.

Serve warm with lemon or lime juice.

Tip: If you want to store skinned Cisco for later, toss about a dozen in a milk jug.

Fill with water and freeze. Keep in mind that these can spoil quickly due to the high oil content.

Perkins Recipe

You cut behind the gills and over the back to the other gill. Imagine the cut to look like putting a horse shoe behind the gill to resemble the cut. With a pair of plyers pull the dorsal fin off and then grab where you made the cut while holding the head on the cutting board and peal the skin off toward the tail. The motion resembles taking off your socks. Then cut off the tail and head. Insert the knife tip where the head was with the blade toward the belly and cut it open. You can use your thumb to remove the entrails. Rinse in cold water and lay aside.

Son Chef soaked the thirty little fishes in a can of condensed milk and two cups regular cow. Using my wife’s new “Bullet Grinder” (warning: ask permission before turning the smoothie machine into a cracker grinder) He ground up a tube of Ritz Cracker and a cup of garlic croutons. A skillet he filled with enough oil that the fish could float and heated the oil to 375 degrees. Cook them until brown and then flip them.

Using a tablespoon of lemon juice, a couple gobs of mayo, use your color skills from the first grade and mix enough mustard and ketchup together until it is a light orange color. You now have Artic Circle’s secrete fry sauce.


Since it was Son Chef’s prepping and cooking choice he also prepared his favorite homemade Mac and Cheese.

Eating Cisco is a lot like fondue.  For smoking I use a lemon, brown sugar, garlic powder, and Kosher salt brine. I soak them for 8 hours and then give them a quick rinse. I load the smoker and leave it at 150 for 30 minutes. I then add a cup of dry Alder chips and run the heat up to 225 for thirty minutes.

Cisco Recipe #3
INGREDIENTS:
Approximately 1 Cup cornmeal
Approximatley 1 Cup flour
2 Tbp salt
Black Pepper to Taste (1/4- 1/2 tsp)
1 Cube butter
30 cisco fish

Directions:
Scale and gut your fish. Cisco are best when prepared fresh.

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients
Melt 1/4 of the butter in a large frying pan. Dip wet fish in flour mixture and put in hot butter. Add more butter as needed.

Cook on low heat until brown on outside and cooked through. You can eat bones, fins, and all, as they are small and tender from cooking.

Easy Smoked Meat Loaf

Recipe Provided by John Head of the Barbecue Cooking School-- http://www.bbqcookingschool.com/

This recipe is one I developed years ago and taught my son-in-law to make it as well. It makes a terrific entrée with fruit salad, veggies and mashed spuds as well as the ultimate hot or cold sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo. And it is incredibly easy to make.

Kroger’s (King Soopers and City Markets as well) all sell a 3-pound chub (plastic tube) of meat loaf mix that is ideal for this recipe. You can find it in the frozen meat section or ask the butcher. In fact, this meat loaf mix is nearly identical to what my mother used to make from scratch and was a real family favorite. If you don’t have any of those stores nearby, find a good, everyday meatloaf mix online and make 3 pounds of it, shaping it into a long, rounded loaf.

Smoke the meat at 225F for four hours using hickory or fruitwood such as apple, cherry, peach or whatever you like. (BIG TIP: The soft, raw meat loaf will try to fall through your cooking grid so make a narrow aluminum foil boat and place it under the meat loaf for the first 60-90 minutes. Once it sets up, you can remove the foil to allow for more even smoking and cooking.)

After four hours, slather the meat loaf with your favorite BBQ sauce and continue to cook for another hour. You may omit the sauce, but continue to cook the meat until the internal temperature is at least 165F.

Let it rest for 10 minutes and then slice into hamburger-size discs. Serve as an entrée with sauce and side dishes or on burger buns with the usual array of condiments. Enjoy.