Last week I tried to steal a little of Luhr Jensen’s thunder by telling you about their simple smoking recipe and the glorious thing it turns under-appreciated fish like suckers into.
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| NAF Managing Editor Loves His Pike ... Pickled |
As promised, this week I’m sharing another such recipe that’s equally not mine: Pickled pike.
I stole it from an almost illegibly faded recipe scribbled on scrap of notebook paper stuck between the pages of a 40-year-old cookbook in my mother’s kitchen. Nobody in my family seems to know who created it or where it came from, but for as long as I can remember, it’s been there.
And until now, it’s been a family secret.
Sorry, Mom.
Here it is:
1. Fillet a couple 3- to 5-pound northern pike and cut the fillets into bite-size chunks.
2. Soak the fish 24 hours in a mixture of a half-gallon of water and 2 cups of canning salt.
3. Drain, then soak the fish in white vinegar for another 48 hours.
4. Drain and set aside.
5. Combine 3 cups of white vinegar, 3 cups of white sugar, and 3 cups of water in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil.
6. Add 20 bay leaves, 1 tsp. whole cloves, 1 tsp. basil leaves, ½ tsp powdered alum, and 1 tsp. pickling spice.
7. Simmer for five more minutes.
8. Remove the mixture from the heat, cool it to room temp and strain off most of the larger spices, especially the bay leaves.
9. Prepare canning jars.
10. Add a layer of sliced onion, then a layer of fish, and repeat until the jar is almost full. Then top it with a slice of lemon.
11. Add enough sauce to cover the fish, seal the jar, then refrigerate for four days.
After that, they’re ready. Crack open a cold one and grab a box of Ritz crackers….don’t worry about keeping track of the jar lid. You won’t be needing it.
Again, if you give the recipe a try, please let me know what you think!
Ryan