I couldn't get too excited when SO's daughter gave us this little "Champ" grill for Christmas, but I go with the flow and looked up some recipes on the net specifically designed for the thing.

I was impressed. I'd found a recipe for catfish fillets that only required an egg, a little honey, and some breadcrumbs. I'd asked the butcher for four SMALL catfish fillets, but he never asked me to look at them before purchase, and I found myself with four LARGE fillets. I squished them one at a time into the grill after spraying both sides with butter-flavored PAM. They were each done in two minutes.

We had SOME of those for dinner last night, along with coleslaw that the new girl at Alberton's deli counter made and some Hawaiian Bread bisquits. This coleslaw is fantastic, and at $2.00/lb., I couldn't have bought the cabbage, carrots, and mayonnaise to make it. I just had some more of the fish [nuked it for 40 seconds] AND the coleslaw. Life is good.

I'd recommend the Champ as a start on a new "grilling experience." It's small, damn easy to clean [I simply rubbed some wet paper towels over the surfaces after unplugging it, but before allowing it to cool], and I've seen it advertised on the net for $17.99. It can't do all the things that the bigger Foreman grills can do, but I don't get impressed by a cooking appliance very often.

I'll be eating more fish for dinner tonight as SO tackles the leftovers he brought home from Christmas dinner at his brother's, but I have about four more recipes to try on this little "Champ", and the fixins to make them. Try it. You just might like it.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001

Answers

Anita:

You actually eat catfish. Amazing; you probably also eat pets that stray into your yard. I remember, as a child, growing-up on the Ohio. Catfish lived in the raw sewage that cities dumped into the river. No civilized person ate them. I have catfish in the pond big enough to eat the pup [we don't allow him to swim ;o)]. I could never eat one because of my childhood memories. I have eaten rat; although I didn't know it until I had finished [clever Chinese]. Still, I couldn't eat catfish.

Have fun with your grill.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

Z: I heard all the stories about catfish being the scavengers of the water, etc. THEN, the cornfed catfish farms began. Since then, catfish have become my FAVORITE fish. There's NO greasy taste, because they DON'T scavenge, etc. They're not as cheap as they once were [due to that], but I LOVE them.

As a caveat, I would NOT be willing to skin them and go through all the trouble of turning them into fillets. I tried that once. Other types of fish can be scaled easily [well, I wouldn't call it easy, but I wouldn't have to have a pliars holding onto the skin while peeling, etc.]

Try the cornfed.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001.

Anita:

We stocked our pond with channel catfish, LM bass, bluegills and, something called, featherhead minnows about 20 y ago. I don't feed them but they seemed to have done well. [The conservation expert told us that the catfish wouldn't reproduce but I have evidence that he was wrong]. I have caught bass over 10 lbs, but I haven't fished since the mid 90's. Last week, before the pond froze, the pup and I were walking along the edge at about 5 am. It was pretty dark. This catfish surfaced. It looked like a cross between Nessie and a scene from Jaws. The thing was huge. Pup hid behind me and barked. Neither of us will swim there next year. We are at the top of the drainage and everything in the pond comes from our property. I still don't think that I will eat one of those feline fish.

I'll stick with Halibut.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

Z, just don't eat the contents of the gut. What difference does it make if they were bottom feeders as long as no heavy metals or pesticides are in the water? All you'd be eating would be muscle tissue anyway. You'd cook it, right? Bacteria from the water would die.

"Has it occurred to you that there's a certain inefficiency in constantly questioning me on things you've already made up your mind about?"

"It gives me a emotional security."

--Spock and Kirk

-- helen (forcing@trek.into.every.nook.and.cranny), December 28, 2001.

Helen:

This isn't meant to be a real discussion. I remember, as a kid, before we moved, fishing in the Ohio and pullling out these catfish that had oozing sores on their bodies. Nothing will erase that from my memory. I would eat them as a last resort. It appears that my last resort would be in the ton range. These things are huge. ;o)))

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

Z, ok, oozing sores, got it!

-- helen (no@trek.covers.that), December 28, 2001.

Anita,

I'm proud to know that you like your Foreman grill. We bought one of the larger ones a while back and at first, we loved it, too. But the el-cheepie non-stick finish soon began wearing out (and we never used anything but the "approved" and supplied utensils). It started cracking.

Within a few months the temperature of the lower half got WAY too hot and the top half was too cool, so the food scorched on one side. The cracks in the non-stick meant that stuff started sticking to the lower half with a vengance.

It became more and more of a pain to clean. We grilled up some smoked sausage the other night; I took one look at it afterwards and decided that I didn't want to go through the 30-minute cleanup ritual. It was hurled into the dumpster the next day.

My opinion is that it's a great idea, but Salton (not exactly known for top-of-the-line kitchenware) was the wrong company to build them.

We may get another one. But this time, we'll get a smaller one and be prepared to replace it within 6 months or so. They just don't last.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), December 28, 2001.

Anita,

Please ignore Z, he is a rude snob. A good fresh catfish is better than old oysters any day.

-- (seafood@connoisseur.), December 28, 2001.

Stephen: Your experience reminds me of one I had with another indoor grill. It was one of those "smokeless" numbers where one poured water in the base. We had one apartment with a hair-trigger smoke alarm and I couldn't broil steaks without having the kids stand at the smoke alarm waving dishrags at the thing. Anyway, I think we were already in this house when I decided to have Lucky over for a steak dinner. The woman LOVES steak. Before the meat was half-way done, the counter top started to smoke. I can't remember if I finished the steaks outside on the grill or in the oven broiler, but that indoor grill was put in the trash that night.

I'd read about the Foreman Grill losing the anti-stick coating. Maybe that's why just about everything has to be sprayed with PAM before grilling. I read all the horror stories about it I could find on the net BEFORE I ever plugged it in. Right now, I'm hoping that if I keep the food oiled enough, nothing will stick. We'll see how that works. Tonight, I'll be trying a Hawaiian steak recipe I found on the net. It will be my first stab at marination.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 29, 2001.

Anita:

I've never tried one of those. My 10 y old Jenn-Air has a grill module [lava rocks and everything]. Not as good as charcoal; which isn't as good as oak or hickory; but about the same as a propane fired grill [gawd how I miss cooking over hickory on me old franklin fireplace; it is in the barn; someday I will reinstall it and food will have taste again].

You eat catfish

Yuck; and I like grits.

Best Wishes,,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 29, 2001.

When I was little, the big boys (Jr. High) used to grab four-foot catfish that were spawning in the river and stick a lit cherry bomb down them. They blowed up real good!

Farm-raised catfish is good eating, but trout are better.

-- (Lurker22@Tree.Street), December 29, 2001.

catfish:

I don't keep or eat the catfish I catch in the bayou or anywhere down here. My little bayou wanders alongside the old Spindle Top field, where the whole oil bidness started in about 1898, so you can imagine what lurks in it's muddy bottom. Since I consider catfish as bio-accumulators, I don't eat them here. But I love good clean (no yellow fat) catfish filets from the big lakes in E. Texas, or farm raised.

I've been meaning to get one of the small Foreman grills, so I think I will with Anita's recommendation. I'll just remember to oil it first, thank you.

------------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 29, 2001.

I am amazed at the ignorance of some of you folks. It does not matter what an animals eats, the meat is composed of the same types of muscle and protein in all animals, even humans. Impurities are filtered through the body. If the type of food a creature eats determined the quality of the meat, there would be hundreds of types of meat we would not be able to eat.

-- (people are @ sooooo. ignorant), December 29, 2001.

Sorry, Charlie,

But some impurities do collect in tissue as are passed along the food chain. Pesticides (remember DDT) and heavy metals are still rampant down here in the waterways. It would be nice to eat oysters fresh on the shell again.

===========

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 29, 2001.

**I am amazed at the ignorance of some of you folks. It does not matter what an animals eats, the meat is composed of the same types of muscle and protein in all animals, even humans. Impurities are filtered through the body. If the type of food a creature eats determined the quality of the meat, there would be hundreds of types of meat we would not be able to eat**

Does this mean that you'd have no problem eating mercury laden or fish that have been swimming within 1 mile of nuclear plants? Afterall as you say, the impurities are filtered out.

-- (cin@cin.cin), December 29, 2001.

LOL. The discussion was about the fact that catfish eat decaying organic matter from the bottom, and somehow it has now turned into all kinds of toxic poisons! Let's get real here folks, no one in their right mind (including Anita) is going to eat something toxic. I think she was referring to a normal healthy fish.

-- (people are @ soooo. ignorant (again!)), December 29, 2001.

Well, golly gee, but I shore do feel ignernt (again!)

Funny thing, but 15 years ago, when I was an estuaries biologist for the Texas Water Commission, we took only “normal healthy” fish for tissue studies. You know, we found just all kinds of things in those buggers. But we were just ignorant, I guess; we should’ve looked for fish with three eyes or eleven toes.

My point was just that catfish are not bad to eat, but you might take an extra sniff at anything caught in suspicious waters, such as a bayou through a century-old oil field, or downstream from an outfall of a refinery (or foundry, or papermill, or pesticide-laden farmland, or municipal sewer treatment plant, or.......). If you live or fish in one of these areas, like I do, just use a little discretion where you collect your dinner. Or not.

---------------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 30, 2001.

LOL. I doubt that any fish can be sold in stores unless they are caught from reasonably safe waters, and I seriously doubt that Anita got her catfish from a toxic sewage basin. There may be a few desperate people who fish in sewage dumps for fish to eat, but for you and Z to imply that Anita is that desperate is somewhat rude.

-- (quit @ being. ignorant), December 30, 2001.

Well, we’re getting pretty far from the thread subject and I’m sincerely going to try to stop being ignorant. But first, a comment or two.

Once, I warned some people away, who were picking up “floaters” after a large fish kill on the Neches River. Guess what, they were commercial fishermen. Licensed to sell their “catch” in local markets. Blind trust is an endearing (if not enduring) trait.

I suspect that you live in a city. Even if not, you should have a district office of an environmental agency nearby. Go there sometime, and ask for a list of permitted wastewater outfalls and any “superfund” sites in your area. Unless you live in a VERY undeveloped area, you might be surprised to learn you probably eat, drink and bathe from someone’s “sewage dump”. You might even stop LOL for a moment.

As for Anita, we’re friends. Neither Z nor I would ever be rude enough to her to imply that she is desperate about anything. However, I do take exception whenever someone enters a discussion with a statement like, “I'm amazed at how stupid you folks are”.

Now, I promised to try to stop being ignorant, and I’m going to take the first step in that direction right now, and let you enlighten someone else for a while.

----------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 30, 2001.

Well it was Z who first insulted Anita, but you seem to be supporting his ignorant remarks. You seem to be implying that catfish are more toxic than other forms of food, but you don't have any proof. Cows eat grass that could be exposed to all kinds of pollutants as well. Almost any type of food could have foul materials in it. Just because you have warped ideas about catfish doesn't mean you should ruin something for Anita which she enjoys.

-- (your food @ is. no better), December 30, 2001.

Thanks for letting me know you liked it Anita, I'm going to get one. They are getting excellent reviews on Amazon.com.

Does the weight of the lid press down on the food, or does it have a clamp lock thingy?

-- Thanks (I'm down @ on. that), December 30, 2001.

Talking about eating rats, did anyone see the 1965 film "King Rat" with George Segal? Four out of four stars.

I caught a 13.8 pound salmon last weekend. Barbecued it on a Weber, smoked with hickory chips. Yummy.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 30, 2001.

Anita,

We oiled the thing thoroughly every time we used it. The non-stick just wore off because it wasn't very thick or well-attached -- about the same quality as you'd find on a $5 "non-stick" pan at Family Dollar stores.

The second problem, as I said, was that it started getting WAY too hot. I don't know if it has a thermostat, but if so, it obviously failed. The bottom scorched, causing the oil to carbonize onto the (scratched and chipped) non-stick finish.

We'll probably get another one -- one of the cheap ones -- with the understanding that it's a 6-9 month throwaway.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), December 30, 2001.

And to whom it may concern here:

I don't eat catfish, farm-raised, line-caught or otherwise. Not as long as there's snapper, and trout, and grouper, and orange roughy and all other sorts of good fish available. :)

Has nothing to do with toxicity. Has everything to do with taste.

One thing I miss here in Alabama is flounder. It was the fish of choice at NC seafood restaurants.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), December 30, 2001.

To Stephen's list, I would add sea bass, my favorite.

At least for trout, and possibly other species, if you buy the fish at a store, then legally it has to come from aquaculture. This is so enough fish will be left in the wild for sports fishermen.

-- Peter Errington (petere7@starpower.net), December 30, 2001.

Well, the Hawaiian steak was messier than the catfish. That soy sauce marinade DID stick. I was still able to clean the thing while it was still hot, using wet paper towels, but I had to use a little more steam. I won't use that plastic utensil to clean it. Thinking it might be like a leather chair, I rubbed some oil into it after cleaning. I dunno, Stephen. That Teflon coating looks pretty thick to me. Could it be that they improved it after multiple complaints? I guess I won't know for 6 or 9 months.

The weight of the lid presses down on the food. There is no clamp, nor is there a thermostat. One pre-heats it until the light goes off and then grills. Next test will be salmon patties. I'm not yet sure I want to do another marinated meal in it. I may need to find another chicken recipe to accommodate that. It may work better on food that has a light breading.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

Peter,

There's a place here in Birmingham called The Fish Market that offers grilled fresh snapper for about $10. It's as thick as a blamed steak and so tender and delicious that just thinking about it makes my mouth water. They have great sea bass, too. :)

Anita,

The thing that makes the light go off *is* the thermostat. Our light would go off, but the bottom would continue to heat.

Maybe you're right and they improved the non-stick coating. To be fair, now that I think about it, we bought ours when they first came out (a couple of years ago?). Maybe they're better now.

Like I said, I'm going to get another one. They're so blamed handy in the evenings when you get home from work and don't want to spend an hour cooking dinner. :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), December 30, 2001.

Anita,

I found some cleaning tips while I was looking for it. These might help:

http://www.messygourmet.com/gadgets/issue11.html

-- (I'm down @ on. that grill), December 30, 2001.

I gotta respond to the misinformation given by the person posting as "people are so ignorant".

While it is true that the digestive system acts as a filter, it has about as much intelligence as filtering rocks out of dirt by passing it through a screen. All a screen "knows" is whether an item fits through the size hole it provides, not whether it is a rock, a chunk of sod, or an earthworm. In the same way, our digestive system "filter" allows a lot of long-chain organic molecules and other molecules to pass through it, without really knowing whether they are beneficial or poisonous.

Next, "ignorant" makes the bad, bad mistake of identifying the part of an animal we eat as only the "muscle tissue". Wrong, wrong wrong!

The worst accumulator tissue for toxic substances is fat. It is loaded with fat-soluble organic compunds. We eat that fat right along with the muscle tissue. And a goodly amount of whatever toxics were in that fat get deposited in our fat. That is the curse of being at the top of the food chain.

The final point is that, prior to the advent of the petrochemical industry, there were relatively few toxic substances and they had been in our environment for as long as our species has existed, as long as our precursor species existed, as long as its precursor species existed, and so on. We evolved in their presence. Nowadays, we have invented at least 50,000 new organic compounds that never existed before or never existed in significant quantities.

"People are so gnorant" is just plain uninformed and is trying to spead his ignorance rather than correct it.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), December 30, 2001.

"I'm down on": THAT was one of the sites I reviewed before turning on the thing. I'm not so sure I like the mess of the marinated stuff, but I sure as hell enjoy the experience with the lightly breaded stuff. The bread crumbs left on the grill simply fall into the tray. I dunno whether I should cook something today or not. We have leftover meat from yesterday and SO has gone off to see his family. I think I'll save the salmon pattie experience for tomorrow.

Hmm. THAT's New Year's Eve, and SO thought we might invite some guests. We'll see.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

LN,

It seems that you are even dumber. Fish have very little fat, and it is all in the skin. The other poster is correct, it is not very likely that the catfish sold by Anita's butcher is any more toxic than beef or other types of meat.

-- (Ph.D.@in.Biology), December 30, 2001.

Dear "PhD in Biology",

You said: "The other poster is correct, it is not very likely that the catfish sold by Anita's butcher is any more toxic than beef or other types of meat."

There is only one thing wrong with this statement: the "other poster" could not have been correct in this matter, since the post I was responding to said nothing whatsoever about "the catfish sold by Anita's butcher". For that matter, neither did I.

The post I was responding to said: It does not matter what an animals eats, the meat is composed of the same types of muscle and protein in all animals, even humans. Impurities are filtered through the body.

As a PhD in Biology, would you care to comment on the truth of this statement, as a general statement about "animals" (which it was) rather than as a statement about "the catfish sold by Anita's butcher" (which it was not)?

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), December 30, 2001.

Folks:

I never mentioned toxicity when speaking of catfish. I just mentioned that my experience as a child made it impossible for me to consider eating catfish; no matter how clean. When it comes to fat LN is right. It is worse for Drum, Carp and other such fisn.

What speciality in biology is yours? My PhD is in Chemistry. Years of experience in biophysics followed by 20 y of experience in toxicology. I now do mostly molecular genetics. We still get involved in these toxicological problems, since I have responsibility for rDNA and biohazards for a large number of places.

Just Wondered.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

Show me a fish fillet with fat in it, and I'll show you an idiot. Fish and poultry meat is known for being exceptionally low in fat, the fat accumulates between the skin and the meat.

-- (get a brain @ knowitall. Z), December 30, 2001.

Sorry no it all:

What I quoted is exactly the reason that the decade ban on commerical use of catfish in the Missouri and Mississipi rivers was just cancelled. Levels of toxins in the fatty tissue in the meat has now dropped below levels considered dangerous to humans. Still children and pregnant women are advised against consuming it. You should really read up on this stuff. It is so much fun to argue with idiots. ;o)))

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

Nope, wrong again idiot. The level of toxins would have to go ABOVE dangerous levels in order to advise people against consuming it. It is a pleasure to expose bullshitters like you who claim you have all kinds of degrees when in fact you are just another ignorant blowhard. Your life is so pathetic that you have to inflate your ego on the internet because you think no one knows you are a chronic bullshitter. Believe me, we know.

Best Delusions,,,

-- LOL (Z lies out of @ his. ass), December 30, 2001.

Good one Z!!!

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

Someone say ‘catfish’? I’ve been an avid fisherman since 1944 and I would like to think I know a little about catchin’and eatin’ them critters. Currently, I spend many hours out in the Pacific Ocean and Tuna is my prime target. Fun to catch and damn good to eat. But one of my all-time favorites is freshly caught Texas channel cats.

At one time, I was a partner in a bass camp located on the Louisiana side of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. This man-made ‘lake’ is 70 miles long and has 1250 miles of shoreline and is considered one of the worlds finest ‘fishing holes’. Our set-up was about 14 miles south of Zwolle, LA and the cove in front of the house was always packed with some sweet channels. Just about every evening, I would rig up a trotline with 30-40 baited hooks and I would always find at least 4- 5 ‘keepers’ in the morning.

Not one hour out of the water, these cats would be cleaned and the sweet meat cubed and soaking in a dish with whole milk and honey. Whenever the urge to eat came upon us, I would fire up our crawfish fryer, roll the cubes around in Zatarain’s Crispy Seasoned Fish Fri, and drop them in for just a flash. Let um cool a little and then chow down with some mayo/lemon/butter dip.

As with all bottom feeders you need to know where they have been living.

-- So (cr@t.es), December 30, 2001.

Sounds delish Soc! Fire up the crawfish cooker for my next visit!

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

Socrates,

You shouldn't admit that you enjoy eating catfish, you can't possibly have gotten any that was fresh and healthy. Z, LN, and Lon Frank have made it very clear that all catfish meat is saturated with poisonous fat because they all come from places where they feed on heavy metals. If you were as smart as they are you would have known this. Now you have revealed to all on this forum that you are in the same class with Anita, just an uneducated lowlife. Be ashamed, VERY ashamed.

-- shame, shame (everyone knows @ your. name), December 30, 2001.

Aunt Bee,

You actually eat crawfish? Oh my God, I pity you.

-- (Z's colleague @ nuclear. physicist), December 30, 2001.

LOLOLOL, "nuclear physicist" indeed! TOOOOO funny!

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

This is not a laughing matter, Aunt Bee. Crawfish thrive exclusively on heavy metals. No matter where they live, even if they are raised on a special farm, they will find the heavy metals that come out of the soil. That is all they will eat, even if the farmers feed them other things. The reason I happen to know this is because I am a world-renowned nuclear physicist with a 185 IQ, and I happen to know that plutonium is one of the most common chemical metals abosrbed by crawfish. We could make deadly bombs out of crawfish. Crawfish are extremely toxic scavengers, and they look ugly too. Some people think it is funny to suck their heads. Little do they know that they will die about 20 years younger from eating all the radioactive toxins contained in those heads. Besides, eating crawfish is not socially acceptable amonger the educated upper class such as myself and my colleague Z. Those things are ugly and they live near the bottom. If you have a limited education in these matters, feel free to check with us first to find out if your choice of food is acceptable, we will enlighten you.

-- (Z's colleague @ nuclear. physicist), December 30, 2001.

Didn't the nuclear plant in Hanford (Washington?) release radiation that ended up in fallout on the grass downwind from there? The milk cows ate the grass, the kids in the area drank the milk, and the cancer rate went up?

Minimata disease was from eating mercury-laden fish?

And wasn't there a problem in Wisconsin (?) when feed contaminated with ... oh ... the bad stuff in electrial transformers (PCB's?) ... was fed to milk cows and pigs?

Isn't DDT found in trace amounts in human breastmilk?

-- helen (toxins@every.where), December 30, 2001.

Shame, shame…..

You should not lump Lon Frank into that un-holy trinity. He has taken a very common sense approach to eating ANYTHING from known contaminated areas. As for Fibber & Libber, well the entertainment never stops.

I recommend that you nuclear physicist’s who have chosen a life of radical emissions; go ahead … have some catfish…..you’re already cooked.

-- So (cr@t.es), December 31, 2001.

"Fibber and Libber"

LOL!

-- (heee heee heee @ haaw. haaw haaw!), December 31, 2001.

Z's Colleage,

ROFLMAO!!! Me thinks ya need to get back to the land and take yer head out of...

the books, that's it! LOL!!!!!

Uh, also, it would be good if you could find your tastebuds in there somewhere!!!!!

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), December 31, 2001.

Don't be ridiculous, Aunt Bee. Everyone knows that we aristocrats would never be caught dead eating catfish or crawfish. Everyone that is, who are highly educated and wealthy like my colleague Mr. Z and yours truly.

By-the-by... no matter really, we don't expect mere peasants like you and Anita to understand. ;0)))

Best Wishes,,,

-- Z's Colleague (Your @ Esteemed. Pompousness), December 31, 2001.

"Everyone that is, who are highly educated and wealthy..."

lol! You just showed us how highly educated you are!

And Anita... about that butter-flavored Pam... ; )

-- Pammy (pamela_sue57@hotmail.com), December 31, 2001.

Hey Socrates, thanks for the support. I frequent Zwolle ever once in a while, myself. Always meant to fish the crappie tournament over there. (for those of you already cringing, that's pronounced "crop-pee", and is an excellent perch-type pan fish.)

Anita, I'm going TODAY and buy one of the little grils. My wife is thinking again about the all-meat diet. I hate it, but it does work for us both, and I've got a little left-over holiday fat. The only trouble is it's left-over from Christmas, 1992!!!!!!!!!

-------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 31, 2001.

The only trouble is it's left-over from Christmas, 1992!!!!!!!!!

I hear ya! After I hit forty I packed on a few pounds and it's been hell trying to get rid of them. Even after biking, joggin, swimming (almost 9 hours a week) and weight training, I still have those extra pounds. I guess it's true what they say about getting old. :(

Anyway, I clicked on this thread after reading the title and seeing it had 50 responses. Who woulda thunk it; catfish and the people who eat them! Maybe Jerry Springer should do a show on this one.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), December 31, 2001.

Now them crawdads be an entirely different matter. Them be good. Big boil with fresh corn; nothing better. We even get them shipped in live now-a-days. Still nothing like fighting sqeeters in the swamps to enjoy them. ;o)))

Best Wishes,,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 31, 2001.

The newest Chinese restaurant in town serves crawdads. I don't think these are farm-raised. I suspect they're from the drainage ditch in town. The one that runs through the part of town where they still have septic tanks instead of sewer. The one that runs under the old broken sewer pipe that was supposed to carry sewage across it. I had to ask my grandma how to eat it. The whole bug was sitting on my plate, and I didn't know just how much of it I was supposed to eat and what I was supposed to leave behind. She said she wouldn't eat it, but she did show me how.

It would be a toss up whether I'd want to eat another crawdad from there or another chicken poop.

-- helen (at@least.poop.is.smoooooth), December 31, 2001.

Hey::

I have a wonderful recipe of gumbo that uses ground catfish guts and squirrel brains for protein.

From what you have said, I guess that you don't want to see this Cajun recipe. It will give you something to do with your peppers.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), December 31, 2001.

Z, that sounds scrumpty, but.................

Helen, the proper way to eat crawfish (and we NEVER call them crawdads):

-boil a bunch of water in a big pot, and put in about 10 pounds of dried cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, more salt , red pepper, any other kind of pepper you can lay your mits on, and a pinch of salt. This is called "crab boil" or "shrimp boil" or "crawfish boil" down here on the bayou, and is a treasured family recipe, kinda like fried turkey seasoning. (You can also buy it from Tony Chachere, if you're short on pepper). It is highly recommended that you do not breathe during this part of the preparation, and for crying out loud, do it all outside, or your whole house will smell like a burned-down Nawleens cat house.

-dump the little critters, screaming and pleading, into this boiling red ocean from hell, being carefull not to get your hands in the hot water as you hold their tiny heads under for a few minutes. Add some little ears of corn, and a whole bunch of little red potatoes. These take up the seasoning, and beat the hell out of the mudbugs for taste. But you still got to eat the crawfish anyway, just to be polite, so,

- when they float up, dip the lifeless steaming bodies out onto a large serving tray. Down here, we find that the bottom cartons from cases of beer work best, although it is sometimes hard to coordinate other serving peices, unless you got an old ice cream carton for table salt.

-serve your guests each a beer tray full of whole boiled crustaceans. They will then hold the head in one hand and the tail in the other, and pull it apart. Now is the time to suck the fatty deposits and liquor from the head. This will account for stars in your crown if you get to heaven and find that God is a Cajun.

-then, holding the tail in both hands, pull the underside apart, and grab the meat with your teeth, yanking it out of the shell. Experts know to pinch the tip of the tail with a thumbnail first to make it let go.

-then, the most important part----LICK YOUR FINGERS! Just why did you think you put all that spice in the pot in the first place? It all gets on your fingers, and then numbs your toungue while setting fire to what used to be your sinuses (I told you not to breathe the boil fumes). Now you know why we got so many of those empty beer boxes.

You know you did good, if your fingernails turn red for several days, and you can't really remember why. Oh yeah, don't touch your eyes or scratch any, uh, delicate place while all this is happening.

--------standing in at the bayou for Martha Stewart,

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 31, 2001.

AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaahhhhhh!!!!

just what I need as I get my appetite back~~ Descriptions of fantastic food I have no ability to get my hands on. How wude!!

And all I can do is waddle to the freezer for a frozen Marie Callanders TV dinner.

So I add a little crisp crumpled bacon (real) to the mashed potatoes and think of the days...

Whe I lived at Homestead, south of Miami and we would go to this place, it was on a barge just off of the road to the keys. They would have frest, live shrimp which they threw in the pot when you ordered and dumped on a platter for you to peel and eat. A bowl of garlicy clarified butter and I would steadaly eat until I was ready to burst.

Then there was Dirty Nellies, don't remember where but we headed North to Miami, could have been there or somewhere in between.

Sitting there with a huge bowl full of different kinds of crabs, with a bib and nut cracker and eat away to my hearts content. I ordered lobster once, it was during my first pregnancy and as I brought the first bite to my mouth my stomach recoiled! I couln't keep milk down and craved it so I woulf drink it and head for the bathroom, but LOBSTER??? I was extremely perturbed, looking at what I had an appetite for and unable to even place it in my mouth.

When I moved back to Seattle I brought some bumper stickers from that excellent restorant and put them on my car. Since we don't do crustations much around here there was no equilivent, for FRESH. The bumper sticker said "I got the crabs at Dirty Nellies". Driving from Florida in the early 1980's we stopped at a little town named Slyville, outside of New Orlines somewhere, just before the Marti graw. I had some kind of Gumbo, cannot remember the name but it was Heaven.

Speaking of Gumbo, I have a friend who's Mom came from Louisiana and she made the best gumbo...I had a bowl at lunch while working at Boeing and they guys made fun of how it looked and smelled and the fact that I ate most of it with my fingers. I just smiled and said it was their loss, they didn't know what they were missing.

I have patience, sure I ate a salsbury steak to take the edge off of my hunger, but I WILL soon enjoy some of that wunderfull food again, soon.

I am a world-renowned nuclear physicist with a 185 IQ

185? is that all??

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), December 31, 2001.

Cherri, ma sha,

our neighborhood is made up of old camp houses along a little bayou, mostly populated with older Cajun folk. We're leaving for a party right away, and I promise to eat some real food for you. Gator balls and barbequed crabs, gumbo and dirty rice, black eyed peas for luck and cabbage for money. And just one or two heferweisels from that little brewery in Shiner.

------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), December 31, 2001.

AAArrrggggg!!!!

**beating my forehead on the keyboard**

I wanna...I really wanna come! Can I come, please? Oh geeze...found a freezer burned dungenus crab in my freezer~~ Na..it's goen in the garbage.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), December 31, 2001.

Lon, enjoy it for me and send "your sense impressions this way so they will invade my dreams). Just concentrate really hard and throw them in a north-western direction, I'' have a mental net out, ready to grab them.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), January 01, 2002.

It seems kindof anti-climactic [sp] at this point to mention that the salmon patties came out GREAT and left NO mess. Lightly breaded stuff...that's the ticket.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 01, 2002.

Black eyed peas for luck, I knew. But cabbage for money??? That must be the problem with our finances. Will wilted lettuce salad do in a pinch?

Lon, honey, if we ever meet -- I will prop your feet up and fetch all the beer your heart desires if you let me, for the love of God, please let me do the cooking.

-- helen (bland@but.nutritious.and.mainstream), January 01, 2002.

Anita,

Not really.

I just wish I liked salmon patties. :)

(I hate 'em passionately.)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), January 01, 2002.

Stephen: I just might consider starting a "youth" farm wherein folks are forced to eat the food they don't like in the interest of keeping them more "young" looking. Interested in spending a week or two?

Yesterday was spaghetti, garlic toast, and salad, but today I'll be trying boneless chicken on the "Champ". I have both dark meat and white meat cuts to use, as we differ in preference. I'll lightly bread them before grilling, and I BETCHA they'll taste great AND leave no mess.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

Anita, try adding some of Emril's essence. Good stuff :q

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), January 03, 2002.

Poole:

I just wish I liked salmon patties. :)

(I hate 'em passionately.)

Salmon cakes can be very good. Most canned salmon that you see will be from Pinks [or Humpies as they are called in Salmon country]. They can be used, but don't make the best cakes. A lot of the commercial cakes are made from Keta [this is a marketing term for Chum; most people know that Chum were of such low quality that they were only used,dried, to feed to sled dogs]. For cakes, the best, IMHO, are King [Chinook] or Coho [Silver] since they give really large flakes. In my experience, they are best when made with a nice alder smoked salmon.

I don't use recipes but here is a rough approximation of a family recipe:

Ingredients:

A large russet potato, peeled and sliced thin. 2 cups of smoked silver salmon flaked with salt and ground pepper. 1 large egg 1/4 cup green onions, chopped

a couple of Tbs of parsley, chopped

a couple of garlic cloves, minced.

Tbs of olive oil

flour as needed.

Another egg, beaten

right amount of butter

Procedure:

Boil potatoes until tender. Drain off water and cool for a bit. Blend potato, salmon, salt and pepper. [I now use a food processor but used to do it by hand. Be careful not to convert it into a mush]. Add and egg, green onion, parsley, garlic and olive oil and blend. Remember if you are using a processor you can overdo this blending stuff].

Beat the second egg. Form the above mixture into cakes, cover and chill.

Dip the cakes into the flour and into the beaten egg [this be the second egg]. Saute in butter [remember saute is what rich folks do; fry is what southerners do ;o)))], about 5 minutes/side. Serve with a sauce, such as mustard or horseradish, of your choice.

Very good.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), January 03, 2002.

I need more information, Maria. I did a "google" search on Emril's essence and came up with one response for a candy site and Emeril or some other spelling. Is this a spice?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

Anita, try this http://www.goodeatsoftexas.com/creole_seasoning.html

But I know he has his own site with all his recipes. I can't seem to find it right now. There are three essences that he makes. One is cajun (of course), and the other two are milder. Good luck!

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), January 03, 2002.

Thanks, Maria. I've printed that out and may incorporate it into the chicken recipe.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

Anita:

You eat chicken too:

Gawd; to quote Mark Twain, never eat anything that walks on the same number of legs as you. Of course you may walk on 4.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), January 03, 2002.

Poole:

You keep answering on the wrong thread. I have never tasted catfish. Now, I am willing to try. In the spring. The things that I will catch will be over 10 lbs. What do you do with them.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), January 03, 2002.

Gawd, why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good salmon is beyond me. Slow cook a fresh caught one with hickory. Prepare it nekkid (that's for Anita ;-)) and enjoy!

-- (just an@anonymous.one), January 03, 2002.

Anita, watch out for hot grease if you insist on cooking nekkid.

-- helpful helen (safety@alerts.24.7), January 03, 2002.

Anita,

Emeril Lagasse can be found here:

FoodTV

-- SteveOH (thegoofycat@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

SSSssssttt---Hot! Ouch! LOL @ Helen

-- (just an@anonymous.one), January 03, 2002.

Z,

I've tried them with King Salmon: canned and frozen. (Very difficult to get fresh Kings in NC, from which I hail originally.)

I've tried them the way you describe, with careful preparation and fill ingredients. I've had them plain (pull out of the can and smack patties). I've had them rolled into balls and fried.

You name it.

In every case, prior to the sampling, the proponent has boasted, "you just haven't tried *MY* salmon cakes!" So, I have tried them.

(I'd try yours, too; I keep an open mind. You could even trick me and tell me that it's something else so that I don't know that it's salmon. That's been tried, too.[g])

To date, they've all been uniformly and unerringly nasty. For some odd reason, I just don't like the taste. It's really odd, too, because I'll generally eat anything that swims (fresh or salt water), with very few exceptions: mahi-mahi and salmon top the list.

I know that smoked salmon is supposedly a delicacy. Well, here's my share, returned to society for others to enjoy. See what a splendid fellow I am? :)

Now ... if you're talking grilled snapper, name the date and time. I have been known to lock my brakes and do a Bat Turn(tm) for that. :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), January 03, 2002.

Z,

I've been really busy (building two new studios -- AGAIN!), so I'll just make my comments for the night here.

I don't like mushrooms, either, if that helps you out. The taste just doesn't do much for me. I don't mind mushroom soup in the standard bean "cassarole" that everyone makes (who first came up with that recipe? It's the one that's topped with fried onions; I think Anita said she had some for the holidays).

I don't like melons, either -- water, musk, honeydew or whatever. (Close to sacrilege for a Southerner, too.)

The only common thread I can find for all of these is that it's just my taste buds. I must have been dropped on my head as a tot. :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), January 03, 2002.

Well, hell, Stephen, what are we supposed to feed you when you're hiding from viral glass here? Do you like pizza? Tacos? Cheese whiz?

-- helen (no@salmon.cakes.no.mushrooms.no.what.else?), January 03, 2002.

Z,

Is this a trick question? If I didn't know better I'd say you were pullin' our legs ; )

"You keep answering on the wrong thread. I have never tasted catfish. Now, I am willing to try. In the spring. The things that I will catch will be over 10 lbs. What do you do with them."

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), January 03, 2002.

I'm pretty much with Ken Decker regarding salmon. Not that I dislike salmon cakes, but a good piece of salmon ought to be prepared some other way - baked, grilled, or sushi. (I'd say sashimi rather than sushi, that's the fish without the rice.)

-- Peter Errington (petere7@starpower.net), January 04, 2002.

Well, I grilled the chicken using those spices Maria offered. I didn't even stop to consider that all that pepper was going to make HOT chicken. SO grabbed a bite before it was all done and said, "Wow. This is good! I hope you have beer." I said, "Why do I need beer?" He said, "It's HOT!" Boy, was it ever. I couldn't eat it. I may grill a little more chicken tonight just for myself and SO can have all that hot chicken for himself.

Chicken took three times as long as fish of the same size to grill. Again, however, with a lightly breaded coating, nothing stuck to the grill.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

Thanks for that link, Steve. I'm ALWAYS looking for recipes lately. I've never been very interested in cooking and have had the time lately to look into it and try some things I never would have thought I'd enjoy. I've learned a lot, but still have a lot to learn.

Regarding salmon, we enjoy fresh salmon, as well. I have several recipes that we like. Sometimes, however, I crave the patties [not to be confused with the cakes]. The ones we had the other day were so good that I wanted more for breakfast. The onions in the latest pattie recipe seemed to be heavy on onions, so the patties were quite tangy, but nowhere near the mouth burning experience of last night's chicken. Lon Frank and Aunt Bee would love that recipe.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

Go to bed Anita, it's late.

-- sweet dreams (the@sleep.fairy), January 04, 2002.

I already went to bed [after falling asleep on the couch for about 4 hours.] Since I didn't eat dinner last night, I woke up at 3am HUNGRY. I made a banana split and now I'm wide awake. It's the start of a new day.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

Anita, careful how you use that 'hungry' word. I saw your definition on another thread. ; )

-- Pammy (likes@spicy.food too), January 04, 2002.

Pammy: I'm full of energy, but don't want to make any noise yet to wake him. In an hour or two, I'll see if last night's chicken gives Margaret Hoolihan a challenge on the "hot lips" title.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

As Arnold said, [and Maria reminded me], I'm back.

I mentioned that I wouldn't again grill marinated stuff on the Foreman, and the test came this week.

We went to see the "Imposters" at the movie theatre, and I brought along a nuked bratwurst in my pocket. That wasn't good enough, as the movie progressed, and I found myself digging into SO's popcorn container [to the point where I was crunching on kernels unpopped.]

Fortunately, I hadn't acquired a drink, so didn't have a desire to use the bathroom upon exit, but I'd chosen a fajita recipe for that night's dinner, and used the wrong knife to cut that meat. My hands hurt from holding the fork on the thing. Another grill wasn't available, so I decided to grill this marinated stuff on the Foreman. It smoked. It looked to me like ALL the marination stuck. All the while, my stomach was saying, "Lay down."

SO LOVED the fajitas. *I* didn't even try them, although the odor WAS tempting. I didn't clean the grill, either. I was "out for the night."

I felt fine the next day, plugged in the Foreman for a minute or so and took some wet paper towels to it. EVERYTHING fell off with hardly any rubbing at all. [I'd sprayed both the top and bottom with the "butter-flavored Pam" before I grilled. Sorry, Pammy. The stuff seems to work better than I'd ever expected.]

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

Anita,

I decided to try Black and Decker's little grill thingie instead of getting another Foreman. You can remove the grill surfaces on that one and put 'em in the dishwasher.

Yeeeesssss. :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), January 18, 2002.

I brought along a nuked bratwurst in my pocket.

Huh? To the movies? I have heard of sneaking pop or popcorn into the theater, but bratwurst?

-- SteveOH (thegoofycat@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.

Let me know how that little number works for you, Stephen. We don't use the dishwasher except after a dinner that includes guests. It could take us a week or more to get enough dirty dishes for a load, so we just wash the few we use as we use them.

Bratwurst smuggled into a movie theatre: a sign of healthier eating? I've gotta tell ya, though. I felt like a pervert with that thing in my pocket. Heh.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.

Yeah, I was going to use the old saw

Ticket taker to Anita:

Is that a bratwurst in your pocket or are ya just happy to see me?

but decided not to.

-- SteveOH (thegoofycat@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.