Springtime in Michigan = SMELT!

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 | posted by mike

Ahh…sweet spring has arrived! We’re in the perfect moment of soft spring breezes, fresh new life popping up all around us, sweet smells of lilacs, honeysuckle and Michigan smelt frying in the pan!

Like many fish that we consider to be our own, smelt, all the Michigan salmons, rainbow trout, and carp, to name a few, aren’t really natives. Our smelt originally came from hatcheries in Maine. They were first introduced into the St. Marys River back in 1909 to hopefully become feed for Lake Michigan salmon, but after repeated failures the stocks never survived. Smelt was stocked in Crystal Lake in 1912 as feed for land locked salmon and they not only survived but also flourished. They made their way into Lake Michigan and by the spring of 1920 so many fish were running into Cold Creek, flowing through the town of Beulah at the head of Crystal Lake, that they were overflowing the banks! Fisherman flooded into Beulah in such numbers that the state police had to be called in to control the crowds. The tradition of ” smelt dipping” had begun.

There were so many fish; they were caught simply by dipping a net for them. The Michigan spring ritual of making a bonfire stream side and filling buckets, garbage cans and even pick up trucks full of smelt, then staying up all night cleaning them with a pair of scissors and frying ‘em up continued on for years. By 1936 these little fish were in all of the Great Lakes and there was a huge sport and commercial fishery for them with fresh and frozen smelt being shipped all over the country and as far away as Japan.

Here’s Tony in our courtyard about to enjoy a plate of Michigan smelt on a gorgeous spring day.

If you’ve ever experienced the sweet crunch of a fried smelt, salted and eaten whole you’d know what all the fuss is about! When Anthony Bourdain was at the store in April 2010 to film a promo for his book Medium Raw, we asked him what he’d like us to cook up for him. He eyed the pile of fresh smelt and asked “Are those the little guys you eat whole? I’m all over that.”

The days of truck loads of smelt are, at least for now, over. Populations have gone down over the years, partially the work of invasive species like zebra mussels competing with them for food, and there is even a 2 gallon limit for sports fishermen now. Fortunately, there is still a pretty fair commercial catch.

As far as cooking methods, in my opinion, there’s only one way to properly cook smelt and that’s to fry them. Lightly dusted and hot pan or deep fried. Here’s our recipe for fried smelt at the Market and here’s another great way to serve them after they’ve been fried, smelt nanbanzuke.

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Tags: anthony bourdain, great lakes, smelt

Monahan's Fried Smelt

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 | posted by mike

Serves 2

3/4-1 lb. Dressed lake smelt
Milk
Drake’s batter mix or fine corn meal
Salt and pepper
Canola or peanut oil

Heat a heavy pan or iron skillet over med high heat and add about 1/2 inch of oil. Dip smelt in milk and dredge in Drake’s. When oil is sizzling hot (370 degrees if you have a thermometer), add smelt one at a time and fry for about a minute a side for small smelt, longer for big ones or until a crunchy golden brown.

Drain on paper bag or paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon & tartar sauce or hot sauce.

Here’s Tony Bourdain in our courtyard about to enjoy a plate of Michigan smelt on a gorgeous spring day.

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Tags: anthony bourdain, great lakes, smelt

Almond Crusted Great Lakes Whitefish

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 | posted by mike

Serves 4

11/2 – 2 lb. Great Lakes whitefish fillet

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup panko crumbs

mayonnaise or yogurt

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

Pre heat oven to 375º

In a food processor, pulse almonds with panko crumbs until coarsely chopped

Cut fillets into 4 portions

Coat fillets with light coating of mayo or yogurt

Cover fillets with almond crumb mix, pressing mix into meat side of fillet

Season with salt and pepper

Heat ovenproof pan over high heat

Add olive oil and when oil is sizzling hot add fillets skin side up

After 1 min. flip and pop in the oven for another 5-7 min. Or until fish is just opaque in the center

Bake broil option:

Instead of pan searing some people prefer to bake the fish

Simply bake at 350º for 5 min. Then click up to broil to brown for another 1-3 min or until fish is just opaque in the center.

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Tags: great lakes, whitefish

Wonderful Walleye: Prized around the world!

Friday, August 27th, 2010 | posted by mike

Walleye is the largest member of the perch family with an average size of 1–4 lbs. The hook and line world-record was a 41 inch 25 lb fish caught i 1960 in Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee, but we usually don’t see them so big.

The walleye isn’t the prettiest of freshwater fish—green and yellow with those weird cloudy eyes. Their big opaque, dull eyes are due to a light reflecting layer called a “tapetun lucidum” that helps with nightime vision. However, for what this fish lacks in beauty it more than makes up for it in flavor. Walleye is truly one of the finest food fish in the world. Its close cousin, the Zander (or Pike Perch) is loved over most of Europe. Its firm, white, delicate sweetness is extremely flavorful and versatile…walleye can be prepared in almost any method. Our favorites are a simple sauté pan fry, bake or steam (our Chinese customers love this fish because its sweetness and firm texture are perfect for steaming the whole fish). We also coat fillets with nuts or seasoned bread crumbs for pan frying or baking.

Walleye was my dad’s all-time favorite fish. He loved them just simply broiled with olive oil, salt and pepper.

We are fortunate to be so close to the world’s largest walleye fishery: Lake Erie! If we are lucky enough to have a mild winter, we will see walleye year-round. However, when the winters are rough Canadian walleye are usually around. They fish for them through the ice up in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

There was about a month this summer when brutal heat closed fishing down, but we’re now seeing walleye again and plan to have them in for your dining enjoyment this weekend. You would think that such a plentiful fish would be inexpensive (I WISH!) Because of the huge demand, this fish is not cheap and has always been at the higher end of the scale…ever notice the price of walleye at fancier restaurants? Whoa!

However, for about $7–10 per portion, we offer you the finest freshwater fish you’ll ever taste. And here’s a couple great recipes.

Almond-Cracker Walleye

Steamed Whole Walleye

p.s. We sell the almond cracker coating to save you a little time. Enjoy!

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Tags: great lakes, walleye

Simple Grilled Lake Trout with Tomato & Basil Relish

Friday, August 20th, 2010 | posted by mike

2 6–8 oz. lake trout fillets (from the thick end, pin bones removed)
olive oil
salt & pepper

TOMATO & BASIL RELISH
1 medium Michigan tomato (nice and ripe) coursely chopped
2 T finely chopped red onion
5 large basil leaves (chopped or chiffonade)
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 t olive oil
salt & pepper

For the relish: Combine ingredients and set aside.

For the fish: Make sure your grill is clean, hot and lightly oiled (we use spray oil or olive oil applied using a paper towel). Lightly baste the fillets with olive oil and seasoning, then grill for a total of 10 minutes per inch of thickness (about 5 minutes per side). Lake Trout holds together pretty well on the grill, but sometimes it’s handy to use an oiled wire grilling basket. Garnish each portion with the tomato-basil relish.

Another tip for firming up fatty fish (trout, salmon, bluefish, etc.) is to coat the fillets in kosher salt for about 5 minutes, then rinse and pat dry before grilling.

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Tags: great lakes, grilling, lake trout, trout

Say YES! to Lake Trout

Friday, August 20th, 2010 | posted by mike

Another great Michigan fish is Lake Trout. These long-living (at least 40 years) fish are the largest member of the Char family and a good gamefish that can grow to huge sizes (record: 120 lb in 1818 from the Great Lakes) and they like cold water—around 50° or less is their comfort zone.

Lake Trout have a high fat content and to me, that’s a good trait. For years I have heard negative comments from sports fishermen and charter captains about what they call “dark, greasy, strong-tasting, undesirable” fish like Lake Trout, Bluefish, Mackerel and Kingfish. But if it’s cooked properly, all these fish have lots of character and great flavor. It’s funny that fish like Chilean Bass, Sablefish and Arctic Char are high-priced fish that are prized for their rich and buttery texture but an inexpensive Lake Trout (from the Char family) can be called “greasy” by some people. Lake Trout is one of the tastiest (and least expensive) fish in our case. We buy fish that run about 2–4 lbs from Lake Superior and Huron. These smaller trout are leaner than the giants, but still have plenty of fat and flavor.

Because of the richness of this fish, I think the best methods of preparation are grilling or broiling, but we’ve tried sautéeing (almondine), baking and poaching (served with a yogurt cucumber sauce). Our web-master, Wendy, roasted a whole Lake Trout in kosher salt recently (see a video featuring this recipe with a Bluefish here) and she said it was even better than the Lake Superior Whitefish that she prepared in the same style. She just peeled back the skin and the fillets came right off the bone.

For those of you who have concerns regarding toxins that store in the fat of these types of fish, I’d say that an occasional meal of these smaller Lake Trout shouldn’t be a worry. The healthful benefits will still outweigh the minute risk factors and unless you are pregnant or nursing and want to be SUPER safe, enjoy this rich, delicious and sustainable Michigan fish.

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Tags: great lakes, lake trout, salt roasting, whole fish

The First Fish

Thursday, August 12th, 2010 | posted by mike

Carson Monahan with his first string of perch.

Most all of us who love fishing will never forget their first fish. Here in Michigan your first fish was likely to be a bluegill, maybe a crappie, bullhead or rock bass. If you were really lucky, it was a perch! You may have been amazed at the pretty yellow fish with the vertical stripes and orange fins flopping on the end of your hook.

When you’re a kid and you’ve just caught your first fish, primal instincts click in. Anticipation, excitement, fear…but they all give way to the natural desire to hunt and eat! I’ve seen it time and again. Kids do not believe in catch and release, they all want to eat their catch—and there’s no better catch to eat than lake perch!

Perch are smaller cousins of the walleye (another top Michigan food fish) and there’s a reason why perch are in such high demand—they are delicious! White, delicate and sweet…so good that just the name “perch” is copied as a market name for other (and lesser) species such as “Ocean Perch” (really a North Atlantic Redfish) “White Perch” (a freshwater bass) or “Surf Perch” (small Pacific members of the Embiotocidae family). None of them can even touch our own premier panfish, the Lake Perch.

So if you happen to be one of those poor kids who has never experienced the joy of catching a perch, come on by the market for free fishing advice—there are thousands of perch within 20 miles of Ann Arbor! Or just pick some out of our case for dinner or we’ll cook ‘em up for your lunch for a true taste of Michigan.

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Tags: great lakes, michigan, perch

Sauteed Lake Perch

Thursday, August 12th, 2010 | posted by wendy

If you happen to be one of those poor kids who has never experienced the joy of catching a perch, come on by the market for free fishing advice—there are thousands of perch within 20 miles of Ann Arbor! Or just pick some out of our case for dinner.

1 1/2 c Drakes Batter Mix
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 c half & half
1/2 c canola or peanut oil (or clarified butter)
1 1/2 lbs. of fresh Lake Perch fillets

Mix Drakes and salt together and set aside. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the half & half.

Heat the oil or clarified butter in a large sauté pan. Dip the perch in the egg wash first, then dredge through the Drakes and carefully place the fillets into the hot pan to brown on each side (this should only take a couple of minutes). Remove from the pan and drain on a paper bag or paper towel. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon, maybe a little tartar or even a lemon-caper-butter.

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Tags: easy, great lakes, perch

The Simplest Lake Superior Whitefish

Thursday, August 5th, 2010 | posted by wendy

• Whitefish (1/2 lb. per person or so)
• lemon
• butter
• fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
• course salt & freshly cracked black pepper.

Lay the whitefish fillets on a baking sheet and dot with a little butter, salt and pepper. Bake at 425° for 10-12 minutes or until opaque throughout.

Top with chopped fresh parsley and lemon zest. Serve with additional lemon wedges.

VIDEO: Mike Monahan Presents The Simplest Lake Superior Whitefish

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Tags: easy, great lakes, video, whitefish

Great Fish from the Great Lakes!

Friday, May 14th, 2010 | posted by mike

Did you know that if you stood on the moon you would be able to identify all of our Great Lakes and the mitten between them? The Great Lakes have about one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply and 9/10s of the U.S. supply. Spread out over the lower 48 states, we’re talking 10 feet deep. What an incredible resource! What a bounty and variety of delicious fish!

At Monahan’s we have always carried lots of the Great Lakes fish—spring, summer, fall and even some mild winters—whitefish, lake trout and smelt from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan; and lake perch, walleye and white bass from Lake Huron and Lake Erie (one of the biggest walleye fisheries on earth!) We also carry some great smoked whitefish and smoked whitefish sausage from Petoskey and Mackinac City. Whether you’re serving simply broiled whitefish or lake trout, fried smelt or lake perch with lemon and tartar sauce, or sautéed or broiled walleye, these are some of the world’s tastiest fish.

We hear a lot of questions and concerns from our customers about toxins in Great Lakes fish. At our market, we sell the younger, smaller sized fish, not the older fatty fish. Along with the fact that the lakes have cleaned up a lot since the Great Lakes Water Quality Act and Clean Waterways Act of the 70s were enacted, eating our lake fish once or twice a week is a healthy treat where the health benefits far outweigh any risk. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has some helpful information here.

Our own family has eaten fish from the Great Lakes at our house along with a big variety of sea fish and shellfish. The key is to enjoy a varied, healthful diet, with everything in moderation and not just eating the same thing over and over. If there are minute risk factors in any food, be it ocean fish, lake fish or land-based meats, mixing it up is the best bet.

Our Great Lakes fish have so much to offer aside from supporting our local Michigan fisheries. We have such an amazing resource right here on this great pair of penninsulas.

Here’s a great whitefish recipe for you.

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Tags: great lakes, perch, smelt, trout, walleye, whitefish