Frank Davis New - Full Recipe

	Whadaya do when. . (1) you end up with a mess of pretty speckled trout fillets, (2) it's summertime and you dig out the portable burner so that you can cook outside, (3) you conjure up a hankering for an ol' fashioned, down-home fish fry? Well, you take this here recipe, about two dozen of the fillets, a pan of my spicy N'Awlins Fish Fry, and a batch of large-dice small red potatoes, and you invite the folks over for…/
Ingredients:
2-4 cups peanut or corn oil for frying 12 speckled trout fillets 4 cups Frank Davis Gourmet Fish Fry
Instructions:
First, place a deep-sided 12-inch skillet or frypan on the stove top, pour in enough peanut or corn oil so that it fills the pan about a third of the way up, and crank up the fire. Ideally, you want to heat the oil to about 375 degrees (actually, you’ll fry at 350, but since the temperature will drop when you put in the fish fillets, you need to "overheat" the pan to start). Then while the oil is coming to heat, coat the fillets with the fish fry. Of course, you probably have been told dozens of ways you can do this, but the proper way is to take wet fillets (remember, to keep them ultra-fresh they need to be stored in the refrigerator in a pan of cold water), lightly shake off the excess water, and dredge them into a pan of the fish fry, being careful to thoroughly coat them all over. Then immediately place the fillets—so that they’re not touching!—on a sheet of waxed paper. Allow them to "rest" on the paper for at least two minutes so that (1) the ingredients in the fish fry adhere to the fillets and (2) so that the coating doesn’t fall off in the hot oil. When the oil is ready, ease the fillets into the pan one at a time, but don’t overcrowd them—give them room to fry. At the correct temperature, if the fillets are fried for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side they will come out perfect every time, tender-flaky on the inside with just the right amount of crispiness on the outside. They will also be a luscious shade of golden-brown and will be almost totally greaseless. When they’re done, all that’s left is to place them on a couple layers of absorbent paper towels (or on a wire rack) to drain. Oh—and there’s no disputing the point: for fried fish to be truly gourmet they should be eaten right as they come out of the frypan. So tell your invited dinner guests to be standing close by with plate in hand once the frying starts. You won’t believe the difference it’ll make! What to serve ’em with? Coat some red potatoes (which you’ve cut into large dice) with extra- virgin olive oil, a little salt, and a little pepper, place them into a baking pan, and oven-roast them for about an hour at 400 degrees until they become soft on the inside and beautifully brown and crispy on the outside. Accompanied by a cold tossed green salad topped with Parmesan dressing, this is the ideal Southern summertime meal!
Chef's Notes:
Don't let the coated fish set and rest for more than 10 minutes or the coating will lose it's crunchiness and become hardened. Of course, if you don't allow the coating to "rest" on the fillets for at least two minutes it won't stick to the fish and will float away in the oil when you drop in the fillet.
For a spicier and crunchier fish fry coating, mix equal parts of my fish fry and my chicken fry together, dip the fillets in buttermilk, then dredge them in the coating mixture. This is the Cajun, down-on-the-bayou version of my fish fry, and if you like it the best it can be. . .this is it!
It's okay to drain the fillets on a couple of Kraft bags (those are the paper bags you get from the grocery store).
Just for the record, you should not use an egg wash if you use my fish fry. It will only thicken the corn mixture and make it tough. You should also not marinate the fillets in mustard or vinegar or beer-it destroys the delicate flavor of the speckled trout.
You can get both my premixed fish fry and chicken fry either at your favorite neighborhood grocery or by clicking on my website-www.frankdavis.com.
If you're rather not fry your trout, the best alternative is to "bronze" them. Instead of charring them in a blackening skillet, why not gently "toast" them to a rich bronze color? To do this take a 12-inch non-stick skillet, lightly coat it with a tablespoon of margarine, get the skillet hot, drop in a couple of fillets which you've liberally seasoned with my bronzing mix, and "pan-sear" the fish on both sides (turning once gently with a spatula) until they begin to flake and want to fall apart.