Fish Tacos from the Grill

Catching a nice mess of panfish is only the beginning. For most of us the end result of our passion is the satisfaction of a meal that we coaxed from Mother Nature. As far back as I can remember most if not all of the legal fish my family caught were destined for the freezer and subsequently the table. I have continued that tradition for my family and take great pride in preparing meals of bluegill and Crappie on a regular basis. We try to have fish at least once a week, rotating between fried, baked, and grilled for fish tacos. For the fried I use the traditional corn meal and flour breading and prepare onion rings or hush puppies with coleslaw as the sides. The baked recipe over the years has varied but we have settled on the recipe found right here on Crappie.com of Parmesan Panko Baked Crappie. For the Grilled Fish Tacos I have photographed the steps of preparation and would like to share them here.

Step 1 Catch a mess of Crappie.
Last week I went to my local lake and caught a nice limit of 10-12 inch Crappie.

Step 2. Take about 8-10 fillets, cover them with melted butter then sprinkle liberally with a fish taco seasoning.

Step 3. Make a Chipotle Ranch sauce, this is what I had on hand. . Then fire up the charcoal grill and throw on a couple ears of corn(rubbed down with olive oil and seasoned with chili powder) to get a head start and get the cast iron griddle heated up.

Step 4. Once the corn cooks for about 10 minutes indirect move it directly over the hot coals and give it a little char. Put the seasoned fish on the extremely hot griddle and grill for about 3 minutes on each side, longer for thicker fillets, shorter times for smaller bluegill fillets, flipping only once. The fish will cook very fast and will blacken/smoke on the hot griddle.

Step 5. Prepare Taco fillings. I cut the grilled corn off the cob, purchase fresh pico de gallo , shred pepper jack or Monterrey Jack cheese, and slice a nice ripe avocado.

Step 6. Toast some small fajita flour tortillas. I usually throw them on the grill and heat them through but the induction cooker heats a cast iron skillet up almost instantly and I can take them straight from the pan and load them while they are still hot.

Step 7. Load Tacos. Chipotle Ranch and avocado slices on one side, cheese and fish on the other side. . Load them into Taco stands and finish filling with grilled corn and pico de gallo. I usually add more Ranch and cheese then top off with some tri-colored tortilla strips. Through the week my side dish is usually just the remainder of the grilled corn and avocado slices. On the weekend I may prepare a more traditional rice or refried bean side dish.




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