Cheez-It Crusted Crappie with Creamy Shrimp Sauce

Y'all know by now Ketchn's Potato chip Crappie crusting has gone wild here. We had a Granddaughter getting married near Tupelo in New Albany MS last week and had to be there. Since the Camper is on Ross Barnett but not packed for over the road travel we drove up to The Rez a day early to get the camper ready. It was sunny Wednesday before last on The Rez till I went to pick up my boat for a few hours fishing. By the time I got back it was raining, boats were picking up, and The Rez was White Capping. With unsure gazes from the Anglers picking up about Me launching I told them I had to go. Bad Decision! I caught 1 Crappie, a fat White Crappie. Well when I gave up (less than 2 hours due to the gale winds) I explained to the fish it was too big to fry but a perfect meal for the Ketchn Technique of Crappie cooking.



Starting out multitasking I had over a week to think about how this fish would be worthy of a Cooking Crappie new thread and this is what I came up with.



One slice of Bacon was chopped and added to a non-stick skillet. After cooking down releasing the fat about a 1/3rd of a cup of chopped shallots and 2 Tbls minced Garlic got tossed in and sweated down.



While the Aromatics are sweating about 2/3 a cup of fresh Shrimp was chopped. 2 Tbls salted Butter was added to our mixture before adding the Shrimp. After the Shrimp were cooked thru 1/3 cup white wine was added and the mixture was allowed to reduce the excess liquid.



My usual Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tsp Liquid Crab Boil for 2 Fillets) was used to soak the Crappie fillets in for 10 minutes. While they were soaking I started 1/3 bag Linguine cooking.



1 cup of Heavy Cream was added to our mixture then reduced till thickening. I over reduced so the Velveta Shredded Cheese and Shredded Parm would mix easier. Seasoning with 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper, Paprika, a bit less Red Pepper Flake and Salt to taste I mixed to combine. After combining I added Chicken Stock, cooking till I had a nice body to the Cheesy Shrimp Sauce so it would stick well to the Linguine and anything else it touched.



After Hurricane Katrina we went 40 days without power cooking on a propane stove outside. I added the propane range to our Kitchen so in the future we can at least cook inside.



Plating is straight forward Pasta on the bottom, Crappie added to the top, and the Cheesy Shrimp Sauce spooned liberally over everything. I hope you enjoy.