Description
I made a Rachel Ray recipe for fish enchiladas 3 years ago, it blew me away. It’s time to try making it again. I need only one thing, the fish! Let’s get out on the lake and shop for some. Click on SHOW MORE for info on the tackle, lake, recipes and much more.
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THE BOAT: Bass Hunter EX, purchased 2018. It can be ordered here: http://www.basshunter.com/bass-hunter-ex.html.
THE MOTOR: Minn Kota Endura C2-55 Trolling Motor (36" Shaft), 55 LBS of thrust. It runs on a 12v, deep cycle battery. Purchased on amazon, 2018.
THE LURE: a 2.5 inch Action Plastic’s Shad Grub in black (https://action-plastics.com) on a 1/16 oz. lead jig head.
THE SPINNING REEL: Garcia REVO2SX10, 2018.
THE SPINNING ROD: Daiwa SMD401ULFS Spinmatic-D SpinRod (4- Feet, Ultra Light, 1 Piece, 1-4 LB test).
THE SPINNING REEL LINE is SpiderWire, Ultracast, Invisi-Braid in 10 LB test, 2 LB mono equivalent.
LEARN HOW TO FILLET A FISH HERE: https://youtu.be/KgiGqlrB0LM.
THE LAKE is called Lake Ketchabigwon. It is almost 6 acres and is located in NE Ohio. It sits on 37 acres of property. The lake is private. We purchased it in 1987. It has a maximum depth of 12’. The small pond uphill from it is ¾ acre with a maximum depth of 12’.
FISH IN THE LAKE: largemouth bass, bluegill, white crappie, black crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish, and grass carp.
WHY KEEP SMALL BASS AND RETURN LARGER BASS: We had biologists perform an electroshock survey of the lake. They found too many small, stunted bass. There is only so much food to go around, and there are too many mouths to feed. Their advice was to remove all bass under 12”, and to release the bigger ones. This rule is usually the opposite in large public lakes. Here is a well-known biologist explaining the need to cull small bass from ponds (21:00) https://youtu.be/toWlvfg-6mQ.
WHERE TO GET A CAP LIKE MINE: You can get a “Juanelo Bait & Tackle” cap here, https://www.inkpixi.com/by-clothing-type/baseball-hats. In fact, you could put your own name on it!
VIDEOGRAPHY:
The principal camera is my iPhone X on a tripod. I also use an iPhone 6s Plus as a close-up, counter-top camera when cooking. It is mounted on a small tripod. I use a Rhode mic indoors to help lessen the echo. The video is edited on a 15”, 2019 MacBook Pro, using Final Cut Pro X.
BACKGROUND EFFECTS courtesy of https://www.youtube.com/dvdangor2011
BACKGROUND MUSIC is called “Driving Through Dallas” purchased from audioblocks.com.
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BLUEGILL ENCHILADAS RECIPE
Inspired by the recipe found here: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/creamy-fish-enchiladas-2211089
My original video on this is here: https://youtu.be/hGcPyUau-s4
INGREDIENTS:
1½ pounds of bluegill or any other white fish
Olive oil cooking spray
Seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay, for sprinkling
1 lime
One 8-ounce brick cream cheese
6 to 8 ounces (1 cup) sour cream
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cans diced green chiles, drained
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dried dill
⅔ teaspoon salt (or to taste) and ground black pepper
Eight 8-inch low-carb flour tortillas
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan (I used pecorino Romano)
Garnishes: thinly sliced avocado dressed with lime, thinly sliced red onion chopped fresh cilantro. Check photo in original recipe.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat a broiler.
Arrange the fish on a broiler pan or baking sheet. Spray the fish with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with seafood seasoning. Broil on highest rack until firm and opaque. Broil small fish like bluegill for about 5 minutes. Let fish cool and flake with a fork. Dress with the juice of the half the lime. (Use the other half to slice and garnish the dishes.)
In a large mixing bowl, stir to combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, coriander and cumin. Add the chiles and 1 cup of the Jack cheese, the cilantro, dried dill, salt and pepper to taste and the fish flakes.
Spray a casserole or baking dish with olive oil. Arrange 3 to 4 tablespoons of the filling on the edge of each tortilla and roll the enchiladas. Set into the casserole seam-side down. Pour the heavy cream over the top of the casserole, just enough to cover, and cover with the remaining Jack cheese and the grated parmesan. Chill, covered, for a make-ahead meal. Bring to room temp before baking.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake the casserole until brown and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. (Original recipe said 45 to 50 but that was too long). Top with avocado, onions and cilantro.