winter soup's

[jason grimm]

hey ya'll I haven't been on here for awhile but im trying to come back to BBG as much as I can because its my kinda place. ive been curious sense winter time is a good time for warm soup's and not cold porage that somebody would have a bluegill soup recipe. ive looked and haven't found one yet, because I would like to try some this winter.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Hey Jason, good to see you.
Look for a fish soup recipe and just use bluegill fillets. My first thought would be to dig out my catfish stew recipe, but any will do.
Mine uses potatoes, celery and shredded carrot.
I use a chicken stock because I don't want to fool with making fish stock.
For herbs, I like tarragon and parsley. Let these all cook together, as if making a vegetable soup. Cook until the potatoes are just starting to soften.
Cut the fillets into spoon size chunks and never boil the fish. Put it in last and allow the soup to barely simmer. This is basically poaching in vegetable soup.
Just before serving, add 1/4 c. cream and a tablespoon of butter per portion. Salt and pepper to finish, according to taste. SERVE with roasted cheese toast.
Bluegill is a fine grain fish and should be treated gently, both in the cooking and accompaniment.

[Allen Morgan]

Well, I can't really improve on what David has said, with one exception.  Go ahead and make a fish stock.  If you have the cleaned fish carcasses, you might as well.  Just clean out the abdominal cavity well, or just use some kitchen shears and cut the backbone to separate the tail section from the body cavity.  Use a basic mirepoix (equal amounts of onions/celery/carrots).  You can even get away with using some leeks, if you have them.  I would suggest using the stems of the parsley in the stock, saving the good, leafy parts for the soup.  Be sure and strain the stock good; you don't want any scales in your soup.

A good fish stock should only take between 45 minutes and 2 hours to make.  The bones are really soft, compared to most critters.  It doesn't take long to extract all the goodness from the fish bones.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Well said, Allen. I should have said that.