Walleye fillets

sheetmetalpete

I have a question for the group.  My wife works for a caterer and they have a large event this weekend.  A request came in for grilled walleye and then oddly my name was brought up to help with it.  They must be scraping the bottom of the barrel to ask me for help.   

I'm accustomed to working with thicker fillets (and generally skin on) than walleye generally is so I'm concerned with it sticking to the grate.  Would you use a grill mat or clean the grates and oil the fillets a bit?

Thanks in advance.  
  

Botch

I would grab some alder planks, soak them a couple hours, and grill/smoke the walleye on them.  Its a PNW specialty, probably not common in Oof-Dah Country, but you might start a new trend!  (hopefully replacing lutefisk).  
Mmmm, walleye!  I'm getting homesick now.  

MotownVol

Planks are my thought too, just don’t know how many your cooking for.  I use planks when grilling crappie.  That works great for my family just don’t know they would work for a larger group.

buzd504

I'm not a fan of planks unless you are really going for smoke.  I'd get something like this:

Photo Egg

Walleye is my favorite fresh water fish.
I wish you luck. It’s a very delicate white fish. It’s great blackened or deep fried. But as mentioned above, tough to give quality advice not knowing how many you are cooking for.

sheetmetalpete

Thanks so much for the suggestions!  This is why I come here.  I'll let you know what comes of this 

Langner91

I would "grill" them in my lodge cast iron on the egg, with an inch of bacon grease in the pan and the filets coated in "shore lunch".  DANG!

sheetmetalpete

Langner91 said:

I would "grill" them in my lodge cast iron on the egg, with an inch of bacon grease in the pan and the filets coated in "shore lunch".  DANG!

Right?  These guys should know better than to ask for grilled fish.  We fry what we catch here!   

fishlessman

i would fry them, but you could grill them on lemon slices. make a sauce with lemon juice as one of the ingredients, plenty of white sauce recipes with big flavor out there. the other option would be foil packets, kinda think that would count in any place north as grilling and maybe easier to prep and cook. would still make a sauce

Hoster05

season them on both sides, toss them in a cast iron pan with a little added fat to prevent sticking, this will blacken the seasoning  then transfer to a grill mat or oven to finish them off.  They are very delicate and flaky.  hit with a dash of lemon juice before serving.   

Teefus

Grilling will ruin them. Roast (bake) them on foil indirect with a couple chunks of apple for flavor. Lightly butter the foil first and season the fish. Place on foil skin side down. Roast until flaky. Brush with melted butter lemon and serve. 

littlerascal56

We used to have big fish fries, and always breaded the filets in bread crumbs and dropped in a hot oil fryer till golden brown. They were “awesome”, moist & flaky.  

sheetmetalpete

I just got back - it's done.  This was for a country music event   One of the bands made this special request.  The caterers chose planked walleye as the method.  At the last moment I couldn't locate anything but cedar but a few technical hurdles aside, they seemed to turn out.

I used DP Raging River, a couple pats of butter and lemon slices on them.  As soon as I took them off they got packed up in foil containers and loaded on a bus for the band to eat on the road so no feedback.  Regardless I am not a fan of country music so I was happy to wrap things up and leave. 😂

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

jdMyers

Great job, and experience.  Cedar from ace hardware?

kl8ton

sheetmetalpete said:

I just got back - it's done.  This was for a country music event   One of the bands made this special request.  The caterers chose planked walleye as the method.  At the last moment I couldn't locate anything but cedar but a few technical hurdles aside, they seemed to turn out.

I used DP Raging River, a couple pats of butter and lemon slices on them.  As soon as I took them off they got packed up in foil containers and loaded on a bus for the band to eat on the road so no feedback.  Regardless I am not a fan of country music so I was happy to wrap things up and leave. 😂

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

Nice work.  I think I have a similar grill! Can't keep the heat in.  😉

sheetmetalpete

kl8ton said:

sheetmetalpete said:

I just got back - it's done.  This was for a country music event   One of the bands made this special request.  The caterers chose planked walleye as the method.  At the last moment I couldn't locate anything but cedar but a few technical hurdles aside, they seemed to turn out.

I used DP Raging River, a couple pats of butter and lemon slices on them.  As soon as I took them off they got packed up in foil containers and loaded on a bus for the band to eat on the road so no feedback.  Regardless I am not a fan of country music so I was happy to wrap things up and leave. 😂

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

Nice work.  I think I have a similar grill! Can't keep the heat in.  😉

I used hotel pan covers for that very reason.  They were done much quicker than I anticipated.

loco_engr

nice looking fishies right there!

WeberWho

@sheetmetalpete Winstock?

sheetmetalpete

WeberWho said:

@sheetmetalpete Winstock?

Yes sir.  And I don't like country music. 😂

WeberWho

sheetmetalpete said:

WeberWho said:

@sheetmetalpete Winstock?

Yes sir.  And I don't like country music. 😂

Lucky for you there wasn't any county music!



Sorry I couldn't resist. 



I can't stand today's pop country. So I'll partially agree with you! 

RyanStl

That looks like a fun cook. I have 4 cedar planks that have sat in my garage for several years. I need to use them