Fried Walleye & Potato Cakes With Creamy Dill Sauce

Hey folks,

It’s been a while since I last posted, though I have still been contributing with some picture taking for Carlene’s posts! Now that Christmas and all that is over it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Growing up with a father who fishes on a semi-professional level, Carlene and I are no strangers to the joys of fishing and eating fish (especially walleye)! So it’s about time we posted some walleye (or Pickerel as some call it) on the blog. I came across this unique fish and chips recipe a while back which provided my inspiration for this meal.

First I will start with the potato cakes:

Potato Cakes

• 4-6 Potatoes (I used red)
• ¼ White onion (diced)
• 3 Tbsp butter
• Garlic salt to taste
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Grate or julienne your potatoes into a large bowl and rinse them until clean. Once this is done, strain and press all of the water out of the potatoes, drying them further with paper towel then microwave on high for 5 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375°F after the potatoes are in the microwave. Once they are done in the microwave, mix all of the ingredients in, lightly coat a pan with olive oil and use a ½ cup to form your potato cakes and place them on your pan. I actually used a 1 cup measuring cup to make my cakes, but they were way too big and in hindsight, using a smaller size would have made better cakes. Cook these for about 30 minutes, checking to make sure they don’t get too brown.

Now onto the walleye:

Fried Walleye

• Walleye
• 2 Cups of breadcrumbs
• ½ Cup of parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp seasoning salt
• Flour
• Butter
• Eggs
• Salt & Pepper to taste

The quantity of this recipe will depend on how much walleye you have, but you can start with this amount. Fill a bowl with your breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, seasoning salt and salt and pepper, another with eggs and a plate with flour on it. Coat your walleye with flour, then eggs and lastly with the breading mixture. Once all your walleye is coated, get a nice big pan, melt enough butter so that the bottom is coated and begin cooking your walleye. Cook until the fillets begin to firm up, cutting a piece or two to check if the meat is white and flaky (and taste test of course!). Once it reaches this point you can take it out of the pan and hopefully your potatoes will be done too!

Creamy Dill Sauce

• 2 Cups of whipping cream
• ¼ Cup dill pickle brine
• 2 Pickles
• ¼ White onion
• Dill weed
• Veloutine (or any sauce thickener)

Here is something I have never tried before and decided to experiment with since there was some nearly expired whipping cream in the fridge. First grate your pickles and onions, cooking for a few minutes in your sauce pan until caramelization begins. Add the whipping cream, pickle brine and dill weed to taste, cooking on medium-high until it reaches a boil. Once it begins boiling add your sauce thickener until it reaches the desired consistency and take off heat.

That’s all! Put some sauce on your plate, a tasty looking potato cake and top with walleye and enjoy!

Bob