Town manager also prize-winning cook

DEXTER — Finding a better way to fry a freshwater fish has resulted in Steve Whitesel, Dexter’s town manager, winning a national recipe contest.

Batter-dipped fish, dripping with oodles of oil, has long been the prefered way to cook game fish. Tastes great, fishermen will tell you, but one bite can send cholesterol levels skyrocketing. On the other hand, a plain ole’ broiled fish dressed up with a squirt of lemon lacks a-“lure”, especially if the fish is, well, fishy in taste.

With this in mind, Whitesel developed a recipe for freshwater catches that is both low in cholesterol and gourmet in taste. His creation resulted in his winning a national recipe contest, sponsored by the NatCom Inc. fishing magazine publishing group.

“Like everyone else these days,” Whitesel said, “I’m concerned about cholesterol. Most recipes you see are for fish dipped in egg batter and then deep-fried, which is terrible for your health. This recipe tastes great, yet is low-cholesterol.”

Whitesel’s recipe for crappie, a fish that doesn’t get all that much glory as a food fish, was featured in a recent issue of Crappie magazine.

“And it’s pronounced `CRAW-py,”‘ Whitesel stated for the benefit of those who can’t tell the difference between a trout and a flounder.

“You can catch crappie by the bucketsfull, but people usually throw them back because they don’t think that they are good to eat,” he continued.

The fish in this part of the country also are known as speckled bass or spotted trout and really are not highly prized by area fishermen, he said. But perhaps if people learn that there are better ways to cook the fish, its popularity may improve, emphasized Whitesel.

Chicken or other fish may be substituted for the crappie fillets in the recipe. Town office personnel have given the dish high marks when chicken has been used as the main ingredient.

Gourmet Crappie 2 pounds crappie fillets Buttermilk 2 sweet peppers (red, yellow or orange), cut in strips 1 large yellow onion, sliced 2 pressed garlic cloves 1 tablespoon of olive oil large carton of egg substitute 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon of basil

1/2 teaspoon of rosemary Olive oil (extra virgin), if possible 1 cup chenin blanc, or other wine of your choice Linguine (or other pasta) cooked and hot with garlic butter

Soak fillets in bowl of buttermilk for one hour in refrigerator to remove oil taste. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat and add peppers, onions and garlic. Saute until slightly crisp — remove to bowl and keep warm. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, basil and rosemary in bowl and mix thoroughly. Dip fillets in egg substitute and coat completely with bread crumb mixture. Heat oil in same skillet used for peppers and onions to medium-high and place fillets in pan. Saute until brown on one side, (about four minutes), then pour half of wine around edge of pan next to fish. Turn fillets and continue to saute, adding wine as necessary until fillets are brown and flesh is opaque, (about four minutes). Serve with garlic-buttered linguine, the pepper and onions mixture and rolls.