Background
I grew up fishing Lake Ontario for Yellow Perch, Rock Bass, and Smallmouth Bass with my dad. When I was old enough to handle a knife, my Dad taught me how to clean my catch. Back then we cleaned them the traditional way by scaling them, removing the head and the entrails.
Later, someone taught my Dad how to fillet fish and he passed it on to me. The Butterfly Fillet method came about after years of filleting fish. After catching an especially fine example of a Rainbow Trout and wanting to honor my catch, as well as the people I planned on serving it to, with an over-the-top stuffing. Now I've Butterfly Filleted so often it's hard to clean fish any other way.
How to:
The Butterfly Fillet method works best on fish in the Trout, Salmon, Char family - it removes the meat from the fish in one piece, without removing the head, tail, or entrails. You end up with one virtually boneless piece of meat in about the same amount of time it would take you to clean one the traditional way.
Caring for your catch:
A good meal starts with a good product. If your fish hasn't been properly cared for the meal probably won't be as good as it could be. I live in California where the summer temperatures get over 100 and the surface temperature of the lakes can be like bath water. The cold water species we're discussing are fatty fish, which can spoil quickly. If I catch a fish from 100 feet deep where it's nice and cool, put it on a stringer and drag it behind a boat all day in 70+ degree water - isn't an ideal situation. By putting fish immediately on ice in the ice chest to keep it cool. Pour the ice in the sink and put the bag of fish on top of the ice and remove the fish one at a time to clean them then put the meat back on ice untill you ready to do something with them, will insure a fine meal.
Over-The-Top Fish Stuffing
You are going to have to gauge the quantity of the stuffing that you'll need.
For several smaller fish or one large (say 5#)
2 small cans of tiny shrimp - drained
2 small cans of Crab Meat - drained
1/2 to 1 Cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
1 minced green Onion
2 chopped Mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped Italian/Flat Leaf Parsley
1/4 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese cut into 1/4 cubes
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
On a large fish be sure to remove the pin bones (run your fingers from front to back, across the highest ridges of the meat to feel them) use tweesers or small needle nose pliers to pull them straight out. On smaller fish the pin bones are small enough to not be a choaking hazard and in most cases never noticed.
Put a layer of foil on a cookie sheet and spray with nonstick spray. Lay the fish on the foil. Salt & Pepper the inside of the fish. With your hands spread the stuffing across one half of the fish. More stuffing will fit in the belly cavity. Lay thin slices of cold butter on top of the stuffing. Fold the unstuffed half of the fish over the stuffed half. At this point you can see how well the stuffing fits. You can take some out or add more, pack some into the opening at the fish's back. Salt & pepper the top of the fish's skin and put thin slices of cold butter on top.
Bake at 350 - time is determined by the size of the fish smaller fish will take 20-30 minutes a large fish ill take 45min to 1 hour. Half way through I like to spoon the melted butter from the cookie sheet over the fish. I like my fish a bit on the dryer side so I pull it out when the skin is starting to brown and the exposed part of the meat is firm and slightly dry.
Presentation - visual presentation is part of the dining experience. On smaller fish a long thin spatula/icing spreader under the length of the fish can support it from cookie sheet to plate. On a larger fish lifting the foil from cookie sheet to serving platter then removing the foil in pieces works best. Now is a good time to remove the remaining fins, simply pull them out.
When carving a large fish it's best to use a serrated knife it cuts through dried skin better with minimum amount of distortion. Use a flat spatula pressed firmly against the end of the fish, then slice. Use the knife to help flop the slice onto the spatula, and serve. For young children and elderly - the portion of fish past the ribs to the tail is the safest section to serve if bones are a concern.
