Stephencooks

Other smelt recipes   on Stephencooks:
• Pan Roasted
• With Pasta & Garlic

1 lb smelts, cleaned, headed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup fine corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
oil for frying

Mix the salt, the flours and the corn meal. Soak the smelts 30 minutes in cool water, then drain well. Dredge them in the flour/corn meal mixture. Allow them to rest for at least 15 minutes. Deep fry in 375º oil, a few at a time. Drain on a rack and keep warm in a 200º oven while doing subsequent batches. See deep frying information below.

Serve with lemon wedges and, if desired, tartar sauce. Here are two favorite recipes for tartar sauce:

Tartar Sauce 1

1/4 C Hellmans mayonnaise
6 green cocktail olives chopped
1/2 small onion, minced
1 T parsley, minced
lemon juice to taste
salt, hot sauce to taste

Mix all ingredients.

Tartar Sauce II

2 T Hellmans mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 T capers, minced
1 T Heinz sweet relish
3 T scallions, minced
1 T tarragon, minced
salt and hot sauce to taste

Mix all ingredients.

Note: deep frying at home can be dangerous. It can also produce unsatisfactory results. To avoid these outcomes, follow these rules:
• Be SURE whatever you put in the oil is really dry - wet items cause splatter, which can burn you or, even worse, throw a mist of oil droplets into the air that can easily and explosively catch fire.
• Never fill your pot more than half full of oil.
• Keep the oil temperature as constant as possible, between 350 and 375º.  Use a thermometer and fry in very small batches, since when you put food in the oil the temperature will drop quickly.
• Use a nice long set of tongs to put food in and remove it.
• Drain fried items on a rack, not paper towels.
• Avoid distractions when you're frying: you need to pay attention! A pot of 375º oil is at least as dangerous as a power saw, so treat it with the same level of respect!