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I've never said "it tastes like chicken" in seriousness before. Until yesterday, anyway: I had a bite of redfish.

Mom cooked up the redfish according to two recipes: one using a "Cajun Magic" type of seasonings-in-a-shaker; the other using a mix of seasonings and spices. The latter tasted a lot like barbecued chicken, the former like wood-oven-roasted chicken (she didn't use enough spice to give it a real cajun kick).

I was afraid I wouldn't like the taste - I am not a big fan of perch, walleye, and some of the other less "fishy" fish, though I do like trout and steelhead quite a bit. This fish was good. I'll be keeping more redfish in the future. 🙂

Here's the recipe:

1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

- or -

A whole lot of your favorite cajun or "redfish" seasoning in a jar 🙂

1. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the smoking stage and you see white ash in the skillet bottom (the skillet cannot be too hot for this dish).

2. Pour 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter in each of 6 small cups; set aside and keep warm.

3. Reserve some butter for the skillet and heat the serving plates in a 250F oven.

4. Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Dip each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated; then sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the fillets, patting by hand.

5. Place in the hot skillet and pour 1 teaspoon melted butter on top of each fillet (be careful, as the butter may flame up). Cook, uncovered, over the same high heat until the underside looks charred, about 2 minutes (the time will vary according to the fillet's thickness and the heat of the skillet).

6. Turn the fish over and again pour 1 teaspoon butter on top; cook until fish is done, about 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining fillets.

7. Serve each fillet while piping hot. To serve, place one fillet and a ramekin of butter on each heated serving plate.