10/9/12 Lake Marion | The Woodsman Hut | Forums

if you're looking for something else to do with pike besides fileting, try this.....

it's from field and stream, i can't find the link but here's the recipe. you don't have to worry about the bones because the brining dissolves them. great for deer camp with summer sausage, cheese, crackers, etc. the jars look cool in your pantry, too. i just pressure canned them according to a mason blue book recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. or so northern pike fillets, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 cup kosher salt

1 qt. distilled white vinegar

¾ cup sugar

1-inch piece fresh horseradish, peeled and thinly sliced

4 slices fresh ginger, about the size of a quarter

4 whole cloves

2 Tsps. Whole allspice berries

2 Tsps. Whole yellow mustard seeds

½ tsp. whole black peppercorns

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

3 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1) Make a brine by combining the salt with a quart of water in a Mason-type glass jar. Add the pike to the brine and soak for 24 hours. Discard brine; replace with a quart of vinegar, and soak for an additional 24 hours. Remove the fish, reserve 1 cup of the vinegar for use in the pickling solution, and refrigerate.

2) Combine the reserved cup of vinegar with ½ cup of water and the sugar in a nonreactive saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

3) In a 1 qt. Mason jar, add a quarter of the fish, then some of the spices and sliced carrot and onion; repeat with the remainder of the fish, spices, and vegetables so that the ingredients are evenly layered. Pour the vinegar mixture into the jar. Cover tightly and refrigerate to allow the flavors to develop.