I didn’t really know much about crappie. Could be I still don’t, but I know I like it. I have occasionally pronounced it incorrectly – a word I wasn’t allowed to use as a kid. Out of respect for the little fish, I will try harder now.

I had the good fortune of receiving frozen crappie from Bill and Lyn Baldwin along with a few recipes. I love my job. I also love serving and eating healthy foods that are locally grown or raised.

When I was young, we’d go fishing and my mother would always fry the catch-of-the-day. It was very good – no complaints, but I love the delicate flavors of pan-seared and baked fish. The Baldwin’s sunfish, or crappie, had a wonderful mild flavor that paired nicely with fresh herbs and a firm texture that held up well in the oven. I tried the first recipe on Friday evening, and it tasted marvelous.

Crappie with Crab Meat Stuffing
2 lbs. crappie
2 6-oz. packages frozen crab meat
1/3 c. butter, melted, divided
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/3 c. celery, chopped
1/3 c. green pepper, chopped
2 c. bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1-2 Tbsp. mixed fresh herbs (like basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, chives)
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 lbs. shrimp
2 cloves garlic
Butter or olive oil to sauté in skillet

Thaw fish, crab meat and shrimp, if frozen. Drain well. Measure 1/4 c. butter into skillet. On medium-high heat, cook onion, celery and green pepper until tender.

In a separate bowl, combine crab meat, bread crumbs, eggs, herbs, 1 tsp. salt and pepper. Mix those ingredients with the cooked vegetables and turn off the heat.

Arrange crappie fillets on a baking dish. Brush with melted butter and spoon the dressing mixture over the top. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

When the fish is almost done, quickly sauté the shrimp with chopped garlic and butter or olive oil. Sprinkle with a scant amount of salt and pepper.

Remove fish from the oven and pour shrimp scampi over the top. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Now, I must be honest. I looked at crab meat at the store. I looked at the fake stuff too, but quickly put it down. Back to the real crab meat, I shuddered at the price. So I skipped it when making the above recipe. I’m sure it would have been fantastic with all the ingredients, but it was still fabulous without the crab.

That last bit about pouring the shrimp scampi over the fillets was the ticket. All that scampi loveliness soaking into the bread crumbs was sensational. Imagine it poured over cooked rice. Mmm, wish I had done that, but my side salad was a good healthy choice.

Other recipes for Crappie include:

Pan-Seared Crappie Fillets
1 stick butter
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried tarragon, crushed
1 lemon, juiced
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Place crappie fillets on a paper towel, pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Let the fillets come to room temperature.

Place a large non-stick skillet on the stove and sauté butter, onions, parsley, garlic and tarragon on high heat until caramelized. Place fillets in skillet and cook on high heat for exactly 2 minutes – no longer. Turn the fillets once – do not turn again – and cook until done.

While fillets are cooking, preheat oven-safe serving plates in oven. Place the done fillets on the warm plates. Pour lemon juice into the skillet. That will deglaze the pan and pick up all the yummy bits. Drizzle over the fillets.

Bill Baldwin recommends serving with freshly steamed asparagus and buttery-parsley new potatoes. I concur.

This last recipe sounds intriguing, I have never made Creole with so few ingredients. Definitely worth a try.

Crappie Creole
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
1 c. onion, chopped
24 ozs. vegetable juice or 32 ozs. tomato sauce
Creole seasoning, to taste (like Tony’s)
Hot sauce, to taste
1 lb. shrimp
1 lb. crappie

Cook flour and olive oil in a large pot, making a roux. Add vegetables and continue cooking until softened. Add vegetable juice or tomato sauce and season. Simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally as the mixture thickens.

Add shrimp and push them down to the bottom of the pot. Lay crappie on top and push them just under the surface of the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Baldwin says that you’ll know when it’s done.

I thoroughly enjoyed receiving those recipes – and the fish too! Crappie is a winner. In recipes, it could easily replace store-bought farmed tilapia or swai, usually raised in questionable conditions. Local crappie will be on our table more often. I may start fishing – in my spare time.

While rough-pruning the vineyard on Sunday, most buds on the cordon wire were still tightly closed. That’s good because I want to remove the long vines tangled in the trellis without disturbing those buds. The more tightly closed, the less likely they will be damaged by a whipping vine as I pull it free.

I’ve been working on that task every day possible and am only halfway through. Unfortunately, I noticed a few buds starting to swell at the end of vines and a couple of little green shoots as well. Bud burst this early in the season is worrisome – especially if we haven’t seen the last frost.

Since I’ve spent so much time outside, I’ve made crock pot dinners.

Italian Meat Loaf
1-1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. green pepper, chopped
1/3 c. bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. fennel seed, crushed
1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Mix tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano and basil together. Reserve and refrigerate 1/4 c. for topping the loaf later.

To the rest of the sauce mixture, add egg, onion, green pepper, bread crumbs and fennel. Mix well. Add ground meat and mix until combined.

Pat together a loaf in the crock pot, pressing the meat away from the sides of the cooker to keep it from burning.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7-9 hours or an internal temperature of 170 degrees. When done, spread reserved sauce over the top and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place cover back on the cooker and let sit for 10 minutes. The recipe makes about 8 servings.

Spicy Pot Roast
2-3 lb. roast
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 onions, 1-inch chopped
6-8 carrots 1-inch chopped
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 c. cooking liquid (wine, broth or water)

Heat the oil in a skillet at high heat and brown the onions and carrots. Once some brown occurs, move onions and carrots and spread over the bottom of the crock pot.

Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Sear all sides of the roast in the hot skillet until nicely browned. Then transfer the roast to the crock pot.

Mix together the dried spices and sprinkle over the top of the roast. I used a cup of broth to deglaze the skillet and pick up all the nice brown bits. Then pour the liquid into the crock pot on the sides – trying to avoid the spices on top.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7-9 hours. When done, remove roast and let rest. Skim fat off the top of the liquid in the crock pot. Then using an immersion blender, puree until the carrots, onions and liquid make a sauce.

I made smashed potatoes to go with the roast and the gravy was good over both.

I have an especially weedy asparagus patch that seems to get worse each year. Last Sunday afternoon I decided to tackle the 6×24-foot patch one-spade width at a time. After only having cleaned the first third a few hours later, I gave up exhausted and vowed to finish another day. I just don’t know how things get so out of hand.

There’s so much to do this time of year and I can’t believe that spring is almost upon us. I did get my tomato and pepper seeds planted. Hopefully the weather will be better this year and my garden will not be a swamp.

In a few weeks, I’ll start pruning my 650 grapevines and will need to simplify my life and my recipes. It is always good to have rice, beans potatoes and onions on hand for whipping up a quick dinner. I also picked up a teriyaki marinade to help cut corners.

Teriyaki Beef and Stir-fried Vegetables.
1/2 lb. beef, cubed
Very Teriyaki Sauce, to cover
2 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
2 carrots, chopped into thin slices
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 c. broccoli florets
1/2 small head of cabbage, shredded

Marinate the beef overnight in the teriyaki sauce. Drain the beef, reserving the juices and brown in oil in a wok or large pan. Remove the meat and add the onion, green pepper, carrots and celery. Stir-fry until tender.

Then add the broccoli, cabbage and beef. Add reserved marinade and cook until the cabbage wilts.

Serve over rice. Garnish with chopped cilantro and soy sauce.

I usually make more rice than we need, because it’s always good to have extra cooked rice. I served it with two meals this week.

Baked Cod with Rice
4 small cod filets
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. panko bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Season the cod with salt and pepper. Then dip it into combined lemon juice and butter. Then bread the cod with a mixture of the flour and panko bread crumbs. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until the fish is done.

I also roasted asparagus spears tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper while the fish cooked. Once again, leftover rice came in handy to serve with the meal.

In observance of the Lenton Season, I’ve been making vegetarian dinners. Going vegan would be too hard for us. I have old standbys like potato, tomato and red pepper soups – most have already appeared in this column.

I always like to try something new and looked around for a recipe that would use the broccoli I still have producing from my fall garden. The soup is very green and would be great for St. Patrick’s Day next month.

Broccoli Soup with Potato Wedges
4 medium-sized potatoes
4 slices of bacon
1 onion, chopped
6 c. vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground sage
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 head broccoli florets
2 c. fresh spinach leaves
1/2 c. heavy cream
Salt and Pepper, to taste
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Poke the potatoes with a fork and place in a microwave-safe container and cook for 5 minutes. Rotate the potatoes and cook 5 minutes more. Let cool.

In a stock pot, brown bacon. Remove the crispy bacon and let cool. Sauté onions in the bacon grease until soft. Add vegetable stock, bay leaf, celery seed, sage, garlic, broccoli and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and continue to cook about 15 minutes until the broccoli is tender.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes in quarters. Then scoop out most of the cooked potato leaving about 1/8-1/4 inch on the skins. Add the potato meat to the stock pot.

Place the potato skins (skin side up) on a roasting pan. Coat lightly with cooking spray and bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until they turn golden. Flip skins over and garnish with cheddar cheese.

Back to the soup: Remove soup from heat and working in batches, use a food processor or imersion blender to purée the soup until creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir in cream.

Chop the crispy bacon. Serve the soup garnished with bacon bits and a side of cheesy potato skins.

I also like a hearty soup that uses red peppers and beans. I don’t miss the meat.

Red Pepper Soup
2 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. roasted red peppers
1 small onion, diced
1/2 c. carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. lemon zest
1-2 tsp. lemon juice

Bring stock to a boil and add red pepper, onion, carrots and garlic. Simmer until vegetables are soft.

Purée vegetables and add beans, tomatoes and spices. Purée again and then pour all back into the pot. Bring to a simmer. Stir in lemon juice.

Serve garnished with your choice of sliced avocado, chopped cilantro or chopped green onions.