Skate - Good!!

[Steve]

Ok, was in this fancy-dancy French eatin' house today and saw Skate on the menu.
Alright, so I'll "bite".

Ya know, I can't believe I've been throwing all that good eatin' back in the water, that thing was GREAT!
Kind'a stringy like lobster and had a taste like shellfish, only sweeter.
I'm going out on a limb here and say it tasted better than Drum.

Add some pepper or whatever you want to some flour and coat the filet with olive oil. Put a light coating of flour on the filet.
Braise for 3 minutes each side in the pan and finish it off in the oven, 350 for 7 minutes.
I'll try it next time I catch one, if I can get it skinned....

[Charkbait]

I've heard from several sources that when you receive large scallops at a restaurant or shop they are actually skate. They punch it out with a cookie cutter type thing. Scallops don't really get that big. Same texture as lobster. I'm giving the next one a shot. We caught some stingrays in SC and the thought crossed my mind.

[Charkbait]

ok, I just myth bustered the skate wing thing...not true, sorry.

Next time try keeping one wing and tossing the rest out for bait, can't hurt.

[mdram]

[quote user="Charkbait" post="6013"]ok, I just myth bustered the skate wing thing...not true, sorry.

Next time try keeping one wing and tossing the rest out for bait, can't hurt.[/quote]

i always thought that too

but read this, lol

Q: Are skates really used to make "imitation" scallops?
A: The long-held myth that skate wings are often cut into pieces to be sold as scallops is one of those "believe it or not" stories that was never a common practice. The unusual bands of muscle fibers in skate wings would make it very difficult to produce a product that remotely resembles a scallop. In addition, this process would probably be so labor intensive that the resulting product could make the product cost almost as much as the real scallop that it was intended to imitate. Although the myth is untrue, it does pay homage to the sweet and appealing shellfish-like taste of skate.

[mdram]

oh wait i found this




Winter skates are taken primarily as bycatch in the trawls of the ground fishery in the Gulf of Maine and are not the target of a directed fishery. The pectoral "wings" are considered a delicacy in some regions of the world and are used to make imitation scallops.

from
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Galler...nterSkate.html

[Steve]

Maybe in THAT part of the world they use them for that purpose. Or just maybe the reporter has also fallen for the scallop myth.....

Kind'a like the MYTH that a shark can detect one drop of blood in an olympic-sized pool.
Sure, if you drop it on his nose he can....

Same kind'a perpetuated grand myth.

All I know is that it WAS Skate that I ate and it was EXTREMELY good eatin'!

[Sam]

I wish more people would start eating them so I would catch less. :-)

[ben23]

based on those texas gulf guys, i think the sharks love them too

has anyone cut of the wing of a skate and used it for sharkin?????

[Sam]

I have tried strips of skate with no luck. But I have also tried the small rays. They are very bloody and stay on a hook really well. I'll be trying it again this year.

[Steve]

I chucked a wing out a couple weeks ago, no takers. It was daytime so I don't think too many were feeding. Even though Coop caught a nice one....

[Skylar]

http://www.worldseafishing.com/tips/prepareskate.shtml



How to Become a Better Angler



By Mike Thrussell



If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s fish being killed for food and then wasted through bad preparation.



This applies more to skate wings than any other fish. Anglers constantly tell me that their skate tastes of ammonia, and it will if you don’t prepare it properly.



Here’s the correct way to prepare skate wings for cooking.



A soon as you catch a skate you want to take for eating, then humanely kill the fish with several sharp blows between the eyes with something heavy.



Take a sharp knife, not a filleting knife but a strong bladed type that will not bend when pressure is applied. Make sure the knife is extremely sharp. Steel is best for this.



1. Turn the skate over on to its back tail towards you and hold the tail with a rag to protect the hands. Draw a straight imaginary line running from the front of the wing, just to the outside of the gills, and down to the bottom of the wing adjacent to the tail. Put the knife through the base of the wing at the start of the imaginary line. Now cut away from you and upwards through to the side of the gills and further through to end of the imaginary line just slightly to one side of the nose.



2. The knife will inevitably hit the thorns on a thornback and you’ll need to cut round these as the root of the thorns is ultra tough. There is also hard cartilage around the middle of the wing where it joins the body and this again takes some getting through. Repeat to remove the opposite wing.



3. Now, the most important part. Place the cut wing on something flat with the wings cut edge towards you. Put the point of the knife in just underneath the skin at one end and slide the knife across the flesh at a sideways angle just underneath the skin to separate it from the flesh. Do this across the whole wing slowly until the skin at the front can be lifted upwards. Hold the skin in the left hand and repeatedly slice away underneath it along the whole length of the skin further back across the wing until you get to within a couple of inches (5cms) of the extreme outer edge of the wing. Turn the wing over and repeat.



4. If you now look at the white flesh underneath the skin on both sides you can see this forms a half moon shape. With the knife, start at one end and cut out the shape of the half moon tight to where the skin is still attached. You will know have a half moon shaped wing of just flesh and wing cartilage with no skin attached. Just like you buy it in the shops.



5. Preferably, place this in a plastic bag inside a freezer box with ice blocks until your return home. Once home, place the wings in fresh tap water with lots of salt added and place it in the fridge for 24 hours. The skate is now ready for cooking. The flesh is white and has no ammonia taste. The ammonia is in the skin. Also there is no slime as again the slime comes from the skin.



6. I’m no Rick Stein, but you can bake it in silver foil with a little butter and black pepper, fry it in light hot oil, grill it with some light seasoning on top, or my preference is to risk the cholesterol and fry it in good old beer batter until golden brown.



Enjoy!
__________________
----------------------------

Roger

[Coop]

alright,,,next sizeable one I catch, I am keeping,,,gotta try it,,,now I will never catch one because I want one.

[Steve]

Ok, so has anyone caught a big enough Skate or Sharpnose yet???

[igormothra]

We grilled up a Sharpie with Skylar that one night, little bit of butter(ok lots) salt and pepper tasty!!! didn't hurt that he was still wriggling when we put him on the grill.

[Coop]

Still looking for my first skate to eat,,,like I said in post #12,,,now that I want to catch one, I'll never catch one.