Redneck Gourmet

Baked Carp

   It’s hard to fish down home without hooking a carp every now and them. Most people just throw them back but if you’re really desperate for a fish diner there are ways of fixing them. I’m not saying anything bad about those folks that actually like carp but since I’ve heard them call Sewer Trout all my life you can see why I’m not real fond of them myself. The following is for one carp. How many it will feed depends on the size of the carp. The one I tried this with was about twenty five pounds which is a pretty normal size for Deepfork Bottoms.

1 Carp, cut off the head and remove the guts but leave the skin on.

A hand full of bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

2 lemons

1 lime

Cooking oil

Hold the carp open and douse him good with the salt, pepper and the juice from one lemon and half the lime then stuff the bay leaves inside him. Lay him out on a large piece of oiled tin foil and squirt the rest of the lemon and lime juice on him. Wrap him up good in the tin foil and shove him in a pre heated oven set for 250 degrees for about an hour.

Once he’s done you can pretty well peel the skin off him and dig most of the meat away from the bones. Hot sauce works pretty well on the meat and will help hide the muddy flavor. Add mashed taters and some corn to the meal and it will at least fill you up.