Note from Tony Dean: Mort Bank lives in Bismarck, ND, and was the first to be inducted into North Dakota’s Fishing Hall of Fame. I feel proud to be in the same company since I am also an inductee. But Mort Bank can do more than catch fish.
He knows how to render a northern pike completely boneless in minutes - and turn it into some of the finest fare you can imagine. Let me say upfront, I have a long standing affinity for old Esox Lucius. The pike is a great fighter and might well be the best tasting of freshwater fish.
And I can’t think of a state that holds more lakes with great pike fishing than North Dakota as we enter the millenium.
But of all those lakes, Sakakawea is the best on the continent and offers some king sized pike, The fish we did at Mort’s restaurant was a chunky 8 pounder from Sakakawea.
Mort has spent most of his life in the restaurant business and now operates two great eating places, Space Aliens in Bismarck and Fargo. Great pizza, award winning barbecue ribs and more.
I stopped for lunch on my way through Bismarck one day, and Mort walked out and said, “Don’t order, I’ll take care of it.”
He served me blackened prime rib. Fantastic. So, the day after we enjoyed great pike fishing on Sakakawea, Mort offered Blackened Northern Pike at his restaurant the next day. It was worth staying over for.
Here’s a key tip if you want to try this. Do it outside, and once you do, you’ll understand why - and refrigerate your fish overnight before trying this - and let it warm for an hour before you start cooking. That prevents it from curling up when you prepare it.
By the way, any good Cajun seafood seasoning will do, but Mort markets the best I’ve had (I prefer Space Alien’s Cajun Seasoning to Chef Paul Prudhomme’s, if that means anything) and it’s available over the counter at his restaurants in Bismarck and Fargo, ND
INGREDIENTS - Serves Six
2 northern pike filets - 8 pound fish 2 pound unsalted butter Cajun Seafood seasoning Ranch dressing 20 cloves, minced garlic Romaine lettuce 2 large sliced tomatoes Six large sesame seed buns
PREPARATION
Start by heating a black, cast iron skillet. You must do this outside, unless your home is equipped with a commercial grade vent system. Why? There’ll be a lot of smoke. Do it in your kitchen and every smoke alarm in the house will go off.
Use either a propane gas stove, or if you want to use your gas grill, remove the cooking rack and place the pan directly on top of the cooking element.
Heat the black pan until it turns grayish white. On a gas grill, this will take about 45 minutes.
Cut each filet into three equal size pieces.
Combine one full pound of unsalted butter with the garlic and melt in a separate pan.
Sprinkle Cajun seafood seasoning heavily over the fish. Press the seasoning into the fish with a spoon. Turn the filets and repeat on the second side.
Prepare Cajun ranch dressing by adding Cajun seasoning to ranch dressing to taste.
When the pan is gray-white hot, dip the filets into the butter/garlic mix and then into the hot pan. Allow one minute of cooking per side. Remove from the pan. The filets will be blackened on the surface, but moist and delicious on the inside.
Place a filet on a half bun, along with a sliced tomato and lettuce, then spread the other half of the bun with Cajun ranch dressing.
Friends, this is the finest sandwich I’ve ever enjoyed. And one of these days very soon, we’ll add the recipe for Mort’s Cajun Gumbo.
