COOKIN' OLD SCHOOL: ONION-CRUSTED WHITE PERCH

There are some things that are timeless- like catching white perch in the winter, and then cooking a delicious fish dinner. Oh sure, white perch is fantastic from the fryer, but I am going old school:: Onion-Crusted White Perch

This time of year, largemouth are finicky, hunkered down in their holes with thoughts of pre-spawn dancing in their heads. Stripers are off limits in a lot of areas. But White Perch on light tackle? There's a day of fun followed by some good eatin'. The flesh of White Perch is a lot like the black bass of summer, so a lot of your black bass favorites would do just fine. But In the winter, I like to throw it back a great tasting, rib sticking, tummy warming favorite. Remember what mom used to throw on the green bean cassarole? RIGHT! Crispy onions! Here's what you need:

• 2 lbs fillets: This is not an exact science, if you want two fresh white perch fillets per person for four, you will need 6-8 perch by my estimate

• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

• Creole seasoning ( or Old Bay or whatever is your favorite. I use Emeril's Seafood Spice.

• 1 (6-ounce) package french-fried onions, finely crushed ( crushing is always the fun part)

• 1 cup mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish.

• Lemon wedges

Here's what you do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Lay fillets out in a ceramic baking dish just large enough to hold them.

• Brush with olive oil and dust with a little of the creole seasoning, Don't go crazy with this, you are going to put more in the sauce (see below)

• Sprinkle the tops with the crushed fried onions.

• Bake at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes or until fish begins to flake apart.

• MEANWHILE... Mix together the mayo, the one tteaspoon of creole seasoning and the horse radish. You are making a sort of cajun tartar sauce.

Puttin' it all together:

• Serve fish with creole sauce (on the side so people can sauce to their taste) and lemon wedges.

BON APPETIT!