Hey Folks - I did some fishing for Black Drum this season off of Cape May. We did extremely well pulled in a lot of big bulls. We only kept one a piece. I have a good bit of filet in the vac seal and about 6-8 racks of "fish ribs".

I've done some of the filet on the grill in teriyaki style marinade that I like to use for bluefish and swordfish. Came out very good.

This flesh is dense, white, but has a texture very similar to veal or pork. I have lots of different ideas after this cook for the filets.

For the ribs I know in the Mid Atlantic to South locals and some restaurants do the rib racks too and am lookig to see if anyone has a regional method used for prepping them. I do have a book or two that addresses fish ribs in general, but wondering if someone may be familiar with how these are typically prepped in season.

Any ideas welcome though.

BTW - googling for Black Drum images to post I tripped across a good one for your reference:

Black Drum

Some of the ones we caught were 80lb. We caught about 20 or so with about another 10 that got loose. We released all of them except about 5 or 6. Smallest was 40 lb.

Looks similar to the Freshwater Drum (Sheep-Head) that we catch on lake Windybago around here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum

I have not tried them myself, but some Chinese friends of my folks say that they work great for Asian recipes that call for bony fishes (fish balls, etc.)

Since they're sort-of like a Carp, but cleaner - I'll bet that they would be good brined & cold-smoked if you have the facilities to do so. (Particularly, early in the year, when you can catch 'em out of colder water.)

Other ideas?