Another Tiki Bar & Seafood Shopping

Yesterday for a late lunch we went to another of our favorite Tiki bars and restaurants, The Seagrass Waterfront and Resort, on the Homosassa River. I had bay scallops and Gary had Memphis style ribs.

 Here's the view from the outdoor patio where we had a late lunch.

For a while it threatened to pour from the heavens but we just got a little sprinkle.

We're heading back to Georgia today but not before we stop by our favorite fish market, Shelly's Seafood, to seafood shop and stock up for our freezer at home. Oh and we'll get some of Shelly's seafood dip, it's delicious.

If you're looking for fish recipes, click my recipe link at the top of my blog to see a few using some of the seafood I've purchased at Shelly's. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Gulf Catfish with Lemongrass Sauce

The other day we got gulf catfish at Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa. They were telling us many folks won't even think of eating catfish. I'm not sure of the reason, perhaps because catfish are bottom feeders in warm water. But gulf catfish is really good and not at all fishy as some may think. While Gary was at the fish market one crab climbed out of a bucket. Once one crab climbs out they all climb out. It was quite a feat for them to try and round up the crab without getting bit.

While I was at the farmer's market the other day they had lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus. I used to grow lemongrass in my California gardens and loved it so I got a few stalks to cook with. A Mexican visitor to my gardens told me his mother would make lemongrass tea for him if he had an upset stomach. Lemongrass is rich in vitamin A and the essential oil is used in soaps, perfumes, and as an effective non toxic insect repellent. Lemongrass should not be used by pregnant or nursing women since it stimulates menstrual flow and effects on babies nursing from breast milk are unknown.

I decided to combine the lemongrass with shallot, ginger and lime with a dash of chili pepper. I chopped up the ginger, shallot and lemongrass and sauteed them in some butter. My food processor and mortar and pestle are packed otherwise I would have used either to finely chop and blend the ingredients.

When the ingredients just started to brown I turned down the heat and covered the pan to soften them really well. When they were soft I poured them into a bowl and set them aside.

Meanwhile I squeezed the juice from two lines and added a scant half a teaspoon of Vietnamese chili garlic sauce stirred into the lime juice. Alternatively I could have added the chili lime juice to the saucepan and cooked it for a while longer with the chopped ingredients. I may try that next time.

In the same frying pan I melted a little more butter and added the catfish. I sauteed the fish on one side and turned it over.

After I turned over the catfish I sprinkled the sauteed ingredients over the fish and then poured the lime chili sauce over the top. While the fish was cooking I periodically spooned the sauce from the sides of the pan over the top of the fish.

I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this sauce is with the fish. All the ingredients combined into a perfectly melded flavor each one complementing the other. In fact the sauce was so good the next day I made mahi with the same sauce. I served the catfish with broccoli and brown rice and I spooned the extra sauce over the rice. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Sweet and Tangy Sheepshead

Yesterday we had fresh sheepshead a subtropical local fish purchased from Shelly's Seafood in old Homosassa. The image above for the fish was borrowed from the FDA site. Sheepshead diet consists primarily of crustaceans and mollusks and they have a mouth full of teeth to attest to that. I cut the fillets to fit in the pan, sprinkled them with dried cumin and dried chipotle pepper. While those rested I sauteed half a white onion in some butter. I pushed the onion to the sides of the pan and added in the sheepshead fillets.

When the fillets were brown on one side I turned them over and sprinkled them with a generous amount of freshly chopped cilantro. I poured in some fresh grapefruit juice, about 2/3 cup, and sprinkled in a little brown sugar. I cooked the fillets till a fork inserted in the thickest portion went in easily. Oh my the grapefruit and brown sugar really made this dish, even the onions were tasty this way. Somehow I neglected to take a photo of the finished fish; the photo above is before I turned them over or added the grapefruit and sugar. You'll just have to take my word for how good sweet and tangy sheepshead is. I served the fish with some rice and broccoli. I spooned the onions and juices over the rice. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Grouper Throats or Gruuper Waangs

Lots of folks say they don't like fish. Still others say they don't like to eat fish unless it's a fillet. They don't like dealing with the small bones which are often found in fish. I confess the small bones irritate me too, but not enough to not eat fish. The other day at our local fish market, Shelly's Seafood, I noticed one package of 'grouper throats'. Please don't get squeamish till you read the whole post. I've never heard of the throat of a fish being sold in a fish market. But then again I didn't know about fish cheeks till I went fishing as a young adult with a true fisherman. But that's another story.

Anyway, I'm pretty much willing to try anything in the food department at least once, so I decided to purchase the package of grouper throats. I neglected to take a photo of the throat before I cooked it, but it looked pretty much the same as you see on the plate in the first photo except it was white. I cooked the grouper throats in teriyaki sauce (pictured cooking above) made with low sodium soy sauce, ginger, shallot and brown sugar. I am here to tell you grouper throats taste just like chicken wings. Honestly, they were delicious. If I blindfolded you and had you taste them you'd swear they were chicken. Yes they had a bone but it was easy to eat around. The bone stayed intact and the flesh of the fish was firm just like chicken. There weren't any tiny or thin bones. See the bone below.

So if you ever have a chance to get grouper throats, don't hesitate. If you can, get a whole bunch of them because you are going to want more than one or two. You can pick them up with your fingers and eat them just like chicken wings. They are finger licking good. Grouper throats are wings, who knew. OK, I just did a search and it seems grouper throats are commonly known in Florida, how did I know. Well I'm calling them 'gruuper waangs' ha, ha. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

East Meets West Shrimp

A few weeks ago I mentioned using some Vietnamese chili garlic sauce; this sauce is my new best friend in the kitchen. The brand I'm using is Huy Fong Foods. Today I decided to use it with shrimp I planned to cook. Sorry some of the photos are slightly blurry, but when I'm cooking I have to hurry with the photos.

I put a cup of mixed brown rice on to cook. I happen to like Lundberg Family Farms Jubilee rice. Please see their website for information on the arsenic testing they are doing on their rice varieties. At my ripe age I doubt arsenic will affect my health. What you choose to eat or feed your children is an individual choice. I happen to think whole grain rice is better for me and I like the taste and I have confidence in this company's products. They are also participating in non GMO research and testing. Meanwhile I peel, de-vein, and butterfly about three quarters of a pound of medium sized white shrimp which I got at Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa. Then I cut up my broccoli and put in a pan ready to steam.

Meanwhile I melt a little butter in a large frying pan and soften about seven quartered mushrooms and set them aside. Then I saute one shallot and a one inch cube of fresh ginger chopped fine, and one red bell pepper chopped medium till softened and set those aside. Turn your broccoli on to cook about now. When the steamer starts to boil turn down to medium heat for two or so minutes then turn off the heat; the steam will finish cooking the broccoli and keep it warm. I like my broccoli al dente. Meanwhile check the rice, when almost all of the water is gone, stir, put the cover back on and turn off the heat.

I add two pats of butter to the same pan and sauteed the shrimp on medium heat with the butterflied side face down. You can slide the pan back and forth across the burner to improve the cooking. You know like you see the chef's on TV doing. Ha. I don't turn over medium sized shrimp, but large sized I probably would When the shrimp turns just slightly pink I drizzle one heaping teaspoon of the Vietnamese chili garlic sauce and two tablespoons of store bought Greek vinaigrette marinade over the shrimp. The vinaigrette may sound strange to use, but as it turned out it was just the right addition. Next I sprinkled the reserved mushrooms, peppers, ginger and shallots over the top and toss lightly with a spatula to warm everything up again. Don't over cook shrimp or they become tough and chewy.

At the last minute I add a tightly packed cup of cilantro and I toss gently till just mixed in and slightly wilted. I serve the East Meets West Shrimp with the rice and broccoli. This is so delicious and the unexpected addition of the vinaigrette helps to meld all the flavors together.

Several of my readers said they don't like cilantro. If so, you could add a quarter cup of flat leaf parsley or some other fresh herb of your choice. Gary said he used to dislike cilantro but now he says he loves it. I think cilantro is an acquired taste a bit like Brussels sprouts. The latter I like but Gary won't touch, at least not yet. Ha. Still working on that one, but probably won't succeed. This post is part of the Mud Colony what's happening in (and around) the studio. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Florida Stone Crab Season

It's stone crab season in Florida and other areas as well. I got one pound of floaters from Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa. Floaters are crab which are molting to the next size. There is less meat in the claw but they are also less expensive to purchase. Only one leg is harvested from the crab and they are returned to the gulf to grow another leg which they do quite readily much like a lizard can grow a new tail. Gary is allergic to crab so I had to eat them all myself dipping them in a little melted butter. Ha.

In other news the gopher tortoise is enlarging it's den for the winter season. The tortoise pushes his head up and pushes out the sandy soil.

The tortoise are also coming out later in the day when it finally warms up. I imagine they are fattening up in preparation for their winter slumber. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Ceramic Baker Oven Poached Pompano

An Environmental Ceramics Inc. fish baker designed and manufactured by Taylor and Ng circa mid 1970s was used for this recipe. Win Ng was a Chinese American sculptor, industrial designer, and illustrator whose early career focused on abstract work influenced by Peter Voulkos. He is best known for opening Environmental Ceramics which manufactured pottery sold in the department store Taylor and Ng he co-founded with Spaulding Taylor.

 The interior is glazed, exterior is unglazed, there is a small hole in tail for steam to escape.

I started with one whole cleaned pompano 1 1/2 pound fish and cooked shrimp to stuff interior. Shelly of Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa suggested I try pompano this week. What a good recommendation, thanks so much.

 Place shrimp in fish cavity and drizzle with Vietnamese garlic and red chili sauce.

 Chop one shallot, half cup or more of cilantro, one inch square of ginger, and juice two limes.

 Place stuffed pompano in ceramic fish baker.

Add one cup dry white wine, lime juice, and cilantro, ginger, and shallots sprinkled over the top. Put cover on fish baker and place in cold oven and set temp to 400 F, cook for 25 minutes. Immediately remove from oven.

Here is cooked pompano fish.

 Remove pompano from baking dish and reserve liquid in fish baker.

Remove shrimp stuffing and set aside, and peel skin from fish if desired. Skin is paper thin on pompano fish and little to no scales are present.

The BEST FISH I ever ate. Pompano is a mild buttery flavored white fleshed fish. I placed fish on plate with some of the shrimp stuffing, some rice and drizzled with juices from fish cooker, and a few black olives. The juices were superb drizzled over the top. There is one of these vintage cookers on Etsy (not my listing), if you love fish, get it and use it. You won't be disappointed using it. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Smoked Mullet

Mullet is a popular fish here in Florida. This species of fish can be found in many locations around the globe and is an important food source for many coastal communities. When we went to Shelly's Seafood in Homosassa the other day we got two pounds of mullet fillets so I could smoke them.

I marinated the fish overnight. For the marinade I used about half a cup of olive oil, one quarter cup of balsamic vinegar, juice of two limes, 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, some minced garlic, teaspoon of dried oregano, teaspoon of dried thyme, a teaspoon of dried rosemary, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, some salt and pepper, and some chipotle hot sauce  I whisked all the ingredients together and placed a small amount in the bottom of a glass baking dish, then a layer of fish, then a layer of the marinade and so on till all the fish was placed in the dish and topped it off with the remainder of the marinade. The idea is to cover the fish completely with the marinade. I covered the top with saran wrap and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day I removed the fish from the marinade and let them drain for about an hour at room temperature.   Usually the fish will get a nice sheen on them and then they are ready to put into the smoker.

I put them on tin foil and place on the racks of my Anuka Smoker. I added hickory chips to the smoking pan and I smoked them in my smoker for 35 minutes and let them sit for about 10 minutes after the smoker turned off.

We've been enjoying the smoked mullet all week long, plain, on crackers, all kinds of ways.

Thanks for reading and for all your comments. Hope you are having a relaxing holiday weekend.