Cooking and eating good food together is a celebration of life to me. So here are a few things that I like to do with seafood down here on the beach where fish and shellfish are plentiful and fresh

Linguini Sol e Mare

This is a very Tuscan way of doing pasta and seafood combining ingredients from the sun and sea. 

            1 lb. shrimp peeled and deveined

            ½ lb. bay scallops

            ½ lb. calamari rings

            ½ cup sun dried tomatoes

            ½ cup calamata olives

            2 cloves fresh garlic minced

            Extra virgin olive oil

            3 tbsp. butter

            Linguini

Pecan Crusted Fish Fillets

You can use flounder, grouper, scamp, snapper or any light, delicate fish for this dish.

            Fish fillets ½ to ¾ inches thick. Enough for 4 people

            1 cup finely chopped pecans

            1 cup bread crumbs

            Oil for frying

            2 eggs

            1 tbsp. water

            2 cups flour    

Combine bread crumbs and pecans mix well. Heat oil to medium hot or around 360 degrees. Combine water with eggs and beat well. Dip fillets in egg, dredge through flour, then coat evenly with pecan/bread crumb mixture. Cook in hot oil until golden brown on each side.

Stuffed Flounder

Flounder fishing is one of my favorite things to do. This is one of those dishes your friends will be trying to steal the recipe.

            2 flounder fillets (4 if they are small)

            1 lb. lump crab meat

            12 oz. chopped spinach or 1 package frozen spinach drained well.

            8 oz. cottage cheese drained

            2 tbsp. fresh minced garlic

            4 to 5 leaves of fresh basil or equal amount of dried.

            1 tsp. crushed red pepper

            2 slices of bacon

Combine crab meat, spinach, cottage cheese, garlic, basil and crushed red pepper for a stuffing. Mix well. Place 1 fillet (or 2 small ones) in a buttered casserole dish Spread a generous amount of  the stuffing (about a ½ inch) on the fillets. Place the remaining fillets on top of the stuffing. Spread the remaining stuffing over the fillets. Place dish in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove dish and place the bacon on top of the fillets. Put it back in the oven on broil until the bacon is seared and sizzling. Serve immediately.

Creamy Bisque

            Try this with crab, shrimp, or lobster. Serve with crusty French bread or as a starter for a special meal.

                        2 tbsp. butter

                        2 tbsp. sliced green onion

                        1 cup sliced mushrooms

                        1 clove minced garlic

                        1 can chicken broth

                        1 lb. crab meat, peeled and deveined shrimp, or chopped lobster

                        3 tbsp. flour

                        ½ cup half and half

                        ¼ cup white wine

            In a 3 quart pot over medium heat melt butter, cook mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth and seafood and heat to boiling. Meanwhile, in a cup stir together flour and half and half until well blended. Stir into broth mixture and reduce heat. Stir until bisque boils and thickens. Add wine. Ladle into bowls and serve with freshly grated parmesan on top (optional).

Fish the Florida & Alabama Gulf Coast with Captain Darrel

Capt. Darrel’s’ inshore fishing charters to the back bays and back waters of Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Pensacola, Pensacola Bay, Pensacola Beach, Navarre, Perdido Bay, and Pensacola Naval Air Station. Catch speckled trout, red fish, flounder, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, shark, king mackerel, sheep head and more.