On our last trip down to Florida visiting the in-laws, I was met with an interesting challenge. My Father-in-law caught this big ol red snapper the week prior and saved it for me so that he could see what his Son-in-law could do with it.
Never cooked a whole fish before. But I figured it would be as good a time as any to grill it. However due to the monsoons that drenched the panhandle that weekend, I had to resort to baking. Here’s what I came up with.
1 Red snapper, gutted but whole
1 Lemon, sliced and then halved
1 Pound of crab meat
1 Pound of jumbo shrimp peeled
4 chives (spring onions) chopped
Half sweet vidalia onion, chopped
Old bay seasoning
Garlic
Pepper
Sugar
Nutmeg
Tiger Sauce (awesome sauce, click the link to see more info)
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Your favorite mixed seasoning salt. I don’t remember exactly what they had but it was some kinda of garlic pepper season salt
First saute the shrimp in the tiger sauce and sweet vidalia onions. Pay close attention to not cook the shrimp all the way. You only want to cook it half way. Stir constantly to keep from over cooking. After slightly pink, remove from pan and place in bowl.
Mix crab, old bay, garlic, chives, lemon juice, nutmeg (not too much), and sugar (I didn’t measure, but a few tablespoons, trust me, it sounds weird with crab, but nobody’s complained yet) in a large bowl. Start off light with seasoning and then add to taste. After well mixed, add shrimp and toss. This allows the shrimp to keep its “tigery” flavor while mixed with the crab.
Now for the fish. Cut 5 slices about an inch deep along the both sides of the fish. See pic in slideshow for location. Coat fish with olive oil. Using the mixed seasoning salt and garlic, rub the seasoning all into the slits and in the cavity of the fish. If you’re grilling, this will give you a nice tasty crust, man I can’t wait to try this on the grill. Rub a decent amount into the slits as it will permeate thru the fish while cooking. Next add the lemon slices to the slits and repeat on the other side. Add the crab/shrimp combo into the cavity, and loosely wrap with foil. If you’re grilling, use banana leaves or a cedar plank if you can find one big enough. Bake at 375 for about 20 mins. Check for doneness. I didn’t really know how long to cook it, I think we ended up broiling it at first for 10 mins and then baking it for 15 minutes. You can tell its done when you see the underside of the fish’s belly look nice and white, its the exposed meat from the side closest to the pan.
You should be able to cut it lengthwise around the spine and just pull the meat off in planks. and then when the top half of the meat is eaten, just grab the spin and pull upwards, the rest of the bones should come out letting you have free range with the meat underneath. Enjoy!
grillsidestories 