Fresh Flordia Fish

Well the last few week my family and I spent in Florida.  It was hot and sunny perfect summer weather for the beach.   I'm so luck that my husband likes to fish; even though he doesn't eat any of it. But none the less for most of our  lunches and dinners we were blessed with fresh fish.  Usually after sitting at the beach for a few hours I would come home to my fridge looking like this.

The question is what to do with a limited supply of seasonings and lack of a desire to spend a huge amount of time in the kitchen.  Well since the fish was so fresh, caught that day, not much needs to be done to it.  Sometimes I would cook our Florida Grunts whole.  I baked them for about 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven with butter, white wine, parsley and salt & pepper.  That served with a baked potato and veggie was heaven.  

Other times I heavenly seasoned the fish, usually a Red Fish, with salt, pepper, paprika & thyme.  Usually I grilled this very meaty white fish. Sometimes a quick broil with fresh herbs underneath  worked well too. 

However most of the time I pan fried the fish. Permit and Sea Trout really worked well for this preparation. I either dredged them in seasoned flour or in Italian style breadcrumbs.  They would cook in about 2-3 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the fish.  Also many times we had a few types of fish as you can see by this last picture. 

Since the meals were light I usually served a Chardonnay. At the grocery store they had a really good price on Chateau St. Michele.  Can't let that opportunity pass me by.    

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth