Chad brought back several flounder from Louisiana and he froze them. When they stopped by here on their way home from Louisiana, he asked me if I wanted to stuff one for Sunday when they were going to eat with me so I told him I would. They had boiled crawfish a couple of nights while in Louisiana and had picked out the meat from the leftovers and froze that so he gave me that to use. And, he brought me 15 pounds of shrimp so I had everything I needed except crabmeat, which I was able to buy here.
I told Chad . . it’s a good thing I’m not a wimp because I had to cut the head off the fish (though some people leave it on) and I had to scrape the scales of the fish.
I’m sure I’ve told this story before but growng up in southwest Louisiana, girls and boys learned to clean fish as soon as it was safe or them to use a knife. Vince and I got married and that first spring, he rented a cabin at some crappe fishing place. He also got a fishing guide and he and Chad went out fishing all day with this guide. They all caught their limit and the guide gave us his fish. They got back to the cabin just before dark as I recall. The guide dropped them off and left so we all went down to the fish cleaning station. Vince looked at me and . .
Vince: Do you know how to clean a fish?
Me: Yes, do you?
Vince: No!
Me: Good grief. Give me the filet knife.
Vince: I don’t have a filet knife.
Me: What kind of knife do you have?
Vince: Whatever is in the kitchen at the cabin.
Thankfully the guy in the cabin next door had a filet knife and he let us borrow it, though I would have preferred an electric knife. Vince and Chad ended up going back to the cabin. I stayed at the fish cleaning station and cleaned fish til 2 a.m.
That is a story I never let Vince forget!
Back to Chad’s flounder. Chad is an excellent cook and probably for the first time I can ever remember, I felt a little intimidated cooking for Chad.
I also made a Blend of the Bayou casserole which has shrimp, crab, crawfish, rice, cream cheese, cream of mushroom soup. I’ve made that for probably at least 40 years and it’s so good.
Chad went on and on about how good the fish and casserole were and I think he genuinely loved it so that made me happy.
Donna Williams says
That brings back memories! Daddy was a fisherman and we learned early on. At first it was a spoon for scales and a filet knife, so much better when electric knives came along. I do miss fresh crappie, bream, and bass filets. Glad you got to get some fresh fish. Also can relate cooking for eldest. Your dish looks fabulous.
Joyce says
That looks really good! My father usually fished for blue gill. Our cat always stayed close by when he cleaned fish in hopes of snagging something tasty… I haven’t had local caught fish in years. I miss the old-fashioned fish fries my grandparents used to have in the summer. Fresh fish, hushpuppies, German potato salad, coleslaw. (I’m making myself hungry! LOL)
Sara says
Oh my – that looks fabulous! It looks and sounds restaurant quality. I never learned to clean a fish and have never caught a fish. But I sure love to eat them.
Cindy F says
Wow that fish looks fantastic! I haven’t cleaned fish in probably 40+ years! I’m going to have to look up that casserole dish you mentioned. That sounds great too!
Janet Bland says
My husband loves to fish. We had probably been together 15 years before I realized he hates to clean fish. We were in Floriday and he had caught a mess and was about to have a fit trying to clean them. I told him to take them back to the dock and pay the guys there to clean them. Life’s too short not to enjoy your hobbies.