Skunks & Groupers & Brats (Oh my.)

Greetings Constant Readers...

I have a few goodies to share with you before tiffin...
(And we take tiffin pretty durn early in these parts, Buckaroo...)

First-
James B, known far and wide as The Skunk, maniacal sports boffin and surfer-dude has taken an option on some real estate in the Blogosphere...
I've worked with The Skunk and his Minions (especially Christo) at a couple US Open events during my tenure at IDS... He has an interesting (but very valid) take on some service vendors in our industry.
His rantings can be found at The Mighty Skunk. You can also find his business site here...

Welcome to the party, Skunk-man.

(And thanks to Spongemark for the tip...)

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So...
I got the hankering for some fish the other night and decided instead of going to the local seafood joint, ordering grouper and getting some overpriced mystery fish, I'd make my own fried grouper.
I went up to Safe Harbor Seafood in Mayport and picked up a couple nice fillets at about half what the more convenient fish markets were charging....
They don't have a website that I could find, but listen to Uncle Jay: You want great shrimp or fish- go to Safe Harbor Seafood Market, 4378 Ocean St, up in Mayport.
(904 246-4911)

How'd I cook it?
A couple different ways...
A dusting of flour on the fillet, heat up butter and a tablespoon of canola oil in a heavy frying pan on Med-Hi heat, and pan fry for about 3 minutes on one side. Flip and fry for two more minutes and then check to see if it's done- toothpick in the thickest part of the fillet...
If there is any resistance going through the fillet it needs more time...
A squeeze of lime juice and a few capers thrown on at the last minute- and when you plate it, make sure you put some of the pan sauce on the top of the fillet...
Mmmmm!

Option two was deep fried grouper fingers...
(Bet you didn't know groupers had fingers, did ya?)
Cut the fillet into thick finger portions.
Mix some of your favorite seasoning and a cup or two of flour in a large zip-top bag...
Throw the the fingers in the bag, zip it up and shake to coat the fingers in flour.
beat two eggs in a wide shallow bowl and dip the fingers in the egg mixture, then dredge them in panko bread flakes...
(I get my panko at Publix in the international food section.)
Fry the fingers a few at a time in canola or peanut oil at 350 for 5 or 6 minutes.
Remove from the oil and let them dry and cool just a bit on a rack.
Don't stack them on top of each other immediately, or let them sit on paper towels; They'll just re-absorb any residual oil that is coming off the surface.
The panko is a great crust- the texture is amazing. And for leftovers, it reheats really well. Try the panko next time you fry some fish... Great stuff.

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Bratwurst?
Well, you don't go looking for sushi in Germany...

So... I'm off to Koln.

The NBA is doing 4 games in Cologne Germany next week, so I'm off to make sure that all will be right in ESPN-world, and the overall scoring and stats for the game.
Looked at a calendar lately?
Can you say "Oktoberfest?"

Well... Constant Readers will know I'm not exactly a beer guy, and I'll probably be forced to drag along an emergency stash of Captain Morgan, but I can guarantee there will be some misbehavior in Koln next week.

And there will be photos.

Stay tuned.

Berühmt, aus!