Prime Cuts

Recently I went Striper fishing with a few friends around Mystic, CT waters  We had a little luck with a few bass, more than a few large fluke, and summer flounder caught.  We fished from around seven in the morning until one in the afternoon, and after the fishing was over we weren’t ready to go home and call it a day.  So, we decided that the best thing to do was get a few simple supplies for a barbecue with the fresh fish we just caught, get a few beers, and then find a beach with a grill, go for a swim and cook up our catch.   And that’s exactly what we did.

What follows is the recipe for the cookout we had that day which, in my opinion, is the best beach food I have had in years.

The supplies for the beach barbecue:

12 small flounder filets (caught earlier and cleaned on the boat by the mate)
Recycled Aluminum foil
Lemons
Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter
Salt
6 ears of corn

The cookout on the beach:

For beach cookouts in general I suggest not using utensils at all but rather eating with your hands.  When you feel the need to, just rinse them off in the ocean water.  However, in this situation it is preferable to have a medium sized knife around for prep.

Get your grill hot and clean while you prepare the fish for grilling.  Start by getting 6 large squares of foil separated.  In the center of each one put a small pat of butter and lay on top two of the fish filets.  Top the fish with hand crushed cracker pieces, another pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon, and pinch of salt.   Bring the edges of foil together and fold to create a loosely sealed packet.  Next, prepare your corn by simply removing any loose pieces of husk, and then cut off the top inch of the ear along with the majority of the silk.  Use your hands to remove any more loose strands you find.

Get your grill heat to medium to medium/hot and begin by placing the prepared corn, husk and all, directly on the hot parts of the grill.  Several things are now going to happen to the corn…As the heat builds up on the corn as a whole it will begin to steam itself in its husk.  As some moisture is lost from the steaming liquid the sugar and sweetness begins to concentrate.  Char will also start to develop, the husk will become black and begin to break apart.  Some of this char on the actual kernels themselves is desirable, as carmelization, but too much is a bad thing.  You want to try to get an even blackening of the whole husk without too much of it breaking apart.  Once evenly blackened remove the corn from the grill and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before peeling.  Be sure to remember to use a dry kitchen towel for peeling since you just steamed the corn on a very hot grill.

While the corn is resting, place the flounder packets on the grill but off of the direct heat and lower to medium to medium/low heat.  Cover the grill and let cook for 5 minutes.  At this time you want to check on one of the packets by carefully opening it and checking to see if the top of the fish has whitened with cooking at all.  If so, and it is beginning to firm up, open all the packets an inch or so, to let moisture out, re cover the grill and cook another 5 minutes.   This will allow a bit of time for the crackers to dry out and become crispy, and the fish will not cook as quickly, is it is no longer being steam grilled. Remove the fish from the grill, and let rest for 5 minutes.

While your fish is resting peel the charred corn husks off the corn and wipe clean, season with butter and salt, and enjoy while still hot.  By the time you have eaten an ear of corn the fish will be at just the right temperature to eat with your hands and should flake apart easily, being tender and crisp at the same time.

Try it for yourself the next time you have a little luck fishing and there is a beach with a grill near by.  For me there has always been something about the proximity of water that makes food just taste good.  Whether eating a hot, freshly cooked breakfast while pike fishing on the ice in January or beach dining on freshly caught fluke in July, the best food is simple, fresh, eaten outdoors, with few amenities, and a few friends, period.

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