A Grilled Fisherman's Feast

I was lucky enough to have been raised in a family who loved to eat. My grandmother would give all of her favorite northern Italian dishes an American twist. And considering she spent much of her childhood in Gloucester Massachusetts many of her dishes involved seafood. I grew up watching her cook, eating her food and during the end of her life listening to her stories. She would often speak of harvesting mussels and periwinkles off the rocks by the jetty and running home to cook them. She would tell me how they sat for hours and ate periwinkles with sewing needles right out of the sauce. One of the best cooking lessons she ever taught (I don’t know if she ever knew how she really taught me about food) me was how to make do with what I had. My favorite meals are always fresh and simple. I think this way I have such an affinity for seafood.

When summer hits I seem to find myself with a constant desire for seafood and since there is never enough time during the week to fire up my pit I grill up ocean fare a few times a week. Last night the rain finally stopped long enough for me to fire up the grill and try this new lump charcoal my wife found for me at Wild Oats. We don’t normally shop there, but they have one of the best fish markets in my area and are open later than my regular fishmonger.

For this evening my bride brought home a great piece of yellow fin for me, some scrod for her and Anthony and a couple dozen little necks for the grill. The beauty of really fresh fish is how simply and quickly you can prepare and cook it. I had everything seasoned and prepped before the coal was hot. The entire meal was prepare and cooked within 30 minutes, probably closer to 20. Rachael Ray has some competition when it comes to my week night meals.

Grilled Little Necks (clams)
As Many Little Necks as Will Fit on Your Grill
¼ cup ++ Extra Virgin Oil Olive
3 Tablespoons ++Unsalted Butter
Quality Hot Sauce
Clean, scrub and rinse the clams well. Dip the little necks in water and place on very hot grill. Cover and cook until all of the clams are fully open (discard any that don’t open). In a large bowl put 2 tablespoons of butter and a few shakes of hot sauce. Remove to clams to the bowl (their heat will melt the butter), drizzle with olive oil and carefully toss to coat. Serve with extra hot sauce and melted butter.

Grilled Lemon Lime Scrod
Fillet of Scrod
Pinch of Kosher Salt
2 Twists of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 or 3 Pats of Unsalted Butter
2 or 3 Thin Slices of Key Lime
2 or 3 Thin Slices of LemonArrange fish on top a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (fold up the sides to catch all of the juices). Season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, layer fish with lemon and lime slices and butter, place on grill and close cover. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with fresh lemon and lime wedges.

Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna
An 8 or 9 Ounce Tuna Steak
Pinch of Kosher Salt
2 Twists of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Pinch of Ground Cumin
Pinch of Ground Chipotle Pepper (or other ground pepper seasoning)
Good Quality Soy SauceRub with spices and grill over high heat for 1 ½ minutes per side. Serve immediately with soy sauce on the side.

Eat Hot, Eat Healthy (most of the time) and Always EAT UGLY!