Flounder, fresh and fried

Now I'm going to get to the "slow" part. Flounder fishing season is in full swing down at the coast, (actually, I'm not really sure when it starts and ends, but apparently now is the time), and Dan had been eager to get out on the water with a fishing pole. He was not interested in buying bait - live minnows are used for flounder fishing. So we rode our bikes over to the north causeway, and threw minnow traps into the creek. A few hours later at low tide we drove back, pulled up the traps and found...grass shrimp.

"What about that sign down the road that said live minnows 24/7?" I suggested. He was not having any of that. So we continued onto Pawley's Island to the boat ramp, put the canoe in the water and paddled over to a sand bar. Dan grabbed his cast net and wandered down the beach, while I sat in the sand with my feet in the water, reading the newspaper and drinking a beer. Thirty minutes later I walked to the other end of the sand bar to help him scoop up small fish. Finally we got back in the canoe and went fishing in the middle of the creeks that snake through the marshes. We each pulled up a couple blue crabs (I later pointed out that we could have had a pot of crabs for dinner if we kept them), but then after about an hour, Dan pulled up a flounder! It wasn't huge, but seemed big enough to keep. I was amazed that the daily catch limit is something like 20 or so flounder- we were grateful to get one.

Neither of us had ever cleaned a flounder before. Have you seen one up close? They are flat, and soft, with both eyes close and askew on the top of their head. Although they are scaleless, like a shark or ray, their top skin is grey and tough. The skin on their belly is soft and white. I hesitated for a moment before leaning over to watch Dan clean it- the fish was a little bloody from the thrashing and my stomach is not nearly as strong as when I worked for a veterinarian years go. But hey, shouldn't we see the reality of where our food comes from? I decided it was more respectful to acknowledge this and witness its preparation. After Dan spent much time scraping a filet from the top skin, we decided that perhaps it would be easier to separate it from the skin after frying it. We actually are both fish skin-eaters (shocking, I know!) so I don't know why we bothered worrying about it in the first place.

I dredged the filets in egg white and House-Autry breading(from Four Oaks, NC) & pepper, and fried them in canola oil and butter. I can't remember now what veggies we made with it- the crispy on the outside, tender on the inside flounder has eclipsed all else in my memory. And yes, the skin was delicious- top and bottom both! I don't order flounder in restaurants or buy it at the grocery, since the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Southeast guide rates it as a non-sustainable commercial catch. So that was a rare and delicious treat.

Now THAT is some slow food!

For more info on sustainable seafood, visit
www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
They have handy pocket guides you can stash in your wallet or purse.