Parades are upon us!

Now that we have made it through the Thanksgiving Holiday, we are moving into the Christmas season.  We will be participating in both the Bluffton and the Beaufort Christmas Parades.

The Bluffton Christmas Parade begins at 10:00 am on Saturday December 3, 2011.  Please note that this is an hour earlier than usual.   Please click here for more information.
The Beaufort Christmas Parade begins at 3:00 pm on Sunday December 4, 2011.  Please click here for more information.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

Sexy Fish:  Carolina Red Grouper

Our Sexy Fish this week is Red Grouper.  Red grouper are easily recognized by their color and by the sloped, straight line of their spiny dorsal fin. The fin has a long second spine and an unnotched interpine membrane. Most groupers have a notched dorsal spine membrane and a third spine longer than the second. The body is deep brownish-red overall, with occational white spots on the sides. Tiny black specks dot the cheeks and operculum. The red grouper is most closely related to the Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, which has several verticle bars and blotches, and is found more commonly on coral reefs in the West Indies.  Red grouper are distributed from North Carolina to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The species is most abundant along Florida's east and west coasts, and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. It inhabits ledges, crevices, and caverns of rocky limestone reefs, and also lower-provile, live-bottom areas in waters 10 to 40 feet deep.  The red grouper is a protogynous hermaphrodite, and females are capable of reproducing at 4 years of age.  Spawning takes place from March to July.  Females usually release an average of 1.5 million pelagic eggs that remain at the surface for 30-40 days before settling to the bottom.  The maximum age of the red grouper is 25 years, with older fish reaching a size of 32.5 inches and 25 pounds. Red groupers usually ambush their prey and swallow it hole, preferring crabs, shrimp, lobster, actopus, squid and fish that live close to reefs.

Pan Seared South Carolina Red Grouper Maque Choux Recipe

Brian Dukes
Blue Marlin - Columbia SC

Serves 3

Grouper

• 6 oz. Grouper Fillet
• salt and pepper to taste
• fennel pollen, pinch
• 1/2 oz butter

Maque Choux

• 1 ear of corn, steamed and kernels removed
• 1/2 sweet onion diced, Palmetto sweet if you can get one
• 1/2 green pepper diced
• 1 oz tasso ham, shredded
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. flat leaf parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Butter Sauce

• 4 oz white cooking wine
• juice and zest of lemon
• 1 garlic clove halved
• 1 oz heavy cream
• 2 oz butter, soft cut into cubes

Directions

Get a heavy skillet hot, use medium heat.  Season the fish, place the butter in the pan, make sure it is sizzling before you place your fish in the pan.  Make sure to use medium heat so the butter does not burn.  Sear on the flesh side for 3 minutes or until golden brown, turn the fillet over, turn the heat down to low and finish cooking for 3 minutes until the fish is firm and the center is moist.

In a non reactive pan reduce the cooking wine to 1 oz, add cream and reduce until the liquid is thick and reduced by half, turn off the heat and whisk in the butter slowly.  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately over the fish.  Can be made ahead of time and reserved, keep warm.

Plate the maque choux on the plate, place the fish on top, add more maque choux, drizzle with butter sauce and garnish with City Roots Farm micro Arugula.