Speckled Trout Parmesan & Black Drum Chowder

Saltwater Fish Delicious in the Right Recipes

Two tasty inshore saltwater fish of the south Atlantic and Gulf states are the speckled trout and the black drum, both of which can be caught throughout the year. Trout are well known to seafood lovers as a culinary delight, while black drum lack the good reputation but are still a fine fish to eat. Both are schooling fish, and if you catch one you can probably catch many. Specks are targeted with live shrimp or minnows and lures, while black drum rarely hit anything except hunks of shellfish placed on the bottom.

In contrast to the meaty drum, speckled trout provide tasty but rather delicate fillets. They don't lend themselves to soups or stews but they taste terrific in a recipe like the following one where they are not overcooked.

Speckled Trout Parmesan

2 lbs speckled trout fillets
1 egg
¾ cup bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
small or ½ onion, chopped
olive oil
garlic powder, salt and pepper

Place the onion in a frying pan with enough olive oil to sauté it. Whisk the egg in a bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, cheese, and a dash each of the seasonings. Coat fish with egg and roll through crumb mixture. Increase the temperature in the frying pan to med high and fry the fish quickly with the sautéd onions, adding a little more olive oil if necessary. Don't overcook; fish is done when it flakes with a fork. Serve with cocktail sauce on the side. Serves 4.

Black Drum Chowder takes advantage of the fact that black drum yield chunky, meaty fillets. Although they are just terrific just floured and fried up, black drum are really perfect for all manner of soups and stews.

Black Drum Chowder

1 ½ lbs black drum fillets, cut into one inch pieces
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
2 cups milk
3 medium red potatoes in ½ inch cubes
½ cup chopped celery
1 small can minced clams with juice
½ teaspoon (each) garlic powder and dill weed
black pepper to taste