We are all looking for a special way to cook and share our catch. Trout, bass, halibut, flounder or whatever. It all can get stuffed.

The other day I cooked some Halibut. Two huge filets from my Alaska trip were ready to eat. The 4-inch thick filets came from 150-pound Butt that was an amazing catch. When cooking Halibut, I always try to not make the meat to dry. Always add some lemon juice and as a native Marylander, Old Bay Seasoning is always required.

With fish, less is more. Too much heat, time, or spice will ruin the dish. Heck folks love raw sushi. If it is burnt, they call it “Blackened”, Only practice and experience will help. After a few Halibut attempts, I think I have it down.

Stuffing the thick filets is a big help. Use a filet knife to create a pocket or layer to stuff something into. You can find plenty of recipes to help with this. Some recipes use cream cheese or other melting goodies. Shrimp is also a good stuffing. Heck, even a corn bread or bread stuffing can help. Oh, and don’t forget some butter.

One of my favorite recipes was Stuffed Flounder. Back in the day, I used to take my wife to the Blue Bell Restaurant. They served the best stuffed flounder that I ever had. My wife ordered it too! Imagine a fish dish that both a husband and wife would order!

Anyway, the flounder was stuffed with crab meat and had a wonderful coating on top. If they stuffed my shoe with this filling and baked it, I would eat it. As most recipes are, this was a secret. Years later the restaurant closed. I ran into the chef and asked him about the secret. Here it is!

STUFFED FISH

1 pound of fish filets. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

½ cup of mayo

2 egg whites

Old Bay seasoning to taste

Chopped onion

Salt and pepper

Mix all these ingredients until foamy and frothy.

Broil or bake fish filets until almost done. Remember, less is more. Halibut is thick but panfish are not. You may want to stack thinner filets like a stuffed sandwich. Each fish cooks differently and any fish can get stuffed.

For my thick halibut filets, I baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, I packed a crab stuffing into the precut pockets in the filets.

Now, you can use a bread, shrimp, lobster, or oyster stuffing for you fish, I used a crab stuffing. Crab stuffing would be good in my socks. Not to say that I have ever tried that.

Simply make your crab meat into your favorite Crab cake recipe. I use the one on the Old Bay can. Once the filets were fat and full, I dumped the rest of the one pound of Crab Cake fixins over top the whole deal in a glass baking dish.

Now, add the foamy and frothy egg white and sauce liquid that you prepared. Place the dish under the broiler until the topping is brown and golden. Maybe 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle some Old Bay on top for flavor and color. Maybe sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Now I have used bass, trout, halibut, salmon, and many other fish species to make this dish. My guests were stuffed after every meal.

This will become your go to best stuffed fish recipe that you have ever used.

Montana Grant

For more Montana Grant, find him stuffed at www.montanagrantfishing.com.