Snook is probably one of my most favorite fish to eat. They filet up in nice thick, chunky filets and hold together well so you can do just about any kind of cooking you choose.

I take every chance I get to hang out with some of the really old-timers in the Oak Hill area, the ones so old they remember fishing their gill nets at night with lanterns and bringing in hundreds of pounds of fish in one nights fishing. I have had several of them tell me that the snook used to be called the poor mans lobster because the meat is so sweet. One of the guys who passed away recently was basically a legend in his time and still has many family members that live in that area. As he got older I'd put him in my boat and take him out fishing. He had gotten to the age that he nor his family did not trust him being out on the water by himself so I sort of adopted him. He taught me a lifetimes worth of fishing stories and hopefully I built up so good karma for myself so that one day when I am too old to fish alone maybe I'll have a young man who will come around and take me fishing. He could still hold his own though and it was normal for him to call me at least 3 times a week to go out and I would go every chance I got. About a week before he passed he gave me an old split bamboo rod that his father had built and it now hangs on my wall, a treasure I will cherish forever. Anyways, one day after fishing he invited me to stay for lunch, I cooked the hush puppies and he said he would cook the snook. I was surprised to see him boiling it but he explained that he was showing me how it earned the name "poor mans lobster." All he did was boil it up and melt some butter to dip it in and by god it did taste like lobster, it was damned good and one my most memorable meals.

I really like putting it on the grill on some foil with onion sliced thin and layed all over it. It's such a chunky fish it holds together really well on the grill.

I also like blackening it but if I am blackening fish it is usually for the whole neighborhood so I blacken just about everything I caught that day. There is not much of a chance of screwing it up unless you just plain can't cook. That recipe Above sounds great and I plan on trying that soon.

For any of you who like blackened fish but don't know how, just let me know and I'll post the technique and recipe for the blackening spice. It's the traditional technique and spice and anyone can do it if you follow the directions. Just let me know and I will repost it.

Have a good one,

C

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

my recipe

cook some rice up first so you dont have to worry about timing, cuz this is best right out of the pan.

Black skillit works best but any flat pan will work.

take your pan and put it on low-med heat to warm it up.

while it's getting hot, mince up round a tbsp onion and  1/2 clove garlic for each fillet.

toss the garlic and onion in the pan with a tbsp of butter and tbsp of oil (preff peanut)

on the fish put the amount of spice you can handle, be careful with the salt and cayenne as you can always add, but never remove.

sprinkle salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme leaves, parsley on both sides of the fish and rub it in.

Crank up the heat under pan which will now be simmering the onions.

watch the onions when they turn brown that means that the pan is hot enough, the hotter the better.

place in the fish, skin side first and apply some light pressure to ensure that as much as the fish as possible touches the pan.

turn the fish over after a few minuts and cook the other side until done.

serve with pan drippings over rice.

Chesapeake Bay fisherman learning the Florida ways