In the Kitchen with Brian and Lisa: N.C. Seafood Roundup

This month’s Local Dish featured fresh and delicious N.C. seafood.

WRAL reporter Brian Shrader and our own Lisa Prince feature seasonal recipes in their Got to Be Good Cookin’ segment using ingredients grown and available right here in North Carolina. Featured this month are recipes made with fresh N.C. seafood. Trout, catfish, crabs and other seafood products in North Carolina are often farm-raised as part of N.C.’s aquaculture industry. In 2011, aquaculture receipts totaled almost $52.2 million for North Carolina.

This month’s recipes include lime basil grilled trout fillets, crab cake sliders, spicy grilled catfish and spicy shrimp pizza. The recipes are below. Click on the link for a printable recipe and video.

North Carolina is home to more than 70 trout farms. Charles Hudson, corporate chef for Sunburst Trout in Canton, shared this delicious recipe for lime basil grilled trout fillets. Lisa suggests serving with a fresh tomato salad.

Lime Basil Grilled Trout

• 4 trout fillets (we used Sunburst)
• juice of 1 lime
• one handful fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Make marinade: Chop basil and mince garlic. Combine with lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add marinade to fresh trout fillets and marinate fillets for at least an hour before grilling.

Grill trout: Heat grill to medium-high to high heat. Remove fillets from marinade, and place on a well-oiled, heated grill. Start flesh side down for about 3-4 minutes then flip to skin side down and cook 3-4 minutes.

Gail Fuller of Raleigh won first place in the House-Autry Mills cooking contest at the 2013 N.C. State Fair with this winning recipe. Brian Shrader says these crab cakes have “lots of ingredients but they are for a good cause.” Lisa suggest adding french fries or fried okra and a salad to make this a perfect weeknight meal.

Crab Cakes

• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 3⁄4 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
• 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white
• 1⁄4 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons roasted red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1⁄2 cup House Autry Seafood Breader
• 3 tablespoons butter

Sandwich sauce:

• 1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• dash hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dill
• 1⁄4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

Sandwich:

• 8 small buns
• 8 pieces roasted red pepper
• 8 pieces lettuce
• 4 slices bacon

Instructions:

1.   Cut bacon strips in half and fry well. Set aside.
2.   In a large bowl, mix together crab meat, cracker crumbs, eggs, green onions, red pepper, mayo, Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, cumin, parsley lemon juice, salt and pepper.
3.   Form crab mixture into 8 small patties.
4.   Dredge or cover each patty in seafood breader and fry in butter, adding more butter if needed, until both sides are crispy and browned, approximately 5 minutes on each side.
5.   For sandwich sauce – mix all ingredients until well blended.

To assemble sliders:

1.   Cut each bun in two. Toast until lightly browned.
2.   Spread top and bottom halves with a thin coat of the sandwich sauce mixture.
3.   Put 1 slice of bacon on bottom half. Layer a piece of roasted red pepper, crab cake, lettuce and top with other half of bun.

The next recipe is for spicy grilled catfish, which Brian calls a “fish dish that tastes as good as it looks.” This dish is made with catfish from Carolina Classics Catfish Farm in Ayden. Lisa’s other show, “Flavor NC,” profiled the farm in an episode last season. Lisa suggests topping with fresh grape tomatoes, cilantro combined with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Spicy Grilled Catfish

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1⁄4 cup lime juice
• 1 cup Chardonnay
• 2 tablespoons dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound catfish (we used Carolina Classic fillets)

Instructions:

Heat a grill or the broiler. Mix olive oil, lime juice, wine, mustard, chili powder, pepper, cilantro and salt in a medium bowl. Transfer half of the marinade mixture to another bowl and reserve for basting catfish. Add catfish to the first bowl; marinate for 15 minutes.
Drain fillets and discard marinade. Place fillets on an oiled grill rack or broiler pan rack. Grill or broil 4 inches from the heat source, basting with reserved marinade for about 3 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

This spicy shrimp pizza uses House-Autry Cocktail sauce as the base instead of traditional pizza sauce. Its ingredients include fresh N.C. shrimp and bacon.

 Spicy Shrimp Pizza

• 4 slices bacon
• 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• 1⁄2 cup House-Autry Cocktail Sauce
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 box of puff pastry dough
• 1⁄2 small onion (coarsely chopped)
• 12 ounces fresh N.C. shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 large roasted red pepper from a jar (coarsely chopped)
• 3 1⁄2 ounces sliced pickled jalapeno pepper (finely chopped, La Costena or Herdez Brands)
• 1 1⁄2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley (chopped )

Instructions:

1. Fry bacon and crumble. Set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a small bowl, mix softened cream cheese and cocktail sauce, garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning and salt and pepper.
4. Roll puff pastry to form pizza crust. Piecing together and pressing seams to seal. Prick deep with fork.
5. Put crust in 350-degree oven for 12 minutes. Cool slightly.
6. Meanwhile, spray pan with cooking spray and heat chopped onion and shrimp in frying pan over medium heat until shrimp just begins to turn pink.
7. Increase oven heat to 400 degrees.
8. Spread cream cheese cocktail sauce mixture over crust. Layer with ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shrimp and onion mixture, roasted red pepper, pickled jalapeno pepper, and top with other ¾ cup mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon and parsley.
9. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes until cheese melts.