Steamed Sculpin (California Scorpion Fish). Fast easy and delicious.

Here is a good specimen of the Sculpin.
It is a bottom dweller with a ferocious appetite. 

I start with a pot with a couple of cups of water in it.

I have a mesh colander although a regular colander will do fine.

Place the colander on the top of the pot, and line it with the fillets of the fish skin side down!

Spread them evenly and put the thicker part of the fillet towards the center.

Then season with Garlic salt and Black pepper.

Then place Kale over the top of the fish and turn the burner on high. 

Be sure to cover the pot!

Listen for the Hard Boil then turn heat to medium 

keeping the steam coming on strong for 20 minutes.

place a pad of butter on the greens and let it melt.

 Then toss the Kale around a bit.

 The butter will get to the fish and coat it lightly for a little taste.

Plate the greens and place the fish over the kale carefully 

skin side down for that beautiful presentation.

Awesome with a baked potato or rice.

There you go! Ready to eat in about 30 minutes, including prep. Join us on the New Del Mar and catch some of your own California Scorpion Fish and make some great tasting Steamed Sculpin!

My friend Danny predicted a good year of fishing...

That's right, it's been a good year of fishing. So good that we've been chasing yellowtail up and down the coast of the Santa Monica Bay1 Here I hold a nice specimen caught on an anchovy and 25# test. Danny was right! Come and join the hunt here on fridays on the 

New Del Mar out of Marina del Rey Sportfishing.

Stem-Fried Fish fillets with Steamed veggies

Steve Martin once played a Character explaining "How to be a Millionaire". 

He said "First get a million dollars"! Then……

It's the same here. first get some FRESH FISH. 

Hopefully line caught the day you cook it.

Todays catch was a full bag of 3-4 pound Calico Bass and 11" Sculpin. This method works for all types of fish and always has a good result. Keep fillets under an inch thick, or if you have steaked fillets , no thicker than 3/4 of an inch thick. Because the way it finishes cooking it rarely burns and is extremely healthy due to the limited amount of Olive oil used to begin the process.

Fillet your fish and chill. Here I have put the fish in the freezer for about 

45 minutes and they are just starting to freeze on the surface

I am going to use fresh spinach today, but I have done this with a myriad of vegetables. Anything you enjoy steamed. Soak and rinse your vegetables well. Nothing is worse than dirt in your dinner!

TIP: Hot pan cool oil!

I like to use a wok, but a 12" skillet would work also. Pre-heat a seasoned pan. (To season your pan, heat it and put a thin coat of oil on it.) Then add about a teaspoon of olive oil per Fillet. Because the Sculpin were small, I used only one teaspoon for the four fillets of sculpin. 

TIP: Use a salad spinner to remove excess water. too much water will make the dish "soupy".

Add fillets Skin side down and bring the heat to medium. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the fish fries to this point it is ready to add your veggies. The excess water is from the fillets.

DO NOT TURN THE FISH OVER!

Fill it up!

Cover it up!

Add about 1/2 of a cup of water. Careful as the water hits the hot oil it wants to blow up! 

Keep the lid over the majority of the pan!

Keep it on medium heat.

I about 10 minutes the veggies are done and the water has come out of it creating a nice fish sauce that steamed the fish. If you use carrots or broccoli or onions you may have to cook it a bit longer, but as long as the cover is on it and you can hear the water boiling it won't burn the fish!

Plated here with a Red ginger garnish this fish is ready to consume in mass quantities!

Serving suggestions are Rice or Quinoa.

Here I gave it a shot of hot as I test some new Jalapeño sauces
They are infused with Whiskey or Tequila

Some like it HOT!!

Baking the Vermillion Rockfish.

Vermillion Rockfish, or "Red Snapper" is a great tasting meaty fish. It can be eaten many ways from raw to smoked. Today I will be preparing a simple dish with a whole (Gill and Gutted) 2 pound rockfish. Although the fish in the title is the fish being cooked, there myriad of local rockfish caught in the Southern California area can all be cooked in this easy method.

Here is a smaller sized (2 pound) Rockfish. I have turned the photo upside down to accentuate the fact that it he's been gutted and split down the middle from under the gills to the rear fins. this will facilitate the "butterfly" effect when cooking.

Cut slits in the side of the fish at an angle to allow faster cooking, and entry places for spices.

On a large sheet of aluminum foil, place your favorite veggies. Today we are using fresh Kale.

Open the bottom of the fish (butterfly) so that it stands on the veggies. Butterflying the fish will make it cook faster and more evenly. Pour a generous amount of olive oil over the fish. I recommend using a very high grade of a "nutty oil". this one is a Late Harvest Manzanillo, cold pressed in Santa Barbara.

Next give it a good coating of spices. here a simple garlic salt and black pepper is perfect. 

Wrap it loosely in the aluminum foil.

place it on a cookie sheet with raised sides in case of a leak!

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

Cook for 35 minutes.

At the end of 35 minutes check the fish by opening and putting a fork to the thickest part of the fillet. it should be soft and want to fall off the bone. If not cover and cook 15 more minutes or until the fish starts to fall apart. Then uncover for 10 minutes to brown.

Plate and serve!

This fish served with lemon wedges and quinoa and black beans. 

Home made Jalapeño sauce added a great punch of flavor!

Fresh Fish Charter, Trip #2, Endeavor Sportfishing

 Pre-dawn session starts with Big Don first on the bait.

Andy and 24 hour Bedhead

Shaaaaaaaak!

Anticipation of a grey bite gets some out of bed early.

Stacey puts one out there.

Captin John fires up the engine as the sun begins to rise. No bites yet, but its feeling pretty "fishy" out there, so John gets us rolling!

Get your rod ready for action!

Bright sun reflects off the water as George prepares for the day.

Toki is the most excited and his enthusiasm is contagious.

Joseph looking serious about getting hooked up!

Yes, Mike does drink water and Beer.

Hello Dodo!

 Trolling is an pain staking task, but being ready is a huge factor in getting a bite. Here travis smiles knowing he's ready and not decking. Fishing seems to always be better than working!

Waiting patiently for SOMEThING to happen!

Master of upswell fishing, Martin awaits the bite.

Searching...

This little stow away sure was cute.
We fed him water and nuts an he entertained us with his antics.
Then as we slept he turned evil and pooped all over the galley.

Nice Dodo

Sliders ready to slide!

Stuart on troll patrol

 We picked at the tuna, one or two on troll, one or two on bait. by the end of the day we had about 40 fish on board. It was a long day and we were in hopes of better fishing. But that's fishing!

Good thing it was a 2 day. Jonny G. Please find us some fish.!!!!!

Day two begins. "Red sky in morning, Tuna take warning!"

Travis turning the handle.

Things change. One day can be a tough day of fishing and the next can be….

About to paint the deck!

We watch as everyone starts to hook up.

Mike goes "bendo"!

GAAAAFFF!

George approves! Congrats on the First place Jackpot!!

Martin hangin' on!

Jim Puts one through its paces!

Deckhand Jimmy drops another on the deck!

That's one happy camper, Jerry retying after a good fight.

Smile Johnny!

Jim on another one!

Pedal to the metal. Don on the grind.

Toki at gaff!

I love fishing!

Crowded Bow

Action hitting it's height, everyone working together and it kept our fish loss way down. Tangles were corrected and everyone weaved their way to some fish.

The bow got a work out as some of the fish bit on the long soak. here Joseph winds one in from downtown as Bob gets help from the Gaff.

Toki soaks one out.

Glenn steps over Troy as the bite keeps on going.

Tom, it's a beautiful day.

Aim…Fire

Target acquired.

Mike gets one done!

Awaiting destiny!

Equipment check!

Yellowfin

Special thanks to Cap'n Johnny G.
Fishing makes me feel like a kid again,
standing next to John makes me look like a kid again!

Even the birds were biting!

Hammahead shaaaaaaak!

The second day the bite went on till we didn't have bait. When the bait tank was dwindling down, they bit the yo-yo jig even better than bait!

Glenn on his way to a second place in the Jackpot!

Back row hook up!

Big "D" cooking up a storm.
Thanks for the great food, and sorry about the bird!

Gaffs and Y

Trolling vision

Newbee, Chris Hagan waits for the jig strike.

It can be intimidating fishing for the first few times. Tensions can run high when the bite starts up. People can get rude, especially if your not so sure what to do. 

It is awesome to see some new blood on the boat. Every time I get on a boat, my goal is to learn something new and/or use something I just learned and have not yet tried. We gave this guy some tips and we saw him light up some tuna. Hats off to Chris, I hope we have found a new tuna psychopath for our journeys.

Father and son

At the end of the trip we had pretty much, limits of Yellowfin tuna. Nothing too big, but a whole lotta fun!

I want to thank the crew and captains for a great trip.

I also want to thank everyone for fishing the charter. It is a lot of work and expense putting the trip together, but being out there with this group of fishermen was unreal. you all made it worth my time and effort.

Until next time, Fish on!
Thanks again, Ross