Yarr! Avast ye Scallywags! There be the treasures of the sea (or at least Cap'n Scully's "Catch of the Day!")!

Sorry folks, but my father has been in town for the last two weeks and I've been too busy to write. Don't fret this weeks post is great! Hopefully it is good enough to make up for my slacking off. It keeps with the summertime theme and I talk about some of my most beloved dishes.. Fried Seafood!

If anyone has seen Summer Rental (as I'm sure most of you have..) you'll remember Rip Torn's fantastic performance as Captain Scully. The proprietor of the tourist trap restaurant in the film that basically just sells frozen fish sticks or "Scully's Catch of the Day". He also serves up "deep" ideas like this one in the film when coaching Jack Chester (John Candy) how to sail- "She'll make ya rich, or she'll feed ya to the fishes. If she wants you to dance, sonny boy, you've got to follow her lead".

Summer Rental perhaps Mr. Torn's best performance (or at least my favorite) 

and is the perfect start to this weeks post about fried fish!

Well, we don't sell fried fish at The Little Diner or any fish for that matter other than Tuna Salad, but it is one of my favorite things to eat! Growing up in Seattle you do get to eat some of the best seafood in the world, but perhaps one of my fondest childhood memories is going to Ivars on Pier 54.

It's the pier just to the left of the ferry dock with the blue awning.

Ivars back in th 40's. Generations of Seattlites have come here to get their fish fix. For many (like me) it was probably the place they tried eating fish for the first time! Ivar Haglund was "The Man" and way ahead of his time in advertising constantly doing publicity stunts. Even today! Check out the most recent one here.

Pier 54 today with the Fish Bar on the left and the more upscale Acres of Clams restaurant entrance in the middle. They recently constructed a covered eating area to the left of the Fish Bar with a life size bronze statue of Ivar feeding the seagulls. There's a cool picture of it here.

The "Goods"! Halibut & Chips, Fried Clams, Onion Rings and the famous Clam Chowder from our last trip to Seatown. You can even buy the condensed form of the Clam Chowder in the Deli section at Costco now. Just add milk! Hooray for Seattle based companies bringing local food to everyone!

It's pretty much a rite of passage in Seattle to feed the seagulls when you go to Ivar's.. 

It's all good, just don't feed the pigeons!

When we went to London on our last trip to Europe one of my goals was to get some "real" Fish & Chips. We were staying in the Regent Palace Hotel in Picadilly Circus and while the location was great the hotel itself was a dump..

I'm pretty sure they used the hotel in the Austin Powers movies as either Dr. Evil's or
Austins Swinging 60's "lair", it looked really familiar..

Luckily there was a Harry Ramsdens "World Famous" Fish & Chips restaurant on the bottom floor!
They were voted best in London (even though it is a chain) when we were there and it was great!
The Haddock was perfect. They said I HAD to try the Mushy Peas and I actually kinda like 'em
though I suspect they're not for everyone..

While attending college in Phoenix one of the places everyone frequently visited was Pete's Fish & Chips. They have locations all over the valley, but I used to go to the on on 44th the most because it was closest to my winter ski tuning job at Peter Glenn Ski & Sport.

While I usually like the wet beer batter on my fish the most the dry cornmeal & cracker crust at
Pete's is pretty awesome! They also prefer Cocktail Sauce as opposed to the usual Tartar, must be a Maricopa County thing, but it works! Their signature item is the square patty pictured above.
It's all reminiscent of the fish sticks I used to eat as a kid, but fresh, and actually good! I miss Pete's..

If you have southern roots like I do then you get the craving for Fried Catfish! Fortunately, Vail Colorado is home to Moe's Original BBQ! While they have locations all over the country their first location was here in Vail and we're lucky enough to be next door neighbors with them at The Little Diner!

 

Ahh, fried catfish just like my grandma used to make.. The Jambalaya on the right and the hush-puppies in the middle are delicious too!

 Another one of my favorites at Moe's is the Shrimp "Moe Boy"! 

It's awesome, but if you want to step it up a notch on the 

days they are selling the catfish sandwich or platter you can request a 

"Seafood Moe Boy" with BOTH the Catfish AND Shrimp.. 

It's one of my most favorite things in the world! 

The Mac & Cheese in the back is fantastic too!

On our recent trip to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast we indulged in fried seafood quite a few times, but hands down the best breakfast dish was the Fried Softshell Crab Benedict (aka Eggs Stella) at Stanley just off of Jackson Square! Check it out!

Sorry, this was one of the first times using my iPhone to document stuff and I was still trying to get the hang of it so things are a little blurry.. On the right is the Eggs Stella. Yum! On the left is the Soft Shell Crab Po-Boy my wife had- it was "tha bomb" too! The potato salad in the back was killer as well, you pretty much can't go wrong at Stanley. Many awards are on the way for them. Truly awesome food! Not pictured is the best gumbo I've ever eaten.. (We'll save that one for another post!)

I'm really not sure how to define Alligator.. Is it seafood? For me it tastes like fishy chicken as does frogs legs. Being an amphibious reptile it kind of blurs the lines a little so I think I'll include it with this post. The best dining experience as a whole for us on this tour of the gulf coast was at Cochon in New Orleans. Chef Donald Link and Chef Stephen Stryjewski truly deserve their individual James Beard Awards for their talent and it was a privilege and delight to dine at their awesome establishment! The hype is real..

Who'd a thought Fried Spicy Alligator with Mint could be so unbelievably awesome? Not me, at least not at first.. That was until I took my first bite! Staggeringly great! I almost ordered seconds. THE best appetizer and the best overall meal of the trip. Fantastic!

In Destin we pretty much ate fried seafood in one form or another every day. Luckily with it's close proximity to NOLA this vacation spot on the western end of the Florida Panhandle is home to several awesome Louisiana based restaurants! One of them was literally right next to our condo in Miramar Beach- It's called Kenny D's and it's great!

For my dinner here on our first night in town I had the Fried Grouper topped with Crawfish Étouffée- Kenny's mothers recipe. Fantastic! The Yuengling on-tap definitely "upped" the awesomeness factor..

Probably the best single dish of the trip was at another creole restaurant over in Destin Harbor called Louisiana Lagniappe. I guess they have another location in Baton Rouge, but everyone I've talked to says the one in Destin is better. Check out the Sunset from the Deck!

It's a little gritty, but it was almost dark out so not too bad a shot considering.. This was from our table.

Like I said it got really dark so it's a little hard to make out, but this is their "Special" fish of the day dish- Fresh Fish en Papillote. On this night it was Grouper. They basically wrap the fish in parchment paper and bake it. Then, they take a lump crabmeat and shrimp stuffing "patty" and pan fry it. When the fish comes out of the oven they lay the fried shellfish stuffing "fritter" over the top of the fillet and top it with Hollandaise! I know it's not fried fish per se, but the stuffing is fried so that counts right? Anyway, it's one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life and it beat out the classic Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish (Sea Trout stuffed with Crab Meat) at Commanders Palace as the best single entrée of our trip! Not to dissuade you from going there because the Brennen's have done a fine job manning that ship for generations and they truly deserve all of their prestigious awards including their FIFTH James Beard award this year. Cochon only slightly beat them for best meal overall..

Back to Greasy Nick's!

If you didn't catch my last post about hamburgers and my adoration for Leno's Clam Bar then you can check it out here. Otherwise Greasy Nicks does GREAT fried seafood. It doesn't get much better than bearing down on a plate full of fresh full belly fried clams on a sunny afternoon at this place on the New Rochelle, NY waterfront.

Mmmmmm! My favorite!

'til a fortnight me buckos! Jolly eatin' 'n calm travels on th' seven seas!