Stuffed Flounder

Thank you, Barbara Stumfoll of Bernie’s Boats in Victoria, TX for sharing this wonderful recipe with us! Believe me, this is the best I have ever prepared and served to my family!

Barbara’s method of skinning the flounder goes like this: Remove the stomach and gills and rinse well. Use a fillet knife to loosen a small flap of skin near the head on both sides. Cover tightly in Saran wrap and place in the freezer on a baking sheet. When the flounder is frozen, remove and store in a vacuum bag for later use, or proceed straight to cooking. When ready to cook, remove from freezer and place in a pan of warm water for about five minutes. Strip all the skin from the flesh on both sides using pliers.  

1 medium to large flounder – about 18-20 inches
1/3 cup onions - chopped
1/3 cup green pepper - chopped
1 cup melted butter
1 ½ cup crab meat
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup parsley – chopped
2 Tbsp lemon juice
dash hot sauce

After skinning the flounder, use a fillet knife to slice lengthwise, down to the backbone, from head to tail.  Next, with fillet knife canted at an angle, carefully work each side of the fillet away from the bones toward the fins, but leaving it attached along the edge. Repeat on bottom side.

Sauté onion and pepper in butter, cook until tender. Remove from heat, add crab meat, parsley, salt and pepper, lemon juice and hot sauce, mix well together.

Stuff flounder with mixture and brush flounder with butter, and then add some sauce to cover stuffing to prevent drying while baking.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until flesh is white and flaky.

Serve

Plate stuffed flounder, ladling generously on top of fish with sauce mixture. Place any remaining sauce in a bowl, most folks enjoy adding extra to their serving.

Fish Stock and Sauce can be made a day ahead.

Fish Stock

2 cups fish trimmings
4 cups water
½ cup sliced carrots
1/3 cup sliced onions
1/3 cup celery
1 bay leaf
½ tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes, reducing to about 3 cups.

Strain and reserve liquid.

Sauce

6 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp flour
3 cups of fish stock
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp of pepper
1/3 cup chopped shrimp peeled and deveined
1/3 cup crab meat

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat, add flour and whisk constantly until smooth.

Add 3 cups of fish stock gradually until fully combined and smooth. Cook until thickened.

Add shrimp and crab meat and simmer for 3 minutes.