Category Archives: captain james cooks

Dec 11 0 comments
captain james cooks, seafood, soups, grits, stews, and meat pies

Seafood Stew


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One of the things I learned at art school was that I’m not special.  That sounds a little harsh.  I mean, specifically, that my life story, the things that have happened to me and the challenges that I’ve faced, aren’t unique.  When I was growing up I was one of the few people I knew that had divorced parents.  But every one of my close friends from college (save Dan) are the products of divorce.  For the first time since I was eleven I had a group of friends that totally got what I was going through, who knew what it was like.  Some of them have parents who still have a friendly relationship, others (like me) have parents whose relationship is rough, at best.  Swapping war stories with them was healing, made me feel like people beyond my  brothers understood what I was going through.

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This Thanksgiving was a demonstration of how things can play out in a funny way.  My parents live just a few miles from each other in Durham, which makes visiting both of them around the holidays easy since we can toggle back and forth from their houses.  This year, my dad and stepmom were supposed to be in Northern Virginia for Thanksgiving, so we made plans to spend the holiday with my mom.  Then we were invited to my Aunt Lori and Uncle Kevin’s house, my father’s brother and his family.   Just before Thanksgiving my dad and stepmom cancelled their trip, which meant they spent the holiday with her family while we spent it with my mom and my dad’s family.  Complicated.

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My dad has a section on b&s called “The Captain Cooks.”  So I was only mildly surprised to get a text (he just got an iPhone and started texting) from him on Thanksgiving morning inviting me to come over and take pictures of him frying a turkey.  Unfortunately we were due at our dinner, so I offered to document his meal for the Friday night dinner we’d be attending, a seafood stew.  I will, however, absolutely have to share his turkey recipe with you soon, because it was delicious.

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My dad does soups and stews really well.  Brunswick stew, chili, seafood boils, they are rich and full of flavor.  I used to love when he would make a few gallons; my sisters and I would just curl up in bed with a big bowl and allow ourselves to be filled with its warmth.  This stew was no different.  Full of flavor, perfect for a big family dinner over a family game of dice.  The biggest conflict on that Black Friday?  The difference between soup and stew.  Thoughts?

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Seafood Stew
Source: Captain James Rosemond

1 pound sausage

1 pound cod

1 pound shrimp

1 onion

2 cups carrots

4 potatoes

2 16 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 4 oz can tomato paste

1 cup celery

2 16 oz cans green beans, canned

1 bottle V-8

Cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

2 small cans clams (with juice)

2 small cans oysters (with juice)

4 tbsp olive oil

Chop celery, carrots, onion, and potatoes.  Set aside.  Parboil potatoes.  Drain.

Heat oil in a large stock pot.  Saute sausage until brown.  Add celery and cook 5 minutes.  Add carrots, onions, and potatoes, one at a time.  Stir in the juice from the clams and oysters, but not the fish itself.  Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, green beans, and V-8.  Add salt and pepper and cayenne.

Simmer for 2-4 hours.  30 minutes before you’d like to serve, bring heat back up and add seafood.  Cook for half an hour, stirring occasionally, and serve.

Jun 28 1 comments
captain james cooks, grilled, barbequed, smoked, and fried, seafood

Catch of the Day


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This weekend Dan and I journeyed south to Morehead City on some wedding business. It was a great weekend, full of the unexpected and a lot of fun. My two brothers, Reid and Ryan, and my father and stepmother were there the whole weekend, and Dan’s parents joined us for Saturday. On Friday we were treated to what turned out to just be a boat ride on the Tortuga, as the weather turned out to be a little much past the inlet.

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Dan recently finished his open water SCUBA certification, and this weekend was his first open ocean dive. Originally we had intended to take him to the USS Indra, a landing craft repair ship that is sunk in 70 feet of water. When it started to look a little rough to go offshore, we opted for the USS Theodore Parker, a liberty ship that sits in 60 feet of water inshore. Unfortunately our boat ride ended up being a “look and see.” With three foot swells none of us wanted to try and fight to dive, and I definitely didn’t want Dan’s first NC dive to be one where he got bucked off the ladder because of rough waters.

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We were all really bummed out on the way back, because there’s nothing quite as depressing as going to all the trouble to gear up and ride out there only to have to scratch the dive. However, my brother Reid saved the day by suggesting that we do a drift dive on the Beaufort Rock Jetty. Jetties aren’t necessarily my favorite dives, but in a tight spot they’re fun and most importantly they afford you the opportunity to breathe underwater, which is the main goal.

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We switched over to a smaller boat and motored over there. Most people who dive the jetty drive up and carry their gear to the water, but we have a 20′ Robolo that’s the perfect size to pull up and anchor. Reid, who is my father’s first mate and a recent divemaster, was going to dive with us, but in poor DM form shook us within a few minutes of descending. Thankfully we’re fully competent and didn’t need his pretentious hovering anyway. The dive was a drift dive with 3-5 feet of visibility in 30-40 feet of water, and I had such a good time. Since we live in DC we don’t get to dive as often as we’d like, and just being underwater was good enough for us.

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Dan also had a wonderful time. I keep telling him that not a lot of people would have enjoyed that dive, and even fewer would have raved about it. I could not have been happier that Dan loved North Carolina diving. I’m taking it as an incredibly good sign that he had a great time in what were pretty much the worst case scenario conditions. Usually the perpetual pessimist, he found the best in the situation, which makes me happier than I can even express. I can’t wait to show him what NC can offer on a good day.

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After Reid ditched us, he speared a flounder and a small tautog. When we got home he cleaned them, breaded them, and fried them for fish sandwiches. I love flounder and this was probably as fresh as it gets. We ate that fish within two hours of spearing it, and it was completely delicious. Later in the weekend my dad made freshly caught grouper fingers, which were equally amazing.

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My dad’s friend Scotty (the one he wrote a book about) turned him on to the House of Autry fish breading a few years ago, which is what my dad uses pretty exclusively on his fish these days. I meant to take a look at the ingredients, but if I had to take a guess, I would say it’s cornmeal, flour, and some spices. If you can find House of Autry, you can use that, or you could make your own breading. My dad also crumbles up some triscuits (or potato chips if you’re in a tight spot) and mixes them in for some crunch.

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We ate the flounder on sandwiches with fresh tomato, salt and pepper, and a little dijonaisse (the only condiment in the refrigerator- tartar sauce would have been preferable). The grouper was cut and fried in fingers, perfect for eating alone or dipped in some dijonaisse. It combined two of my favorite southern culinary treats- tomato sandwiches and fried fish. I know that it seems insanely simple and that the foodie in me should revolt, but no food makes me close my eyes and sigh a sigh of pure happiness like fresh fish and tomato.

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Fried Flounder Sandwiches

1 whole flounder, or 2 flounder filets

2 cups House of Autry seafood breader

1/2 cup crunched triscuits

1 tomato

2 rolls

1 cup peanut oil

Tartar sauce

Salt & pepper

If you’re working with a whole flounder, you want to skin and filet it.

Combine your breader with the triscuits in a bag. Throw the filets in the bag and shake until thoroughly coated.

In a large skillet, heat your peanut oil until it bubbles around the bottom of a wooden spoon, or dances when you splash water in it. These are very scientific tests, clearly.

Place your fish in the oil and cook 4-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. While the fish is cooking, slice the tomato, toast the rolls, and spread on some tartar sauce. When the fish is cooked, toss those on the sandwich, put your feet up on the front porch, and enjoy.

Serves 2.

Mar 09 3 comments
captain james cooks, dips, sauces, and spreads, seafood

Smoked Kingfish Dip


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This weekend Dan and I went down to Morehead City to meet with the caterers and the florists for our September wedding.  It was an incredibly successful and relaxing weekend away, exactly what I needed.  For those that are not familiar with the area, Morehead is located in the southern Outer Banks, in Carteret County or the “Crystal Coast.”  The nearest lighthouse is Cape Lookout, which sits on the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which is the longest expanse of protected, unsettled banks in the chain.

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The reason we decided to get married in Carteret County is because it’s the sort of place where you feel completely at peace.  I’ve been going down there my whole life and as soon as I cross through Havelock I start feeling giddy.  It’s the sort of place that that inspires you to scheme up ways to make a life down there (something my parents are figuring out how to do).  Dan and I spent the entire seven hour drive home developing a business plan for a waterfront coffee shop (something Morehead desperately needs).  We think we’ll be a big hit.

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Carteret County is known for a lot of things.  The charm, the amazing diving, the beautiful scenery, and fresh, delicious seafood.  I guess it goes without saying that seafood in a fishing town is bound to be good.  If there is one thing that people Down East know, it’s seafood.  One of my favorite things to do while we’re down there has always been to go to the fresh seafood market with my parents and sisters, pick a selection of the catch of the day, and have a feast back at the house.  There’s nothing like sitting on the back porch looking out over a marsh with a stomach full of tuna or dolphin or mackerel.  That’s the closest I think I can get to being completely content.

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This trip down was a brief one so there was no trip to the fresh fish market, though my father did surprise me with two of my favorites, brunswick stew and kingfish dip.  His kingfish dip is delicious, and I always love when he makes it, so I was even more excited when he offered to share the recipe.  Kingfish, or king mackerel, are a fish that migrate with the gulf stream.  My father makes the dip with smoked kingfish.  You can find smoked mackerel at specialty grocery stores, vacuum sealed, and also at some fish markets.  Or, if you’re interested in learning the art of smoking fish, there’s an informative site here.

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Smoked Kingfish Dip
Source: Captain James Rosemond

Flaked smoked kingfish

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp real mayonaisse

4 ounces light cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup finely minced onion

1 stalk finely chopped celery

1 tbsp finely minced parsley

3 tsps finely chopped dill pickle

1/2 tsp lemon juice

3 shakes hot sauce

Cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

With a fork, flake the smoked fish off the filet.  You can flake it finely or coarsely depending on your preference.  Discard the darker meats that you find in the center of the filet.  Put the smoked fish in a medium bowl and pour milk over it.  Cover and soak in the refrigerator for thirty minutes.  Drain the milk using a fine strainer and place the fish back in the bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Cover and chill 2-3 hours to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with crackers or fresh vegetables.

Dec 28 0 comments
captain james cooks, grilled, barbequed, smoked, and fried, seafood

Oysters on the Grill

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Because I’m the biggest brat in the world, when I sent my parents a christmas card, I asked for oysters.  To be fair, my mom got a card asking for her specialty cookies, so at least I don’t discriminate between the people who raised me.  Anyway, so when I got home, my father had oysters on ice waiting for me.

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This post will be the first of a series, called “Captain James Cooks.”  My father, Captain James Rosemond, runs a dive charter out of Carteret County, NC.  His boat, the lovely vessel Tortuga, is docked on Piver’s Island.  You can see his website here.  It was my father’s mother, Barbara, who inspired this blog, and there are certain things that he cooks that are just mind-blowing.  So the segment will feature the Captain cooking his recipes for us.  The name of the segment was inspired by the legendary navigator and cartographer, Captain James Cook.  In a beautiful cross over of interests, one of my favorite authors, Tony Horowitz, wrote a book about one of my dad’s heroes, called Blue Latitudes.  My dad thought he was really clever when he came up with “Captain James Cooks.”

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So about oysters.  While you can usually get mussels year round from all over the world, like most things, oysters have a season.  Usually, oyster season spans all months that end in “-er.”  The season starts around September and lasts through December.  Which makes them a prime holiday food.  We’re not real fancy with our oysters, and most times you’ll see my dad or brothers eating them right out of the shell, but I prefer them with a little extra.  Tabasco sauce is a great topping, as is horseradish.  My favorite combination is a saltine with horseradish on it, topped with the oyster and a little hot sauce.  Guaranteed to clear your sinuses.  

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Oysters on the Grill
Source: Captain James Rosemond

A few dozen in-season oysters

Saltines to match

Horseradish

Tabasco sauce

Ice

Keep your oysters on ice until you put them on the grill.  Heat your grill to 300-400 degrees.  Lay the oysters directly onto the grill and close your lid.  Check them every five to ten minutes.  As soon as the shells open, they’re ready to serve.  Use a shucking tool to remove the oyster from the shell, and either eat or slide that sucker onto a saltine.