Tag: Oregon Coast seafood recipes

Lemon Pepper Salmon or Rockfish Sticks

By Capt. Andy Martin – Surprisingly easy to prepare, delicious for even the most picky eater, and great with salmon or rockfish, Lemon Pepper Salmon Sticks and Lemon Pepper Rockfish Sticks are a tasty way to enjoy the bounty of the Oregon Coast, and sure to become a favorite way to serve up the catch of the day from our charter boats.

Served with a delicious Old Bay Blue Cheese sauce, these homemade fish sticks taste great with fresh rockfish or salmon, or fillets from the freezer. I first made these Lemon Pepper Salmon Sticks when the grandkids were visiting. Insisting they didn’t like fish, the grandkids couldn’t get enough of the homemade salmon fish sticks once we served up a platter for them. Also excellent with rockfish, these fish sticks cook up quickly, and are a great alternative to traditional deep fried fish.

Lemon Pepper Rockfish Sticks served with Old Bay Blue Cheese sauce.

By slicing the fillets into smaller strips, the fish cooks quickly without a soggy, oily mess sometimes associated with fried fish. Just enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet is needed.

The Old Bay Blue Cheese sauce is a tasty alternative to tarter sauce, and may become your go-to topping for fried or baked fish. The sauce is a simple combination of crumbled blue cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and black pepper.

Cutting salmon into thin strips allows it to quickly fry without an oily, soggy mess.

The fish sticks are coated with a simple mixture of flour, lemon pepper and salt, similar to the traditional fried whole trout that was a staple for our grandparents. Egg wash is used to bind the lemon pepper flour to the fish.

Rockfish can flake apart easily when cut into smaller pieces, so it’s key to slice the fillets lengthwise, along the natural part that divides the side of a rockfish into four distinct portions.

Rockfish have a natural part lengthwise along their fillet. Use that as a template for slicing the fish sticks. If the fillets are cut from top to bottom instead of lengthwise, they can flake apart while frying.
The fish are coated with a simple mixture of flour, lemon pepper and salt
Old Bay seasoning, crumbled blue cheese, mayonnaise and lemon juice combine to make a delicious sauce for fried or baked fish.

Lemon Pepper Fish Sticks

1 lb. salmon or rockfish fillets, bones and skin removed

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbs lemon pepper seasoning

1 tsp salt

2-3 eggs, beaten

Peanut, cottonseed or canola oil

Old Bay Blue Cheese sauce

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1/4 tsp black pepper

Frying the fish

Cut the salmon or rockfish fillets into long, thin strips, similar to fish sticks.

Heat oil to medium high. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet, but not more than an inch high.

In a large bowl or shallow baking dish, combine the lemon pepper, flour and salt.

Dip the rockfish strips or salmon strips, one at a time, into the beaten eggs, making sure all sides are coated.

Once the fish has been dipped in the egg wash, roll each stick in the lemon pepper and flour mixture.

Fry the fish sticks, in batches, for 2 minutes and then carefully flip and fry to 2 more minutes.

Allow the fish sticks to drain on a plate covered with a paper towel.

For the sauce, combine the mayonnaise, blue cheese, pepper and lemon juice. Add a little more Old Bay and blue cheese if you prefer a bolder sauce.

Salmon Sticks cooked to perfection and served with homemade coleslaw.
Lemon Pepper Rockfish Sticks are delicious and easy to make.
The fillets from just are couple of rockfish are all that’s needed to prepare a delicious meal of Lemon Pepper Rockfish Sticks.

To catch a limit or rockfish or an ocean-bright king or coho salmon to enjoy this recipe, contact Brookings Fishing Charters at (541) 813-1082 or visit www.brookingsfishing.com.

Charter boat captain publishes Oregon Coast seafood recipe book

BROOKINGS, Ore, (Feb. 16, 2024) – Drawing from two decades experience as a full-time ocean charter boat captain and river guide, Capt. Andy Martin has published a recipe book featuring his favorite ways to prepare Oregon Coast seafood.

Order Online Now! $12.50 includes free shipping.

Captain’s Choice: Recipes from Brookings Fishing Charters is now available for purchase online or at Brookings Bait and Tackle at the Port of Brookings.

Captain’s Choice: Recipes From Brookings Fishing Charters is now available for purchase online and at the Brookings Fishing Charters office at the port of Brookings. The spiral-bound, full color recipe book features two dozen of Capt. Andy’s favorite seafood dishes, including Rockfish Chowder, Parmesan Rockfish, Rockfish Puttanesca, Teriyaki Grilled Albacore, Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta, Brown Sugar Cured Smoked Salmon, Salmon Chowder and Beer Battered Lingcod.

Capt. Andy Martin, owner of Brookings Fishing Charters, is the author of the new Oregon Coast seafood recipe book.

Almost daily on his fishing charters, customers would ask Capt. Andy about the best way to prepare their catch of the day. He’d email recipes from the Brookings Fishing Charters web site, or jot down basic chowder and fish taco recipes. The cookbook is a collection of several of his favorite rockfish, lingcod, salmon and halibut recipes.

The recipe book is spiral bound and includes nearly two dozen Oregon Coast seafood recipes.
Each recipe includes color photos, ingredients, and cooking instructions.

Early in his Alaska river guide career, Capt. Andy would use the first salmon of the day to prepare salmon chowder with a propane stove on the bow of his boat. He and other charter boat captains often spent evenings after trips creating dishes with halibut or salmon. Capt. Andy also spent the early part of his career working at world-class fishing lodges in Alaska, and had the chance to sample some of the best seafood dishes, and add his own twist to them.

Each recipe includes color photos, ingredients, cooking instructions, and description of the recipe. Most recipes can be made with the fillets of just a couple of rockfish, or a single lingcod fillet. With tighter catch limits in Alaska, Oregon and California, the recipe book allows anglers to make several meals from a daily limit of rockfish, lingcod or halibut. All of the recipes can be cooked up using fresh or frozen fish fillets.

The contents of Captain’s Choice: Recipes from Brookings Fishing Charters.

To order a recipe book online, visit Home | Brookings Fishing Charters LLC (square.site). The cost includes free shipping. Recipes books can also be purchased at the Brookings Fishing Charters and Brookings Bait and Tackle office at 16399 Lower Harbor Road at the Port of Brookings.

The Brookings Fishing Charters crew is working on a second recipe book, featuring favorite smoked fish recipes from each captain, and favorite wild game jerky recipes.

How to make Rockfish Jerky

Several years ago, a frequent customer on the Miss Brooke pulled out a bag of jerky and started handing out pieces to everyone on the charter boat. Delicious. Dried to perfection, nice salty and smoky taste, a texture almost identical to beef jerky. The rockfish jerky was a hit, and has become a favorite way to enjoy rockfish long after a fishing trip.

Ralph Trigo, on the right, shared his Rock Cod Jerky recipe with us. Ralph has been a frequent customer of Brookings Fishing Charters.

Ralph Trigo, a longtime member of the Middle Rogue Steelheaders in Grants Pass, Oregon, shared his tasty rockfish jerky recipe with us. It can be made from fresh or frozen rockfish. While a Little Chief or Big Chief electric smoker with wood chips is ideal for making rockfish jerky, it also can be made in a food dehydrator with a few teaspoons of liquid smoke added to the brine.

One of the keys to perfect rockfish jerky is making the long, horizontal slices of the fillets. Each fillet should yield four to eight strips, depending how thin you are able to slice them. The brine is simple and similar to other meat brines. For best results, smoke with just a couple of full pans of chips, and then leave in smoker for several more hours without additional smoke.

Rockfish Jerky

4 to 8 rockfish fillets, cut into thin strips

1 1/2 cups soy sauce

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup salt

pinch of garlic powder

(for added flavor, add paprika, red pepper flake, onion powder to taste)

Cut the rockfish into long, thin strips and place in a large bowl.

Add brine, place in refrigerator for 12 hours, stirring occasionally.

Rinse lightly, pat dry with paper towels.

Smoke for 8 hours, using two pan fulls of chips and then continue drying in smoker for remaining 8 hours. Check often.

Rockfish Jerky can be made from fresh or frozen rockfish fillets.
Cut rockfish fillets into thin, long strips.
After brining for 12 hours, rinse lightly and pat dry.
Smoke for up to 8 hours.
The rockfish jerky midway through the smoking process.
The finished product – smoky, salty and delicious.

To catch a limit of rockfish to make delicious rockfish jerky, visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call our charter boat office, (541) 813-1082.

Easy, delicious rockfish chowder recipe

By far, our most requested recipe has been rockfish chowder. Our customers love it, and almost everyone who tries it says it one of their favorite ways to prepare their catch. Perfect for rockfish, lingcod or halibut, this recipe will have you coming back for seconds. Here’s a look back at Capt. Andy’s rockfish chowder recipe. This is our best Rockfish Chowder Recipe.

(Originally published March 26, 2020) Rockfish chowder is great way to enjoy fresh or frozen Oregon Coast rockfish, especially on a cold, rainy or foggy day. The fillets from a couple of rockfish will yield enough chowder for your entire family, or for a feast to enjoy with friends and neighbors, double the recipe.

Rockfish chowder is delicious and easy to make. Just a couple of rockfish fillets is enough to make a pot of chowder.

Here is Capt. Andy’s favorite rockfish chowder recipe, which yields 8 servings or 2 quarts. Halibut, lingcod or even salmon can be substituted for rockfish. This dish is quick and easy to prepare.

Rockfish Chowder

4 strips bacon (reserve a small portion of the bacon grease)

1 cup finely sliced carrots
1 bunch green onions, sliced (1/2 cup yellow onion may be substituted)

1 cup diced potatoes (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
1 minced garlic clove
1 package cream cheese (8 oz.), cut into small cubes
2 cans (10.5 oz. cans) cream of potato soup, condensed
1 can (10.5 oz.) cream of mushroom soup, condensed
2 cups 2% milk, half-and-half or heavy cream
1 to 2 pounds rockfish, cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen corn, or 1 can corn (drained)
Salt, pepper and lemon pepper to taste

Parsley to garnish

In a large pot, sauté the thinly chopped carrots, onion and potatoes in butter. Cook until the onion and carrots are tender.

Add the soup (undiluted), milk and cream cheese. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the cream cheese is melted. (Cutting the cream cheese into small cubes will allow it to melt much faster than a whole block). Add crumbled cooked bacon and small amount of bacon grease.

Add the soup (undiluted), milk and cream cheese. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the cream cheese is melted.
Add the raw rockfish fillets, cut into small pieces. Bring to a boil, constantly stirring, and then simmer for 10 minutes. The rockfish will quickly cook.
Add crumbled bacon and some of the reserved bacon grease.

Add the corn, stir, and prepare to serve.

Serve with a dash of Tabasco, or cayenne pepper, and a dab of butter.

To make a seafood chowder, add cooked crab meat and/or cooked shrimp.

Rockfish chowder makes a hearty meal. Serve with warm break, and a dab of butter and few drops of Tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper.
Rockfish chowder made by Brookings Fishing Charters customer Neil Anderson.

To catch a limit of rockfish and lingcod to enjoy with this recipe, check out www.brookingsfishing.com. Capt. Andy learned about this recipe while working on halibut charter boats in remote Southeast Alaska, where charter operators living in the bush ate fish several times a weeks.

A few rockfish yield enough fillets for a large pot of rockfish chowder.

Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta

By Capt. Andy Martin – While most people prepare lingcod, rockfish or halibut as fish and chips, or fish tacos, the mild white fillets of these abundant Oregon Coast species also taste great when added to pasta recipes. Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta with Mushrooms combines the bounty of the Oregon Coast with an easy, creamy pasta sauce made with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, garlic and paprika. A great way to prepare local seafood for date night, or a big family dinner.

Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta is perfect for date night, or a large family gathering.

This recipe tastes great with lingcod, rockfish or halibut. It is delicious with grocery store-bought mushrooms, or if you get the chance, wild mushrooms, such as chanterelle, black trumpet or hedgehog mushrooms found along timbered areas of the Oregon Coast.

The homemade alfredo sauce is surprisingly simple and easy to prepare, and is sure to become a favorite way to enjoy pasta – with and without seafood!

Lingcod are fun to catch, and delicious. Try this Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta after your next fishing charter on the Oregon Coast.

Creamy Lingcod and Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients

2 to 4 fillets from Rockfish, Lingcod or Halibut, cut into smaller pieces (fillets cut into 3-inch pieces – If fillets are from a larger fish, slice them in half, lengthwise to fully cook).

1 lb. large shrimp, deveined and shells removed

12 oz. pasta (fettuccine works best, spaghetti also could be used)

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup cooked pasta water

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese

1 cup half and half, or heavy cream

3 tbs olive oil, or butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp basil flakes

Boil pasta as directed on package. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining. Set pasta aside.

Shrimp and lingcod, a delicious combination.
Cut fish into smaller pieces, and cook on one side, then add shrimp after flipping fish.

Cook fish and shrimp. Heat a large skillet, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil or butter. Add garlic. Add Lingcod or Rockfish fillets (cut into smaller pieces approx. 3 inches long). Cook fish for 3 minutes on medium-high heat, and flip. Add shrimp, sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil, crushed red pepper flake and paprika. Cook for 2 minutes, and flip again. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, and then remove and set aside. Fish may be slightly undercooked, but will finish when added back to sauce.

The fish and shrimp is removed from the skillet and set aside, then later added back to sauce.

In the same skillet, add the sliced mushrooms, and more butter/olive oil if needed. Cook on medium high for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until mushrooms are tender.

You may need to add a slight amount of olive oil or butter to skillet before adding mushrooms.
Cook mushrooms until tender.

To make the alfredo sauce, add 1 cup of half-and-half or heavy cream to the mushrooms, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add half of the cheese mixture, bring to boil, and then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until cheese is melted, constantly stirring. Once cheese is melted, gradually add the remaining cheese.

The shrimp can be added back to mushrooms when making sauce, but since the fish fillets are more fragile, don’t add them until sauce and pasta are already mixed together.
The alfredo sauce is a combination of half-and-half or cream, Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese.

Once all of the cheese is melted, add the drained pasta, and a portion of the held over pasta water, and mix together with sauce. Add shrimp and fish on top of the pasta and sauce, and heat over medium-low until pasta is hot again. (Don’t stir once fish is added, as the fillets will break into smaller pieces.)

Add the fish and shrimp to the pasta and sauce as the pasta reheats.

Season to taste with more salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and basil. If fish is still slightly undercooked, cover until fish is fully cooked.

To catch a limit of rockfish, lingcod or halibut to enjoy with your favorite seafood recipes, book a charter at www.brookingsfishing.com.

Seafood Bisque great way to enjoy rockfish, crab

The delicious combination of Oregon Coast rockfish, crab and shrimp in a thick, creamy soup will have your family coming back for seconds, and friends or co-workers over for dinner impressed. Seafood Bisque, which resembles clam chowder – but without the clams, potatoes and bacon – is surprisingly easy to make, yet rivals the menu of an elegant French restaurant.

The combination of fresh rockfish, crab and shrimp make this creamy soup a home run.

Capt. Andy of Brookings Fishing Charters has cooked up several variations of seafood bisque recipes. This is his favorite, in part because it is simple and quick, yet incredibly delicious. This recipe is perfect with rockfish, lingcod or halibut, combined with shrimp (either large shelled and deveined shrimp or Oregon Coast salad or cocktail shrimp), and fresh crab meat. Just rockfish and crab, or fish fillets and shrimp meat will work with the recipe, although all three give it a 10 out of 10.

The Louisiana twist to the recipe – with cajun seasonings – gives it a unique flavor that complements Pacific Northwest seafood.

Seafood Bisque takes just a few minutes to prep, and is ready to serve in 45 minutes.

Seafood Bisque is a great way to enjoy the rockfish caught on our charter boats.

Rockfish and Crab Bisque

1 pound rockfish, lingcod or halibut fillets, cut into small chunks

1/2 pound crab meat

1/2 pound shrimp meat

2 cubes unsalted butter

1 bunch green onion, chopped

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half

1/4 cup white flour

1/2 can creamed corn (optional ingredient)

1 tsp cajun seasoning

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Melt butter in a large pot, and saute green onions.

Sprinkle flour over the melted butter and onions, and stir well.

Add heavy cream, half and half, seafood, seasonings, and if desires, the half can of cream corn. Stir continuously as the bisque is brought to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. The raw fish will quickly cook, and add an incredible flavor to the creamy soup.

Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with sour dough or french bread, and white wine.

Melt butter in a large pot, and saute chopped green onions.
Once the onions are cooked, add 1/4 cup flour.
Add heavy cream and half and half, seafood, cajun seasons, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and Old Bay.
This creamy soup is ready to serve after simmering for 40 minutes.

To book a charter to catch your own rockfish or lingcod, visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082.

Rockfish Puttanesca

By Capt. Andy Martin – One of the perks of running a charter boat on the Oregon Coast is an ample supply of rockfish and lingcod fillets to enjoy with our families and try new recipes with. One of the captains who runs out of the Brookings Fishing Charters office, Capt. Rich Signorello, says his favorite way to enjoy rockfish is Rockfish Puttanesca, a delicious twist to a classic Italian dish that will have you coming back for seconds.

Start by finely chopping garlic and parsley.

Pasta Puttanesca is a simple, tasty alternative to traditional spaghetti with meatballs. Adding rockfish fillets makes the dish burst with flavor and appear much more elaborate, worthy of a spot on the menu of an expensive seafood or Italian restaurant. The recipe is actually quite simple, and costs less than $15 to make a meal for the entire family.

Capt. Rich says Rockfish Puttanesca is his favorite way to enjoy rockfish.

When Rich described his homespun recipe for Rockfish Puttanesca I was intrigued, and after experimenting a little, came up with this version. It is worth trying, and may become one of your favorite recipes for enjoying Oregon Coast rockfish.

Rockfish Puttanesca

2 to 6 rockfish fillets. Smaller fillets work best.

1/3 cup olive oil

5-6 cloves minced garlic

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 flat anchovy fillets (2 ounces)

2 14.5-ounce cans crushed tomatoes (finely diced tomatoes will can be substituted)

1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

1/4 cup capers

1 bunch chopped parsley

salt, garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 package (14-16 ounces) spaghetti

Parmesan cheese

Finley chop the garlic and parsley and set aside. Rinse rockfish fillets.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook garlic for 1 minute, then add crushed red pepper and anchovy fillets. The anchovy fillets will break up. Cook for 1 more minute, and add olives, capers, parsley and crushed tomatoes. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste. Bring to a boil, add rockfish fillets, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Just after adding rockfish fillets and covering, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook spaghetti for 9-10 minutes. By the time the spaghetti is cooked and drained, the sauce will be finished. Removed cooked rockfish from sauce and place on a separate dish, then combine sauce and spaghetti and mix well.

Add a rockfish fillet to each serving of the puttanesca. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Saute the anchovy fillets, crushed red pepper flakes and garlic.
Add olives, parsley and capers.
Add two cans crushed tomatoes. Stir well.
After bringing sauce to a boil, add rockfish fillets. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
The rockfish fillets will cook in the sauce.
Once the rockfish is cooked, remove from sauce and set aside.
Toss pasta and sauce.
Serve a rockfish fillet with each portion of puttanesca.

To catch a limit of rockfish to make Rockfish Puttanesca and other tasty seafood recipes, book a trip with any of the Brookings Fishing Charters charter boats. Learn more at www.brookingsfishing.com.