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Course
Main
Duration
1 hour
Serves
2
Chef’s notes
This recipe comes from the second episode of Das Boat Season 3. Watch the series here.
As I told Captain Frank and Billy on Das Boat, this dish made me want to go catch more weakfish—something I’ve never said before. Being they’re a close relative to speckled trout and a member of the drum family, I treated them as I would a seatrout from the Gulf. Stuffed with lobster and clam, this weakfish recipe has all the flavors of Jersey’s Barnegat Bay.
Ingredients
- 1 weakfish
- ¼ stick butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. JPB x Spiceology Chorizo blend
- 6 oz. cooked lobster knuckle and claw meat
- 4 oz. chopped raw clam, with reserved clam liquor
- Hot sauce
- Salt and pepper
Also works with
Speckled trout, salmon, sea bass, or redfish. Crab, scallops, mussels, or oysters.
Special equipment
Roasting pan with rack, shears
Preparation
How to Clean Weakfish
- Remove the scales of the weakfish by dragging a spoon or knife blade against the grain of the scales. Pay special attention to the belly and areas around the fins. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water.
- Make an incision at the back of the throat straight past the belly of the fish. Remove all guts. If you see an egg sack, carefully remove it and set it aside to batter and fry.
- Once the cavity is clean, use a sharp, thin filet knife to remove the rib bones.
- With a pair of shears, snip the back bone from near the head and tail. Gently remove that back bone by working from head to tail disconnecting it from any smaller secondary bones using your shears.
- Score the outside of the fish by making 2 to 3 shallow incisions on the thickest part of the filet.
- Dry with paper towels and set aside.
Stuff and Roast
- Wipe a roasting rack with a generous application of vegetable oil using a paper towel. Set your oven to 400°F and add both the roasting pan and rack to the oven. This process allows your rack to “cure” and will help your fish not stick to the rack while cooking. Keep this in the oven until you are ready to use it.
- Add butter and garlic to a sauté pan and cook on medium-low heat. Toast your garlic in the butter for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the green onions and lobster. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Add chorizo spice (or other spice blend of your choosing) to the mixture and allow to incorporate for about 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped clams and a dash of hot sauce to the mixture. Cook for an additional 2 minutes and remove your pan from the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Whisk an egg in a mixing bowl and combine with the clam and lobster mixture to finish the stuffing.
- Fill the cavity of the cleaned and prepped fish with the stuffing. Use vegetable oil and a pastry brush or paper towel to coat the exterior of the fish skin. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the pan and roasting rack from the oven and carefully place the fish on top. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until the thickest part of the filet is fully cooked. Remove from the oven and give the entire fish a generous squeeze of lemon.
Chef’s notes
This recipe comes from the second episode of Das Boat Season 3. Watch the series here.
As I told Captain Frank and Billy on Das Boat, this dish made me want to go catch more weakfish—something I’ve never said before. Being they’re a close relative to speckled trout and a member of the drum family, I treated them as I would a seatrout from the Gulf. Stuffed with lobster and clam, this weakfish recipe has all the flavors of Jersey’s Barnegat Bay.
Ingredients
- 1 weakfish
- ¼ stick butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. JPB x Spiceology Chorizo blend
- 6 oz. cooked lobster knuckle and claw meat
- 4 oz. chopped raw clam, with reserved clam liquor
- Hot sauce
- Salt and pepper
Also works with
Speckled trout, salmon, sea bass, or redfish. Crab, scallops, mussels, or oysters.
Special equipment
Roasting pan with rack, shears
Preparation
How to Clean Weakfish
- Remove the scales of the weakfish by dragging a spoon or knife blade against the grain of the scales. Pay special attention to the belly and areas around the fins. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water.
- Make an incision at the back of the throat straight past the belly of the fish. Remove all guts. If you see an egg sack, carefully remove it and set it aside to batter and fry.
- Once the cavity is clean, use a sharp, thin filet knife to remove the rib bones.
- With a pair of shears, snip the back bone from near the head and tail. Gently remove that back bone by working from head to tail disconnecting it from any smaller secondary bones using your shears.
- Score the outside of the fish by making 2 to 3 shallow incisions on the thickest part of the filet.
- Dry with paper towels and set aside.
Stuff and Roast
- Wipe a roasting rack with a generous application of vegetable oil using a paper towel. Set your oven to 400°F and add both the roasting pan and rack to the oven. This process allows your rack to “cure” and will help your fish not stick to the rack while cooking. Keep this in the oven until you are ready to use it.
- Add butter and garlic to a sauté pan and cook on medium-low heat. Toast your garlic in the butter for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the green onions and lobster. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- Add chorizo spice (or other spice blend of your choosing) to the mixture and allow to incorporate for about 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped clams and a dash of hot sauce to the mixture. Cook for an additional 2 minutes and remove your pan from the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Whisk an egg in a mixing bowl and combine with the clam and lobster mixture to finish the stuffing.
- Fill the cavity of the cleaned and prepped fish with the stuffing. Use vegetable oil and a pastry brush or paper towel to coat the exterior of the fish skin. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the pan and roasting rack from the oven and carefully place the fish on top. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until the thickest part of the filet is fully cooked. Remove from the oven and give the entire fish a generous squeeze of lemon.