Recipe of the Month: Cast Iron Blueberry-Peach Cobbler

 From the Southern Cast Iron Magazine, Summer 2016, Hoffman Media

 6-8 Cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 8 medium peaches)

1 1/2 Cups fresh blueberries

1/4 Cup bourbon

2/3 Cup + 1 tsp sugar, divided (1/3cup, 1/3 cup, 1 tsp)

2 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cubed

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Ice Cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, bourbon, 1/3 Cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in cold butter with forks until mixture is crumbly. Add cream, stirring gently just until dough forms. 

Spoon fruit mixture into 10” cast iron skillet; top with crumbled dough. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar.

Bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Have a great day tomorrow!

Casting and Catching

 I fished yesterday afternoon and even though the rain had passed us by, we had a bit of wind to deal with. But Chris Bremer and his grandson Matteo were "game" to go fishing! We left the Old Town Bait and Tackle dock and headed up to the Jolley River to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that was still coming it. We worked a flooded grass bank for just a bit and it was Chris who "knocked the skunk off", hooking up with a couple of Redfish and a Seatrout. Matteo helped him out with the reeling in part!

We then ran up the Jolley and turned into the current and fished another stretch with the floats and picked up one more Trout, then we ran around to the Bell River and switched to Jigs. We caught one Mangrove Snapper, and moved on. 

Our next stop was up Lanceford, again fishing floats and here  things heated up a bit. Chris caught and landed a couple then Matteo found a hot spot off the stern of the boat. He was making excellent casts which paid off when he hooked up and expertly reeled in a couple of his own Seatrout. 

We had to "work for 'em" but that we did and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

From The Start

 Boy what a nasty start to a morning yesterday it was! It rained on me getting the boat ready, picking up the bait, and launching, and was still raining when Dennis Adams and his crew met me a the dock. He had his son in law Daniel and Daniel's dad Dan with him and as we pulled away from the dock at Old Town Bait and Tackle we were asking ourselves "did we rally want to do this?" But we all had rain jackets on and we made our way to the first spot, heads down and "ducking" the rain. And wouldn't you know, first cast with a jig and live shrimp on a tide that was almost at the bottom...BAM! Big fish on!  Dan was on the rod and fought it valiantly and did a good job but this fish had other plans - it dug down and around the pilings and BAP! Fish Off!

Not to be deterred, all three anglers began to pitch to the pilings and we caught fish non-stop; Red Drum, Black Drum and an occasional Seatrout. After going thru a good number of fish, they ended up with two Slot Redfish and a couple of keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. When the bite slowed we moved out to the outside of the dock and Daniel found a "honey hole" of the Black Drum. He said he'd feel a subtle "bump" and would lift his rod to set the hook. Before we left the trio had added a good handful of those keeper sized Drum to their catch total.

We then made our way around to the back side of Tyger and fished the logs on the first of an incoming tide. It was slow going for a while until we got into the thick of the logs  and then all three began to catch fish. Redfish  and Seatrout and Dan put a nice sized Seabass in the boat. We ran out of bait catching fish so we switched over to artificial baits to finish out the trip and it was Dennis who put the first fish in the boat - a Flounder, caught on a Fish Bite shrimp pattern.

We had caught a ton of fish and the weather had cleared so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Weakfish Made It A Slam

 Thanksgiving week and back to fishing!  I met Joey and Tanya Vasquez up at the Old Town Bait and
Tackle boat ramp early on a tide that still had about an hour of going out to hit bottom. We made a long run up to the Jolley River, up the river and around to the MOA to fish the oysters on that last of the outgoing tide. Both Joey and Tanya were making excellent casts and it paid off. They began to catch fish on the bottom with jigs and live shrimp and landed a good handful of Seatrout and feisty Redfish. 

When the tide slowed to a standstill the bite slowed too so we ran back to the mouth of the Jolley and fished the "bank", easing along the exposed oysters and tossing forward. It took a while but when that tide got to moving we began to catch fish. Again, we caught a handful of Redfish, one of which was in the Slot.

Back up the Jolley we went and turned into the current alongside some flooding shell. We switched to float rigs and drifted them along the bank. Here, Tanya got hot and caught Redfish, Seatrout, and then a Weakfish to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam. And Joey got in on the action and hooked up and landed another Slot Redfish. Then Tanya hooked up and landed another Slot Redfish and with their limit already in the box. we tagged this one for Gray FishTag Research. The fish can be followed HERE.

We made our way around to some docks on Bell River and switched back to the jigs and added another Trout, a couple of Mangrove Snapper, and a small Whiting.  As we headed back to the dock we had two Slot Reds, a keeper Trout, a keeper Weakfish, and a Whiting in the box so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

From Roasting Oysters to Oyster Plates - we love our oysters!

 We finally got to kick back and roast our first batch of oysters last week...and a sneak look at my wife's Oyster Plate collection...

First and Last (spots)

 Hallelujah!  The bad weather finally let up and we were able to get out and do some fishing today!  I met Jason Ash and his buddy Tom up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp early - the tide had been coming in for about an hour and a half so we eased up the creek and found some dock pilings to fish with jigs and live shrimp. It took a few minutes then Tom "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. Then Jason, fishing a little shallower near the bank began to catch Redfish. He could make a cast up to one spot and BAM! Fish On!  He had brought a few to the boat before Tom took the "can't beat 'em join 'em" attitude and cast to the same area and caught fish too.. The duo ended up with a couple of Slot Redfish to go along with the dozen or so "Rat" Reds they landed. They also added another Trout or two one of which was of keeper size. Good start at the first spot!

We then made the run over to the outside of Tyger and fished a stretch of flooding marsh grass, had one small "bump", then moved on. Our next stop was up the Jolley River where we switched to Float rigs and the live shrimp. Both anglers were getting good drifts and picked up a couple of Redfish, one of which was in the Slot, then Tom had a good take and as his drag began to rip we knew, Big Fish On!  Tom kept the pressure on, played it patiently as it bulled up to the grass, worked it out, let it run, and eventually landed a big 26.5" "tournament" Slot Redfish! Boy what a fish!

After running on around to the Bell River we fished deep with jigs between some docks and found that we could hookup and land Seatrout out deep. They had a good flurry of catches and  put another keeper Trout in the box. Then they found that they could pitch closer to the shore and get feisty Redfish. Again, we had some great action at this last spot so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Third Spot Pays Off

 Oh what a beautiful morning! If you've wondered where the reports have been, my two trips from last
week got canceled due to the high winds. But we were back at it today when I met Allen and Lavern Webb up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. The tide had been going out for about an hour so we made our way over to the outside of Tyger and set up to fish float rigs with live shrimp on that first of an outgoing tide.  Both anglers had nibbles here and there but no real takers.

After bumping across the creek we again fished the floats and they had some good bites then when Allen went in to a shallow pocket, BAM! This fish took it right off and began to rip a little bit of drag and, Fish ON!  Allen worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. Skunk off the Boat!

We then ran up to the Jolley and fished the "bank" and no sooner had we trolled just a short bit both anglers began to get fish, one after the other - Redfish, Redfish, Redfish. Allen was tossing up current from the bow and getting fish as he float drifted over the exposed oysters while Lavern went long off of the stern and we found that her fish were biting at the end of her drift, and further out. They caught a good handful of the Reds and added one more Slot Redfish to the catch, and a couple of small Seatrout. One of those Reds that Lavern caught we tagged with a Gray Fish Tag, and I have recorded it here. It was the first fish that I have tagged for GrayFishTag and I plan to do more, but probably bigger fish. 

We fished a couple of spots further up the Jolly and found another couple of  Reds, then moved around to fish the MOA where Allen caught another Redfish on a jig and another Seatrout

Bulldawgs Come To Town

 I fished with some of those Georgia Bulldogs who have come town - long time customers Bob and
William Blalock and Bob's brother-in-law Tommy. We were scheduled to fish yesterday ang although it was a beautiful day the wind was kicking so we postponed the trip until today. We met up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle shop and made a quick run over to the outside of Tyger to fish a tide that was high but had been going out for about an hour. William took the bow and tossed a topwater lure while Bob and Tommy fished float rigs and mud minnows. They got some bites regularly but no takers until we finally caught a couple of Blue Fish. One had some size to it but we tossed it back - boy do those things stink!

We moved over to Manatee Creek and fished it a bit and William, after switching to the float rig, picked up a couple of Seatrout.  After running over to Lanceford Creek and fishing a nice drainage to no avail. It looked fishy and the wind had died just a bit but we had no takers. We ran further up Lanceford and fished a grassy island, then a bulkhead and again, no fish.

But the next spot  - "Bob's Spot" proved to be the winner. These "dogs", like their team, proved to be a "2nd half team"!  Fishing a sliver of an oyster island, drifting their floats along side it, they began to get Redfish, one after the other. Almost every drift produced a fish, most of them undersized, then Tommy hooked up, played it perfectly, and brought to the net a nice Slot Redfish. And shortly afterwards William put another Slot fish in the boat. Bob added a small Flounder to the mix.

After making our way down to Piney Island we fished some dock pilings then we moved around and fished some structure and again got into some feisty Redfish, catching a good handful of them. And Bob added another Flounder, this one of keeper size, but we tossed it back due to the closed season. They also caught a handful of Mangrove Snapper, two of which were of keeper size. These "dogs" came on strong in the 2nd half of the trip and made it another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Recipe of the Month: Mahi Mahi and Shrimp Tacos

 I've fished with Chef Anthony Alejandro a few times and when he let me know he was coming back to the island for the Pentanque tournament in November, I asked him if he had any recipe's he could share, and he sent me this: See more of Chef Anthony's fine food HERE

Fish Prep

8 oz Mahi Mahi (I do all "backwater" so I used some fresh Redfish)                                                     8 oz Shrimp, peeled and deveined (16-20 shrimp)                                                                                  1 Tbs dehydrated pineapple juice powder (I checked two South American grocery stores here in             town for this and they didn't have it. Chef Anthony advised to substitute 2oz pineapple juice)         1 tsp Salt                                                                                                                                                  1 tsp granulated Garlic                                                                                                                          1 1 tsp Chile powder                                                                                                                                  1 Tbs Olive Oil                                                                                                                                        1 Tbs Chipolte puree ( I found this at one of those South American stores..it was labled "salsa" but       the lady assured me it was puree. It was).                                                                                            2 Tbs Butter                                                                                                                                              2 doz corn soft totillas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Cut the fish into 2 oz portions.  Mix the Pineapple, salt, chile powder and garlic powder together then mix into the fish thoroughly and let marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl mix the shrimp with the Chipolte puree and chill in the fridge.

Basquez Sauce (this is some good stuff!)

1/2 Cup  Mayo                                                                                                                                     1 Tbs Lime Juice                                                                                                                                 1 Tbs Chipolte puree                                                                                                                           1 Tbs Valentina Sauce                                                                                                                         1 tsp granulated Garlic

Mix together and chill. 

Toppings                                                                                                                                                        Cabbage - fine julienne                                                                                                                                 Cucumber - peeled, seeded, chopped                                                                                                           Cilantro - chopped                                                                                                                                       Tomatoes -diced                                                                                                                                            Cheese -shredded                                                                                                                                          Lime wedges                                                                                                                                                  Salsa

Heat grill to high and brush with olive oil. Cook the Mahi portions on high to pre-cook (I cooked the Redfish in a cast iron skillet) Heat a skillet on high and melt the butter. Add the shrimp (marinated in the Chipolte puree) and cook for about 3 minutes.  Warm the tortillas and serve with the fish, shrimp, toppings and plenty of Basquez Sauce. ENJOY!