We hope you find these recipes as pleasing to the palette as we do! This page is a work in progress, so please feel free to email us with your favorite recipes for preparing Chesapeake Bay fish and seafood.
If a recipe is for a fish that we target on our charters, it's title will contain a link to that species' listing on "Our Catch" page. This gives you the opportunity to find more information on any fish you are not familiar with.
Clams
Clam Fritters
- 12-18 shucked and chopped clams depending on size
- 1 egg
- dash of baking powder
- ¼ tsp. yellow or spicy brown mustard
- 2 tbsp. milk
- seafood breader mix OR flour with a dash of salt and pepper
- Shuck the clams, catching the juice in the bowl. You should end up with a pint of clams or more. Rinse the clams in their own juice. Use scissors and remove stomachs from the clams. The remaining parts of the clams may be cut up into small pieces with scissors or chopped in a food processor. Add the clams, egg, baking powder, about 2 tablespoons of milk and mix.
- Blend in the breader mix or seasoned flour and stir until the batter becomes thick like pancake batter.
- Heat a cast iron skillet on relatively high heat and add enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon the batter mix into the oil when the pan is hot enough.
- Cook until brown and then carefully flip the fritters.
- Serve immediately on hamburger buns with ketchup and mustard or just eat them as is.
Atlantic Croaker (Hardheads)
Baked Croaker
- 2 lbs of Croaker fillets
- ¼ cup sliced green onions and tops
- 1 minced garlic clove
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup fine bread crumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs butter
- Cut the fillets to the size pices you would like.
- In a pan heat the butter, add the onions and garlic, cook until tender.
- Add the lemon juice to the pan. Turn off the heat.
- In a bowl mix the bread crumbs and salt.
- Dip fillets in the lemon butter mixture, then into the bread crumbs.
- Place the fillets in a well greased baking pan (15x11x1). Pour the remaining lemon butter mixture over the fish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Citrus Croaker
- 2 med Croaker
- 1 Lemon cut into quarters
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 med Onion, sliced into rings
- 1 Orange, divided into 8 sections
- ⅓ cup dry white wine
- Rub fish inside and out with two of the lemon quarters. Season fish inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Place onion in bottom of casserole dish. Place fish on top of the onion.
- Spread six orange sections around fish. Squeeze two orange sections and remaining two lemon quarters over fish.
- Pour wine in casserole dish.
- Cover casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake at 450° F for 25 to 30 minutes. Serves two.
Easy Southern Fried Croaker
- 1 lb croaker fillets
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup seafood breading mix
- oil for frying (olive, peanut, vegetable or sunflower oil)
- Combine eggs and milk. Place breader mix in freezer bag.
- Dip fish in milk egg mixture and drop in breader, shake well.
- Lay fillets in hot pan. Cook till golden brown on each side.
- Say Grace and enjoy!
Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
OLD BAY® Steamed Blue Crabs
- water
- vinegar
- 1 dozen live blue crabs
- ½ cup OLD BAY® Seasoning
- In a pot with a raised rack (minimum of 2 inches high), add equal quantities of water and vinegar to just below level of rack. Bring to a boil.
- Carefully layer crabs on rack; sprinkle each layer with OLD BAY. Cover and steam 20 to 30 minutes depending on size of crabs or until crabs turn red.
Blue Crab Dip
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry
- 1 pound fresh lump blue crabmeat
- Crackers or toast points
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add green onions and garlic, and sauté until tender. Stir in flour, and cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in half-and-half and next 3 ingredients.
- Gently fold in crabmeat without breaking up lumps. Pour into a lightly greased 8- x 8-inch baking dish. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve with crackers or toast points.
Chesapeake Bay Cream of Crab Soup
- 1 pound Chesapeake Bay jumbo lump crab meat
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 3 teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 pints heavy whipping cream
- 1 quart half and half
- cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 pint milk
- Bring milk, half and half, and heavy whipping cream to a boil.
- Add crab meat, fresh parsley, Old Bay Seasoning, butter, salt and pepper.
- When it starts to boil, make a paste of cornstarch and water to thicken soup.
Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes
- 1 lb Jumbo Lump Crabmeat
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 ½ teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
- ½ cup fine breadcrumbs made from white bread
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain crab meat and put in a bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg, mayo, mustard, Old Bay, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Gently stir in crab meat and bread crumbs and mix with hands lightly without breaking up the lumps. Mixture will be somewhat wet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or more.
- Once chilled, shape the mixture into rounded mounds whatever size you'd like. Do not flatten or make into patties. Place on lightly sprayed baking sheet with sides. Spray the tops very lightly with non stick spray for browning.
- Just before putting crab cakes in the oven, drop two or three ice cubes onto the baking pan in between crab cakes. This will keep the high temperature from burning the bottoms. Bake in hot 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the size you made your crab cakes. Serve with lemon wedges.
Fried Soft Shell Crabs
- 6 soft shelled blue crabs
- Seafood Breader Mix
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup peanut oil
- Preheat broiler.
- Shake crabs and breader mix in a plastic bag.
- Saute soft crabs in peanut oil with high heat until brown, turning once.
Cobia
Grilled Cobia
- 3 lbs cobia
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup lime juice
- 1½ teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Cut fillets into serving size pieces, and place in a bowl.
- Combine olive oil and lemon juice. Add all remaining spices to oil and lemon juice, and mix.
- Pour mixture over fish steaks. Marinate for 5 minutes Remove from marinade and barbecue for about 8 minutes over coals (Keep checking, do not overcook!)
- Turn as necessary, basting several times with marinade. Serve hot off the grill.
Oysters
Oyster Dressing
- 1 pint shucked oysters
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup butter
- 4 cups bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
- 1 tsp. sage
- ½ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. poultry seasoning
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Drain oysters, reserve liquor. Remove any shell and chop oysters.
- Cook celery and onion in butter until tender.
- Add oysters and oyster liquor to vegetables; cook for 10 minutes.
- Combine oysters, cooked vegetables, bread cubes and seasonings in a large bowl; mix thoroughly.
- Add additional oyster liquor as needed.
- Bake dressing in a greased casserole for 30 minutes or until edges are brown.
- Turn as necessary, basting several times with marinade. Serve hot out of the oven.
Traditional Chesapeake Bay Oyster Stew
- 1 pint oysters, shucked with juice
- 1 quart milk
- ¼ stick butter
- ½ teaspoon Old Bay
- salt and pepper to taste
- dash of Tabasco
- In a medium sauce pan cook the oysters in their own juice until the edges just begin to curl. Then add milk, butter, Old Bay and salt and pepper to taste. Heat slowly over medium heat, just under a slow boil.
- Add dash of Tabasco to stew in serving bowl.
Red Drum (Redfish)
Redfish on the Half Shell
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 2 redfish fillets, with scales still on (about 2 ½ pounds) and pin bones removed
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- ¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- Preheat the oven to 475°.
- Lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet. Lay the redfish fillets, skin side down, on the baking sheet and brush them with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
- Sprinkle with the crushed red pepper and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast the redfish fillets on the bottom rack of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the flesh flakes with a fork.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the parsley and garlic with the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the fish to a platter, drizzle with the parsley-garlic oil and serve with lemon wedges.
Striped Bass (Rockfish, Striper)
Lemon Butter Rockfish
- 1 lb. striped bass fillets
- ½ fresh lemon
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. Old Bay crab seasoning or equivalent
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Drain fillets and lay in a casserole dish coated with olive oil.
- Squeeze lemon juice over fillets, coat with butter and sprinkle with seasoning.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until fish is white on the outside and still slightly pink in the center.
Dijon Rockfish
- 1 lb. striped bass fillets
- 2oz. white wine
- 2oz. mayonnaise
- 2oz. dijon mustard
- This one is real simple but it's also really good.
- Mix equal parts of white wine, mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and whisk until smooth.
- Pour over fish fillets in baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.
Rockfish Chowder
- 1 lb rockfish fillets
- 5 potatoes
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 cups of evaporated milk
- 2 cups of water
- ¼ stick butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- Rinse fillets and cut into small pieces.
- Pare potatoes, cut into small pieces and boil 5 minutes.
- Add sliced onion and fish. Cook until fish is done, about 20 minutes.
- Add milk, water, butter salt and pepper.
- Simmer a few minutes and serve hot.
Summer Flounder
Fillet of Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat
- 1 ½ lbs. flounder fillets, 4 lg. pieces
- 1 cup backfin crabmeat
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped green pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped pimento
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon OLD BAY® seasoning
- dash ground cayenne, optional
- 4 saltine crackers, crushed
- 1 egg, separated
- 6 tbsp. mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Rinse and dry the flounder. Remove the shell from crabmeat and add green pepper, pimiento, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, OLD BAY®, cayenne, and crackers.
- In a small bowl or measure, combine egg white and 1 tablespoon of the mayonnaise. Add to crab mixture and toss until well blended.
- Brush fillets on cut side with melted butter. Place flounder in greased shallow baking pan and top each fillet with even amounts of the crab mixture. Drizzle remaining butter over top of stuffed fillets. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.
- Combine egg yolk and remaining mayonnaise. Spread egg mixture on top of each fillet and sprinkle with paprika. Increase temperature to 450° and bake 6 minutes longer, or until golden and bubbly. Serves 4.
Tautog (Blackfish)
Baked Tautog
- 1 lb. tautog fillet, cut into serving pieces
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 ½ tsp. dried
- 3 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped (or 1 ½ tsp. dried
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- Paprika
- In a small saucepan melt butter; stir in lemon juice, parsley, chives, dill, cayenne and salt, if desired.
- Place fillets in a lightly oiled baking dish.
- Pour butter and herb mixture over fillets.
- Sprinkle with paprika and bake uncovered in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 8 to 10 minutes or until fish begins to flake.
- Place on warm platter. Boil pan juices until reduced to about ¼ cup and pour over warm fish.
- Serves 4.