Cajun French: le plie (lu plee) – flounder
Morning in the Gulf, evening on the grill – can’t get much fresher.
Fishing on Grand Isle can be frustrating, exhilarating, boring and exciting all within an hour’s time.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Mardi Gras weekend was like that; fishing for four days and catching six flounders. Catching a flounder was exciting, yet waiting for another bite became frustrating. There were five of us fishing, three males and two females, the females kicked butt. Laurie caught two flounders, Peggy caught three flounders, and Steve caught one flounder. John and Wayne were our support group. Ok enough of Laurie bragging.
After cleaning the flounders, we cut them down the middle and opened them up for stuffing. The flounders were seasoned with salt and pepper, stuffed with stuffed crab and shrimp, rubbed with olive oil and grilled.
We did not weight the flounder although one flounder was enough for two hungry people. We added a green salad and had one of the freshest meals possible.
Every time I come to visit you, you have something that makes me smile. This time you almost made me cry! Almost every summer during my childhood and through college, my family would rent a cabin on Grand Isle for two weeks. We’d fish, crab, swim, eat, crab, fish, eat, … Most of the fishing was surf fishing but my mother loved gigging for flounder. Nothing better than a flounder that went from the sea to the plate! What a fun y’all are having!
Thanks for the comment MJ. I did not realize you had south Louisiana ties. We actually caught the flounders on hooks. We were hoping for Reds and got Flounders instead. Still was great eating!
I’ve been super busy lately so I haven’t checked your blog out in a while, but since I was recommending it to a friend, I thought I’d better see what is new. The Grand Isle entry makes me truly nostalgic. Our family used to go there every summer, as my sister MJ told you. That place holds some of my fondest memories. Is Dufrene’s Bakery still in Golden Meadow? We always stopped there for amazing breads on the way to Grand Isle. A loaf of their crunchy bread with a pile of boiled crab fresh out of the water, and all the fixin’s – heaven! I love your new recipes! I can’t wait to do the beet green wrap. We love beets and I think the greens are the best part. And the portabellos sound incredible, not to slight the red cabbage recipe. They are all on my list of new things to try as soon as we get settled. We are moving from CA back to East Texas. We already have some fun things on the calendar – Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival May 4 and on to New Orleans for the Jazz Festival that weekend. It will be so good to be back in the South.
Thanks for the comment and the recommendation. As far as I know Dufrene’s closed in the mid 1990s and has not reopened. Grand Isle now has an IGA Supermarket, more like a general store, offering everything from food to fishing supplies and everything between. There is also an elevated toll road from Leeville to the island. Things have changed yet it is still Grand Isle. Where in east Texas are you moving? Let me know when you are in south Louisiana; if we are close maybe we could meet. Hope you enjoy the recipes.