John’s Note: Salty water, sizzling sun, sand between your toes and tasty seafood are some of the pleasures of beaches we dream about after we leave. Whether you eat seafood at the beach, bring your bounty home to freeze and enjoy later or buy it at your local store, seafood doesn’t have to taste the same. Put spice in your life by varying your menu and adding some fire to fish, crabs and shrimp. Your seafood will sizzle with zesty flavor with these recipes.

Galloping Hot Oysters

If you want to jump-start your seafood dinner with the taste of shellfish and the tantalizing tingle of juicy jalapenos, prepare this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 pint select oysters
12 slices bacon
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/8-teaspoon pepper
1/8-teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons parsley
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

Preparation:

Drain oysters. Place each oyster across half a slice of bacon. Sprinkle with seasonings, chopped parsley and chopped jalapeno peppers. Roll bacon around oysters, and fasten with toothpicks. Place oysters on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Remove toothpicks, and serve. This recipe will make 1-1/2- to 2-dozen appetizers.

HEAT INDEX: Red Hot

Sunburned Seafood Salad

Never throw your cooked fish out, even if your family doesn’t like leftovers. Tomorrow at lunch, enjoy a delicious weight-watchers’ salad that’s never bland while you melt away the calories. Keep in mind that the portions can be varied according to the number at your table and the amount of leftover seafood on hand.

Ingredients:

1/2-cup cooked, flaked fish
1 cup shrimp cooked in shrimp and crab boil
1/2-cup crabmeat
Lettuce
Banana peppers, Chile peppers, red, yellow and green bell peppers, cut in julienned slices
1/4-cup celery, finely chopped
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

Shrimp Remoulade Sauce Ingredients:

10 ounces olive oil
5 ounces vinegar
7-1/2-ounces Dijon mustard
5 ounces tomato catsup
5 tablespoons fresh horseradish
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Creole seasoning to taste or salt
Combine and process ingredients in blender.

Preparation:

Arrange lettuce, peppers, celery and tomatoes on plates. Lightly combine fish, shrimp and crabmeat, and portion out mixtures. Pour desired amount of Shrimp Remoulade Sauce over all.

HEAT INDEX: Medium

To get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks, “The Best Wild Game & Seafood Cookbook Ever: 350 Southern Recipes for Deer, Turkey, Fish, Seafood Small Game and Birds,” “Alabama’s Offshore Saltwater Fishing: A Year-Round Guide for Catching Over 15 Species of Fish,” and “Fishing Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and Visitor’s Guide,” click here.

About the Author

John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (AMA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.

Next: The Best Fish Chowder and Most Delicious Hushpuppies with Outdoor Writer John E. Phillips