Often when I'm fishing, people catch bluefish or skate and throw them back. I always run over and ask to keep one or two. Bluefish are quick and easy to fabricate and a delicious dinner to prepare when I get back home from fishing all day.
I prefer simply dredging in seasoned flour and frying pieces in olive oil & butter mixed together. Perfect with cold beer or white wine!

Cooking Bluefish

I've always loved catching bluefish. A lot of people tell me they don't like the taste of bluefish. I think they don't clean the fish properly or simply don't understand how to cook bluefish.

I've actually begun to freeze bluefish, and defrost and cook later in the year. I was pleasantly surprised to learn how good it is after freezing!


All sizes of bluefish are aggressive, give a nice fight and taste great. I remember catching small 'snapper blues' in Maine on crocodile lures-you can deep fry the whole fish- absolutely delicious.

I love to fish on the surf for fluke, when the bluefish come in to the surf, the baitfish cover the beach as they try to swim away from the bluefish. It's wild to fish in this fracas.

Cooking Bluefish

Prep Time: 30 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Yield: 4 portions


Ingredients                                          

2  qts.          Olive Oil or Butter

1 lb               Bluefish; scaled, cleaned and thoroughly rinsed

1/2 tsp        Kosher Salt                                       

t.t.                Black pepper                 

1 Cup.         AP flour


If breading and frying:

2 ea            Eggs, cracked-whisked

2 Cups      Breadcrumbs, seasoned if you like

2 ea           Lemon, quartered

 

Spicy Bluefish with Peppers 'Warm Salad'

3 Tbsp        Olive oil

4 Tbsp       Red Bell Peppers

4 Tbsp       Bell Peppers

4 Tbsp       Onions

2 Tbsp      Scallions, sliced thinly

2 Tbsp     Cider Vinegar

2 Tbsp     Capers

How to Prepare Bluefish

Step 1

Clean the fish fillets of all blood line, discard; pat dry with paper towels. You can leave whole to pan fry or deep fry, cut in to fillets or cut into 2 inch squares.


Season the with salt and pepper.



Step 2 Fried Breaded Fish

Place the seasoned fish squares in to a bowl and pour the flour over it, toss to evenly coat.

Pour the eggs over the floured fish and evenly coat, using a rubber spatula (or your fingers).


Finally pour the breadcrumbs over the fish and toss, covering each piece with breadcrumbs. You should lightly squeeze each finger so it's covered tightly with the breadcrumbs-add more breadcrumbs if needed. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.





Step 3 Sweating the Peppers and Onions

Heat the oil in a sauté pan, add the peppeprs, onions and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes until lightly browning and softened. Add the vinegar and herbs; season to taste and toss with the fried bluefish pieces. Serve immediately with pluches of cilantro to garnish.







Meunière style

This is a picture of bluefish fillets simply seasoned and dredged in flour, then sautéed in butter.








Pan fried Bluefish

This is a picture of cleaned, whole bluefish seasoned and dredged in flour, then pan frie in oil and butter.

Cookies: Italian Ginetti Cookie

By Tom Griffiths • December 17, 2025
Butter, spices, and traditional family recipes bring us together in the simplest—and most meaningful—ways. This is a cookie my mother baked at Easter time. The lemon sugar crust is delicious... perfect with coffee or tea.

Cookies: Snowball Nut Cookie

By Tom Griffiths • December 17, 2025
Butter, spices, and traditional family recipes bring us together in the simplest—and most meaningful—ways. Christmas cookies are more than nostalgic treats; they’re a celebration of childhood memories, and maybe cookies help to make us all a little more patient, thoughtful & friendly each holiday season. I remember driving with my father to the city each Christmas to pick up Aunt Flora. She would send us out with decorative plates of homemade, Italian Christmas cookies to deliver to the local relatives. It was always snowing-we would spend a few minutes visiting each family, have a few cookies and a glass of sweet wine or coffee. My mother and aunts began baking cookies the day after Thanksgiving. They filled the freezer with shoe boxes of cookies lined with wax paper for protection... frozen cookies are pretty delicious!

Cookies: Pignoli

By Tom Griffiths • December 15, 2025
Years ago I traveled to Santa Fe and Alburque with my son Ciro. We enjoyed fantastic Southwest cuisine at local shops and cafes. A highlight was purchasing fresh pine nuts in the shell- a little challenging to get the nuts out of the shells but the flavor was fantastic.

Sausages

By Tom Griffiths • December 15, 2025
I taught garde manger for years at the CIA... it was one of my favorite classes. I love caviar, foie gras, preparing hors d' oeuvres, decorative platters and especially forcemeats. And yes... I love making watermelon carvings too!

Mother Sauces: Sauce Tomat

By Tom Griffiths • December 8, 2025
I was amazed to learn of a French Tomato sauce (Sauce Tomat) as a young, CIA students many years ago. It's very different than the Italian sauce my mother made each week for Sunday dinner. I enjoy purchasing cases of inexpensive, local tomatoes in late summer called 'seconds'. These tomatoes are generally ripe, bruised tomatoes which I wash, chop and freeze to invite a taste of summer in my kitchen during the cold, winter months.

Beginners Recipe: Garlic Bread

By Tom Griffiths • December 3, 2025
Choosing Garlic: For the best flavor, select firm, heavy heads with tight skins. Hardneck garlic varieties (such as Music or German Red) offer more complexity and a cleaner heat than most supermarket softneck varieties. Preventing Bitterness: Garlic burns quickly. Add minced garlic to warm—not scorching—fat, and cook just until fragrant. Overcooking turns it harsh and metallic. Balancing Butter & Olive Oil: A blend of butter for richness and extra-virgin olive oil for aroma delivers a more nuanced flavor and prevents the butter from over-browning under the broiler. their color and freshness.

Peeling and cutting Pears

By Tom Griffiths • December 3, 2025
There is a large variety of Pears available to cook with. I remember peeling and poaching tiny, Seckel pears for garde manger presentations-challenging! Pears, like apples vary widely in texture, flavor, and culinary performance, making selection an important step in recipe development. Bartlett are juicy and great to eat ripe or for purees and sauces. Bosc are a little more dense and good for cooking. Red and green Anjou are more versatile and can be eaten fresh in salads as well as cooked in baked goods or savory dishes.

Cookies: Sugar Cookie

By Tom Griffiths • December 2, 2025
Butter, spices, and traditional family recipes bring us together in the simplest—and most meaningful—ways. Christmas cookies are more than nostalgic treats; they’re a celebration of childhood memories, and maybe cookies help to make us all a little more patient, thoughtful & friendly each holiday season. I remember driving with my father to the city each Christmas to pick up Aunt Flora. She would send us out with decorative plates of homemade, Italian Christmas cookies to deliver to the local relatives. It was always snowing-we would spend a few minutes visiting each family, have a few cookies and a glass of sweet wine or coffee. My mother and aunts began baking cookies the day after Thanksgiving. They filled the freezer with shoe boxes of cookies lined with wax paper for protection... frozen cookies are pretty delicious!

Beginners Recipe: Grilled Mozzarella

By Tom Griffiths • December 2, 2025
With just a few delicious ingredients and a little attention, you can turn an everyday sandwich into something crisp, gooey, and deeply satisfying... delicious. Try topping the melted cheese sandwich with fresh basil or sun-dried tomato or prosciutto as you take it from the oven-amazing.

Beginners Recipe: Scrambled Eggs

By Tom Griffiths • December 1, 2025
Chefs aspiring to become CIA Instructors are often tested on a variety of egg dishes. Omelettes and poached eggs are a little tricky unless you are using your own pan and have practiced and practiced and practiced! Scrambled eggs are more civilized; Escoffier writes about scrambling eggs with a clove of garlic stuck on the end of a paring knife-I do this sometimes for the amazing flavor... Try flavoring scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, shaved truffles, smoked ham, veggies or herbs, scrambled eggs with buttered toast is the perfect comfort food.