Fresh Grouper
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (128837)
Gainesville, Florida
December 19, 2015 11:57am CST
A couple of days ago, a group of friends of mine had the opportunity to go on a 3-day charter fishing trip down in the Florida Keys. They left port out of Key West and headed out toward the Dry Tortugas. There were six guys total, and between them they caught about 650 pounds of fish, including snapper, blue fish, grouper and dolphin (the fish, not the mammal!). One of my buddies was passing through my area on his way to visit family (I live about 8-9 hours north of the Keys), and he stopped by to bring me a freezer full of grouper. He knew it was my favorite saltwater fish to eat, so he made sure that I got some from their trip!
I finally had some time today to cook some of the fish, and I made some amazing blackened grouper sandwiches! It was so good, I think I'm going to cook up some more tomorrow!
Do you like fish? If so, what is your favorite kind of fish, and do you prefer freshwater fish (bass, catfish, bluegill, etc) or saltwater fish (grouper, tuna, dolphin, etc)?
6 people like this
6 responses
@VivaLaDani13 (60812)
• Perth, Australia
4 Apr 17
@moffittjc 
Heck no! You can have any seafood I get. Anything from the sea is just icky to me. Fun to watch swimming around but not fun it being on my plate. 
Heck no! You can have any seafood I get. Anything from the sea is just icky to me. Fun to watch swimming around but not fun it being on my plate. 2 people like this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Apr 17
You don't like seafood? You and I can no longer be friends! haha
Oh wait a minute. If you don't like seafood, that means there will be more for me to eat! I can eat everything on my plate AND eat everything on your plate! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Apr 17
@VivaLaDani13 I can't stay mad at you for not liking seafood. You're too cute to stay mad at! We're still friends, don't worry!
1 person likes this
But I like you!
Yeah yeah! You can have my share!! Friends again?? 
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Dec 15
It's been quite a long time since I've had halibut!
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Dec 15
@softbabe44 It's not one of my favorites, but I don't mind it at all. Halibut wouldn't be my first choice, but I will eat it if presented to me!
1 person likes this
@Blondie2222 (28610)
• United States
19 Dec 15
I'm not a big fish fan but glad they were nice enough to stop and give you a bunch. Enjoy
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 Dec 15
I love, love, love fish! But I limit myself to how much I eat, because so many fish have high levels of mercury in them. I try to limit myself to eating fish no more than once a week. I'm also a big fan of salmon.
@allknowing (153529)
• India
22 Dec 15
Sea food is my favourite and the fish that I would grab is pomfret which these days has become very expensive.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
19 Dec 15
hi Jeff, nice fishin
, grouper here is called " lapu-lapu" named after our first hero or was the hero named after the fish
, anyway he slew the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Grouper is a delicacy here, the red variety being the more sought after. A real large one was caught in my mom's province a few months ago. Legends go around of the "kugtong" giant groupers that get stock in the reefs, they grow so large they could not get out so they would just suck anything that happens to pass by, including people
. We do not make sandwiches like you do, it's cooked here in sweet and sour sauce ( Chinese taught as that) and are quite expensive in restaurants but hmmm... it tastes so delicious it's like heaven on Earth.
, grouper here is called " lapu-lapu" named after our first hero or was the hero named after the fish, anyway he slew the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. Grouper is a delicacy here, the red variety being the more sought after. A real large one was caught in my mom's province a few months ago. Legends go around of the "kugtong" giant groupers that get stock in the reefs, they grow so large they could not get out so they would just suck anything that happens to pass by, including people. We do not make sandwiches like you do, it's cooked here in sweet and sour sauce ( Chinese taught as that) and are quite expensive in restaurants but hmmm... it tastes so delicious it's like heaven on Earth.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 Dec 15
I should try cooking some grouper in sweet and sour sauce! It sounds delicious!
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
19 Dec 15
@moffittjc let's try this one
Known as the largest reef-dwelling fish in the world, the stranded fish measured 7 feet and weighed 176 kilograms.
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
19 Dec 15
@louievill Nice! We have giant grouper here as well, they call them Goliath Grouper, but they are actually illegal to catch because they are becoming quite rare. There have been a few times in my life where I have been snorkeling or diving in the reefs in the ocean and have come across one of these behemoths! It can be frightening to see a fish that large if you are not familiar with them!
1 person likes this
@T_gray (7772)
• Salina, Kansas
20 Dec 15
I like fish, but I know nothing about it. I don't think I've had enough variety to know which I like. I think I've only had a few like salmon and tilapia. Maybe a couple others but I don't know. I live in Kansas, so yeah. Hehe. We have Red Lobster for our fish choices and I'm not a sea food lover so I don't go often
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Dec 15
Salmon (saltwater) and tilapia (fresh water) are two of the most common farm-raised fish, which might explain why they are the two you are most familiar with. Most of the other varieties of fish are still caught in the wild, and are usually shipped or delivered fresh to the restaurants and markets immediately after being caught, which is probably why you don't see too many varieties being offered in Kansas. It's hard to keep them fresh, unless you freeze them for shipment. Many people feel you lose that "freshness" when you freeze food.
1 person likes this
@T_gray (7772)
• Salina, Kansas
21 Dec 15
@moffittjc that makes sense. I'll have to travel to the coast to get to try different fish most likely. Which won't happen anytime soon
1 person likes this
