Creativity is Generational

My youngest son, Chris, and my grandson, Jacob, left yesterday after a two and a half week stay to help us with our flip (a house we purchased to remodel and re-sell for ~ hopefully ~ a profit). That really has nothing to do with food except that all of us cooked while they were here. I mean all of us ~ me, my husband, Tom, Chris and Jacob.

Both of my sons (Mike - the oldest, and Chris - the youngest) cook. Not just cook, but really COOK. They both create new recipes, as well as sample foods elsewhere and try to recreate the taste. They both cook really, really well and it is a pleasure to share the kitchen with them... that is, if they let me in their kitchens. If Chris could manage the financial investment, he would open a restraurant. My grandson, Jacob, is 14 and he wants to be a chef. In the meantime, Chris is helping him cook and experiment with food. My husband, Tom, cooks, too, although he is not as creative as our sons, he ventures through cookbooks looking for unusual dishes to sample. He's cooked dishes I never thought would be appealing, but were delicious.

Okay, to my point of this particular blog. While Chris and Jacob were here I found a recipe for Panko-crusted Crab Cake Bites with Roasted Pepper-Chive Aioli at Andrea’s Recipes. They were so delicious, we had them two nights in a row. And the aioli was so darn tasty that I made a double batch the second night. On the second night, we had other appetizers along with the Crab Cake Bites and wound up with several leftover. The following evening, Jacob was going to make a Stuffed Flounder recipe he made for his Nana and Poppa in Savannah, where he lives. The recipe he initially created called for a shrimp, oysters and bread crumbs stuffing mix, but Jacob decided to use the leftover Crab Cake Bites.

This is what he did...

Stuffed Flounder Fillets

8 medium sized flounder fillets
8 to 10 of the leftover Crab Cake Bites
3/4 to 1 lb. raw shrimp, boiled about 5 minutes, cooled and peeled
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

Put the Crab Cake Bites, cooked shrimp, parsley, salt and pepper into a food processor with a metal blade. Pulse until coarsely chopped.

Lightly salt and pepper the flounder fillets and roll 1/8th of the stuffing into the fillet and secure with a toothpick. Place all 8 stuffed fillets in a baking dish and top each fillet with a thin slice of butter.

Bake the fillets at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until done.

We served the stuffed fillets with a simple lemon, white wine and butter sauce and a rice pilaf with saffron.



Yes, the presentation was his. He is already thinking about presentation!

These were absolutely amazing and I am sure you could do this with any nice tender fish fillets.

My first portion was as served with the lemon butter sauce, but I did have a little more with the leftover Aioli. Hmmmmmm.

And, I know I am bragging, but I want to remind you that Chef Jacob is only 14 years old and the best cooking years of his life are yet to come.