By David Draper

If any time of year begs for surf and turf, it’s early summer. The fish (or in this week’s case, crabs) are in season, and there’s usually still a bit of venison in the freezer from last season. Those steaks will slowly disappear as summer wanes on, so two of our readers took advantage of the larder in this week’s Food Fight with a couple wet and wild dinners.

Kevin Stone’s Crab and Venison

The steamed Maryland blue crabs were caught in the Patuxent River in front of my house, and they’re paired with a grilled venison tenderloin, mac-and-cheese, and mixed vegetables. I usually don't eat anything else with crabs, but these were leftover from the night before so we had them with the venison. I didn't notice until I saw the pictures, but the newspaper headline is a reminder of how dangerous it is in the Chesapeake Bay. That story was from spring rockfish opener where two boats sank. Also if you don't know why the paper is on the table you've never eaten blue crabs.

Smccardell’s Trophy Surf and Turf

On Mother’s Day, my son Jacob and I decided to make dinner (after we had already made breakfast) for my wife. We thought there wouldn’t be anything more fitting then using ingredients we had acquired ourselves. So my son decided he wanted to serve up some venison backstrap from his first buck. I decided what better way to show my wife how much she means to us than by cooking up a little rockfish (striped bass) with the backstrap, having caught it the previous weekend. We threw in some grilled asparagus and a sweet potato—and viola! Our Trophy Surf and Turf. The backstrap was seasoned only with kosher salt before being grilled to medium rare. The rockfish filet was dusted with Season-All and sautéed in butter.

If you’re cooking a surf-inspired dish or one from the turf, snap a photo and send it to fswildchef@gmail.com. We might feature it in a future Food Fight.

Comments (1)

from MattM37 wrote 6 days 22 hours ago

Nice. Simple but excellent cooking, no ridiculous flavorings.

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from MattM37 wrote 6 days 22 hours ago

Nice. Simple but excellent cooking, no ridiculous flavorings.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.