This page includes a selection of traditional Chesapeake Bay seafood recipes including oyster dressing, single fried oysters, steamed clams, clam fritters, and fish chowder.
Oyster Dressing
Ingredients:
1 pint shucked oysters
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
4 cups bread crumbs
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Drain oysters, reserve liquor. Remove any shell and chop oysters.
Cook celery and onion in butter until tender.
Add oysters and oyster liquor to vegetables; cook for 10 minutes.
Combine oysters, cooked vegetables, bread cubes and seasonings in a large bowl; mix thoroughly.
Add additional oyster liquor as needed.
Bake dressing in a greased casserole for 30 minutes or until edges are brown.
Single Fried Oysters
Ingredients:
18-24 oysters depending on size, in their own juice
1 egg, beaten
dash of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon yellow or spicy brown mustard
seafood breader mix OR flour with a dash of salt and pepper
Instructions:
Rinse oysters in their own juice.
Dip each oyster in beaten egg.
Heat a cast iron skillet on relatively high heat and add enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
Shake oysters in a bag filled with the breader mix or seasoned flour.
Fry oysters until brown and then carefully flip once.
Serve immediately with small rolls, ketchup and mustard or just enjoy oysters alone.
Steamed Clams
This recipe is flexible. Depending on size, 24-36 clams will feed 2 adults. The most important factor is having the correct amount of water in the steamer.
Ingredients:
Clams in the shell, 12-18 per person
2 cups water or beer
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown vinegar
Instructions:
Add about 2 cups of water or beer, or enough to be 3/4 inch deep in the steamer. Boil on high heat about 5 minutes or until the steam rolls out when the lid is opened slightly.
Add clams and an additional cup or so of water and cover, heating on medium heat.
Steam clams about 5-10 minutes, or until the majority of the shells are open. Do not overcook.
Serve hot, with bowls of melted butter and vinegar as condiments.
Clam Fritters
Ingredients:
12-18 shucked and chopped clams depending on size
1 egg
dash of baking powder
1/4 tsp. yellow or spicy brown mustard
2 tbsp. milk
seafood breader mix OR flour with a dash of salt and pepper
Instructions:
Shuck the clams, catching the juice in the bowl. You should end up with a pint of clams or more. Rinse the clams in their own juice.
Use scissors and remove stomachs from the clams. The remaining parts of the clams may be cut up into small pieces with scissors or chopped in a food processor.
Add the clams, egg, baking powder, about 2 tablespoons of milk and mix.
Blend in the breader mix or seasoned flour and stir until the batter becomes thick like pancake batter.
Heat a cast iron skillet on relatively high heat and add enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of the pan.
Spoon the batter mix into the oil when the pan is hot enough.
Cook until brown and then carefully flip the fritters.
Serve immediately on hamburger buns with ketchup and mustard or just eat them as is.
Crabcakes
Ingredients:
1 lb. crab meat
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. dry mustard or yellow mustard
1 tsp. crab seasoning
1/4 tsp. black pepper
dash Worcestershire sauce
Instructions:
Mix eggs, mayo mustard, seasonings and Worcestershire sauce.
Blend in crab meat and bread crumbs. Form into cakes and place on a platter lined with wax paper. Chill crab cakes for 30-60 minutes before cooking for best results.
Fry in a hot cast iron skillet until golden brown or broil in the oven until brown, flipping once.
Fried Soft Crabs
Ingredients:
6 soft shelled blue crabs
Seafood Breader Mix
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup peanut oil
Instructions:
Preheat broiler.
Shake crabs and breader mix in a plastic bag.
Saute soft crabs in peanut oil with high heat until brown, turning once.
Rockfish Chowder
Ingredients:
1 lb rockfish fillets
5 potatoes
1 onion, sliced
2 cups of evaporated milk
2 cups of water
1/4 stick butter
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Rinse fillets and cut into small pieces.
Pare potatoes, cut into small pieces and boil 5 minutes.
Add sliced onion and fish. Cook until fish is done, about 20 minutes.
Add milk, water, butter salt and pepper.
Simmer a few minutes and serve hot.
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