'Frostillicus said:
So you guys probably don't know this but Florida has a lot of fresh seafood you can buy and cook and stuff. So the other night my parents picked up some fresh shrimp and grouper and told me to make it for them because they know I like to try to be a cook and they are good at beef stew and casseroles and stuff. So I made chili-lime shrimp and almond-crusted grouper. Oh my god. So amazing. My dad has talked about the meal twice today and my mom told me when she woke up in the middle of the night she found herself thinking about the meal. I'm awesome.
so tomorrow they're going to get shrimp again and sea bass. Going to go with a garlic shrimp and a spice rubbed sea bass with a lemon butter sauce. I'm hungr.y
Do you have a recipe for the almond crusted grouper?I never know what to do with the almonds and grouper....meaning what sauce to use to make the two stick together. It's crazy how expensive grouper is considering it's caught right here in Florida. I've seen it for close to $20/pound in
Publix.
A few years ago, I channeled my inner GM and went nuts on a Publix manager. If there would have been a rope stand around, I would've tossed it through the glass case with all the fish. I had the manager ready to fight me also, because I called him a thief several times to his face. When he walked up, I was basically already telling an old lady they were trying to steal her money and he overheard this.You have to be careful buying fish at Publix. They sell a lot of their stuff by the pound, but back then, you would also see stuff listed by the piece and listed at a fairly normal price you'd see if it were listed by the pound. One fateful day, I decided I was in the mood for Mahi Mahi as I shopped in my nearest Publix. I walked up to the counter, saw $7.99 on the ticket, and thought nothing of it. I got home, fired up the grill, and started to prepare dinner. After putting the fish on the grill, I went to throw away the wrapper and just happened to notice the sticker: $24 per pound. WTMF? $7.99 was written on the wrapper and I quickly pieced together the information.
I took my dinner off the grill, re-wrapped it and made my way to the store. I went to the meat department, and when the first person came up to great me, I quickly made it known this was going to be an issue for someone above their pay grade. While they were fetching him, a nice little lady walked up and we struck up a conversation. I began to instruct her on what to look out for when buying there. As the manager arrived, she was leaving saying, "I think I'll just go somewhere else to buy fish as I can't believe they're doing this." The manager's first words to me were, "what do you think you're doing?" I said, "I'm trying to make sure you don't steal from anyone else." It got to the point we were yelling at each other, and I seriously thought he was going to swing at one point as I called him a thief several times.
I even wrote a letter to the company which I saved but recently lost when we upgraded software here at the office. I'm not going to say that I single handedly changed the practice, but now when I go to that store, if things are listed by the pound, those prices are listed on a green card. If they are listed by the piece, it's listed on a blue card. They're still doing it, but now they at least give you another clue they are robbing you.
I've seen it as bad as them selling salmon with no seasoning or marinade for $11.99 per pound, and then selling 6oz pieces of "bourbon salmon" by the piece for $11.99 per piece. The price per pound was listed in fine print under the big bold lettering of $11.99, but that's some serious bourbon they're using to create a piece of fish worth $30+. I've seen tuna sold by the piece translating into $40+ per pound in this place, and yes, for a couple of years, I would point this out to random people looking to buy fish at this store on a whim. I've probably run off 50 different people who were looking to buy fish there.
I take a cooler with me when I go to visit my friend in Pensacola. There's a place called Joe Patti's there. Grouper is always under $10 per pound. Yellowfin tuna is about $12 per pound. I bring it home, vacuum seal it, and freeze it. 2 months later, it thaws quickly, and is better than anything I can get locally and at least half the price.
