A recent trip down along the Gulf Coast yielded a bounty of wild-caught shrimp and a few nice eating-size flounder. Flounder are one of my favorite saltwater fish to eat. They are great fried, filleted or whole, and grill up nicely. And their flat shape makes them the perfect vessel for stuffing.

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Flounder are one of my favorite saltwater fish to eat, and stuffing them with this shrimp mixture takes them over the top. Images by author.

This recipe combines a flavorful shrimp stuffing mixture and baked whole flounder. It is restaurant quality flavor, but you can easily make it at home.

Start with the stuffing. Devein the fresh-caught shrimp.

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Peel and devein the shrimp.

Roughly chop the shrimp.

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Give the shrimp a rough chop.

Add the shrimp to a mixing bowl. Crush a sleeve of Ritz or Townhouse crackers into a fine powder.

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Crush a sleeve of Ritz or Townhouse crackers.

You will need about a cup of cracker crumbs. Pour the crackers into the bowl with the shrimp. Add the mayo, melted butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, thyme and oregano. Next, add the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

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Add remaining stuffing ingredients to shrimp.

Blend everything to combine. Set the stuffing aside, and work on the flounder.

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Mix the stuffing and set aside while you prep the flounder.

You can leave the head on or off for this, but you need to remove the entrails. I take the head off when I gut the fish. Next, scale the fish on both sides.

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Scale the flounder, and remove the entrails.

Use a sharp fillet knife to make a shallow cut down the center along the spine, ending just in front of the tail. Next, turn your knife blade and follow the rib cage in both directions like you are going to fillet the flounder. Don’t cut all the way through the skin. Just fold the meat over, opening the fish like a book, exposing the spine and rib cage.

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Partially fillet the flounder to form an opening for the stuffing.

Spoon half the stuffing mixture over the open fish, mounding it slightly. Repeat the process with the remaining fish and stuffing mixture.

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Spoon the stuffing mixture onto the fish.

Pour the shrimp breading into a fine wire mesh strainer. Shake a thin coating over the entire fish and stuffing. Don’t overdo the breading, or it won’t get crisp.

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Shake over the shrimp breading for a light coating.

Dot the fish with butter pats. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until the fish is flaky and the shrimp stuffing is cooked through.

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Dot the top with butter.

Turn the oven to broil and continue cooking another five minutes or so until the breading is golden crusty brown.

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Bake until golden brown and cooked through.

To serve, use a fish spatula to lift one side of the filet from the spine. Plate and top with some of the shrimp stuffing. When you have both top fillets removed, lift the spine and ribs, exposing the bottom fillets for serving.

I like to serve this one with garlic cheese grits and a salad or coleslaw.

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