An incredible Imperial mixture made with shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese topped over a fresh sautéed Cod filet and finished with Lemon Caper Butter. Absolutely outstanding! You can also just make the Imperial Mixture and serve it as a warm DIP! They serve it this way, as an appetizer with corn chips, at the Bonefish. Either way, you’re not going to go wrong.
After my career at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, I started a restaurant consulting company and worked with the Roy’s Restaurant in Sarasota. At that time, the Sarasota Roy’s had a very cool, young Chef named Justin and he had the most righteous music playlists! The mornings at the restaurant were great because I used to love to hear him prep food for the upcoming evenings. Everything from Marvin Gaye to Blondie and Bell Biv DeVoe to Michael Jackson’s “PYT” would stream from the kitchen and it made the days go by quickly and enjoyably. Now, that cool young Chef is the Executive Chef for the Bonefish Grill and is responsible for the menus of almost 200 locations! Way to go, Justin!
When you are preparing this recipe, you don’t necessarily have to use the 50-60 count shrimp. Just make sure to peel and devein the shrimp and chop them to about 1/4″ chop. You’ll do the same for the Bay Scallops and don’t forget to use paper towel to dry the shrimp and scallops completely before you sauté them. You’ll want to pick through the crabmeat, too, and discard any cartilage or shell that may have snuck into the crab when canning. Sauté the shrimp and scallops mixture first, so that it has time to cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Prepare the Lemon Caper Butter next but do not refrigerate, you want the butter to stay room temperature.
Make sure to check out my Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp Taco recipe.
Ingredients
- 4 5oz. pieces of fresh Cod, skin on
- ½ lb. Bay Scallops, chopped
- ½ lb. 50-60-sized Shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
- ½ lb. Canned Crabmeat, picked through
- ½ cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- 2 TBL EVOO
- 1 TBL white onion, minced
- 1 tsp. garlic, minced
- 1 TBL lemon juice, fresh
- ½ tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp. Coleman’s dry mustard
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- Panko Breadcrumbs
- Salt & Pepper to season fish
- Flour for dusting
- EVOO for sautéing
- Lemon Caper Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ lemon, zested
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 TBL capers
Instructions
Mix all lemon caper butter ingredients and set aside.
In a non-stick sauté pan, on a medium heat, add the 2 TBL of EVOO and stir to coat the pan. When oil shimmers, add the scallops, shrimp, onion and garlic. Sauté for 1 ½ minutes, until shrimp gets pink and onions translucent, but do not allow garlic to brown. Once finished, transfer mixture to a plate and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In the meantime, and in a large mixing bowl, add the crabmeat, mayonnaise, cheeses, 1 TBL lemon juice, Old Bay, Worcestershire, Coleman’s, cayenne, egg and salt. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate until the shrimp and scallop mixture has cooled. Once cooled, combine the crab/cheese mixture and the shrimp/scallop mixture and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
In a non-stick sauté pan, on a medium high heat, add ¼ inch of EVOO. Dust the cod fillets with salt, pepper and flour and rub into the fish. Once the oil shimmers, sauté 2 pieces of cod (skin side up) for 1 minute. Do not move the cod around, just allow to sauté. After 1 minute, remove the cod from the sauté oil, transfer to a parchment lined sheet tray, flipped over to skin side down. Repeat with the other 2 pieces of Cod.
Preheat the broiler. Generously top each piece of fish with the Imperial Mixture. Sprinkle panko breadcrumbs over the top of each piece and dollop 1 TBL of the Lemon Caper Butter. Broil about 8 minutes until the cheese mixture gets slightly bubbly and the breadcrumbs slightly brown.
Serve with Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits and Carrabba’s Mussels in White Wine and Enjoy!
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