Seafood in Season in August and September

Seafood is a great summer option for any meal. In August and September, you will find many fish and shellfish seasonally available. This article will explore these different fish and shellfish and how to creatively prepare them for your dining pleasure.

1. Blue crabs. In Maryland and other places on the East Coast, you will find crabs seasonally available. Crabs start to be available in June, but the best crabs in Maryland come in August and September. The crabs also generally decrease in price when they are in high season towards the end of the summer.

Recipe idea: Cook the crabs as you normally would, by steaming them. Do not season them with old bay or other seasoning. You could use some salt for flavor. Once you have cooked the crabs and you get the meat out of the shells, here is a creative idea. Get a pack of crescent rolls. Roll some crab meat inside of the crescent roll and cook as normal. Then, add butter and jelly on the outside of the crescent roll once it is finished. This is a tasty treat, that combines a salty flavor with a sweet one. The jelly is, of course, optional.

2. Lobster is also in season. That's going to excite a lot of people who read this article and love lobster. You can generally find lobster on the menu of many restaurants year round, but to get it locally and fresh, your best time of year is in August and September.

Recipe idea: I don't care a lot for lobster personally just to eat it with butter. However, here is an alternative idea. Cook the lobster as you normally would. Once it is cooked, get the meat out of the shell and cut it into small pieces. Get green leaf lettuce and make a salad. Also, cut up a pineapple and save all of the juice from it as well as the pieces of pineapple. Place the lettuce onto a plate, and put some pieces of lobster on the salad. Then, drip the pineapple juice on top of the salad, and put some pieces of pineapple around the sides of the plate. The reason that pineapple works well is because the flavor combines nicely with the lobster, and pineapple is one fruit that is sweet enough that you don't need to add sugar to the flavor. You could try another fruit and then add some natural sugar on top.

3. Summer flounder. Flounder can be caught off the coast of Maine to Florida are available in August and September. This is the end of their season. Flounder is one of my personal favorite types of fish.

Recipe idea: I prefer to just cook up flounder and eat it as a dish. Place the flounder in a buttered sauce pan on the stove, on low heat. Lightly sprinkle on some Cajun seasoning. This will taste just like you find it at the restaurant. If you want something creative to go with it, try making your own sauce to put on the flounder once it has cooked. A nice sauce idea is mango tartar sauce. Get some regular mayonnaise. Cut up a mango into very small pieces. Add a small amount of sugar and some salt. This makes a unique tartar blend.

4. Striped bass. Striped bass are able to be found seasonally in August and September. The season runs from April to October.

Recipe idea: Cut the bass into thick steaks. Stuff them with anything you want. Green peppers and onions make for a fresh flavor, but you can also use cranberries and apples for a fruitier option. Once the bass is stuffed, flour it and bake it in the oven on a piece of foil. To keep the fish moist, fold up the edges of the foil and then put water on top of the bass while it cooks. The water can be replenished every so often if it bakes off of the fish.

5. Atlantic Mackerel are available in August and September. Mackerel cook well with citrus juices.

6. Haddock. Haddock is a fish that to me is similar to the summer flounder, but has a slightly different flavor. The haddock seems to have a bit fishier of a taste, but is still mild. Try broiling the haddock with some Cajun seasoning, and then making a regular tartar sauce but adding some sugar to it for added sweetness. Haddock are seasonally found from May to November.

7. Bluefish. Bluefish are found seasonally from June to mid-October. Bluefish can be cooked in any type of marinade, such as wine or vinegar. Try marinading the bluefish in a white zinfandel wine, adding a small amount of vinegar, salt and brown sugar. This will give an interesting taste when broiled or grilled.

8. Dolphin fish. Dolphin fish are seasonally available from June to November, so the height of the season falls in August and September.