Out in Galveston Bay right around Thanksgiving the flounder run. The channels and passes that head from the marshy shallows out towards the deep Gulf of Mexico are teeming with the flat fellows on their way back to the gulf for winter. A hook baited with shrimp and an angler patient enough to give the hook time to set can come home with the two-fish limit. In Mobile Bay in Alabama the flounder run in the spring is called the Jubilee; the fish are so plentiful they can be scooped up by the netful. A dusting of potato starch and seasoning on these and a belly full of aromatics is a jubilant celebration of the flounders’ run.

　　

Ingredients

serves 1

　　1 (2-pound) whole flounder, cleaned

　　1 green onion

　　1 lemon slice

　　1 sprig of fresh dill

　　1/4 cup potato starch

　　Olive oil

　　1 teaspoon seafood seasoning (I like Penzeys’ Florida Seasoned Pepper)

　　Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving

　　

Step 1

Heat the broiler with a broiler pan inside the oven.

　　

Step 2

Rinse the fish well and pat dry with paper towels. Place the green onion, lemon slice, and dill in the cavity. Dust the fish with the potato starch and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the seafood seasoning generously all over the fish.

　　

Step 3

Remove the hot broiler pan from the oven and drizzle with oil. Put the fish on the pan and broil for 5 minutes or until the skin is browned and the flesh is opaque and flakes with a fork. Serve immediately with a splash of extra-virgin olive oil.

　　Cooks' Note

　　A Southern flounder’s left is its “up side.”

　　A Southerly Course