“A valuable compendium no matter where you live, Texas Seafood encourages you to explore uncommon varieties from your local fishmonger.” —The Wall Street Journal The abundance of seafood available from the northwest Gulf of Mexico includes hundreds of delicious species that are often overlooked by consumers. Celebrating this regional bounty, Texas Seafood showcases the expertise of longtime fishmongers and chefs PJ and “Apple Srimart” Stoops. Readers will find familiar fish like Red Snapper along with dozens of little-known finfish and invertebrates, including tunas, mackerels, rays, and skates, as well as bivalves, shrimps, crabs, and other varieties, many of which are considered “bycatch” (seafood that a fisher didn’t intend to catch), but are no more difficult to prepare and just as delicious as those commonly found at your local supermarket. The Stoopses provide a complete primer on sourcing these wild-caught delicacies, with fascinating details about habitats and life cycles as well as practical advice on how to discern quality. Texas Seafood concludes with simple, delectable recipes, many infused with the flavors of Apple’s Thai heritage. Dishes such as Steamed Curried Crab, Crispy White Shrimp, Escolar on a Grill with Green Mango Salad, Cast-Iron-Roasted Shortfin Mako Shark with Rio Grande Grapefruit, and Chicken-Fried Ribbonfish are just a few ways to savor the best of the Gulf. “By documenting in such detail what’s below the surface in our Texas waters, [Texas Seafood] reveals a treasure. Not just for a local market but beyond: the national and even global market.” —Edible Houston “An important addition to every local foodie’s culinary library.” —Edible San Antonio

The abundance of seafood available from the northwest Gulf of Mexico includes hundreds of delicious species that are often overlooked by consumers. Celebrating this regional bounty, Texas Seafood showcases the expertise of longtime fishmongers and chefs PJ and Apple Stoops. Readers will find familiar fish like Red Snapper along with dozens of little-known finfish and invertebrates, including tunas, mackerels, rays, and skates, as well as bivalves, shrimps, crabs, and other varieties, many of which are considered “bycatch” (seafood that a fisher didn’t intend to catch), but are no more difficult to prepare and are just as delicious as those commonly found at your local supermarket. The Stoopses provide a complete primer on sourcing these wild-caught delicacies, with fascinating details about habitats and life cycles as well as practical advice on how to discern quality. Texas Seafood concludes with simple, delectable recipes, many infused with the flavors of Apple’s Thai heritage. Dishes such as Steamed Curried Crab, Crispy White Shrimp, Escolar on a Grill with Green Mango Salad, Cast Iron Roasted Gulf Coast Swordfish Steaks with Rio Grande Grapefruit, and Chicken-Fried Ribbonfish are just a few ways to savor the best of the Gulf.

Cotton's Seafood is a Cajun autobiographical cookbook. From crawfish boils to cooking shows, from folk art to family traditions, interest in Cajun culture has never been greater. But how Cajun do you really want to be? Spanning five years of research, interviews, writing, and planning, Cotton's Seafood is a cookbook like no other. Throughout the book, Jim LaBove recounts the story of his childhood in the mid-20th century, documenting an oft-overlooked segment of Cajun culture: Bayou Cajuns, the descendants of Acadian immigrants who settled in the marshy coasts of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Along the way, Jim shares a wide variety of authentic Cajun recipes from his mother Cora, using the ingredients and methods available to the people in the area at the time. The dishes are deeply tied to Jim's memory of bayou Cajun life in the salt marshes of Southeast Texas. As you learn to cook gumbo, court-bouillon, peach cobbler, and much more like a true Cajun, you will also learn about the rough but rewarding lifestyle that inspired the people who codified these dishes. The book is named after Cotton's Seafood, a locally-renowned fishing and shrimping company that Jim's father Cotton founded in the early 20th century. Gorgeously illustrated with Jim's field sketches, contemporary photographs, and maps of bayou Cajun territory. Exhaustively researched. Lovingly detailed. This is our family legacy, printed and bound. We could not be more proud of it, and we cannot wait to share it with you.