Seaside Sammy !

As a kid I loved the sea. The smell of the fresh Seascape enlivened my senses. I would spend my time on Cresswell beach looking for treasure screaming " arhhhh Jim Lad there be gold in that sea cove !" I'm surprised I was not locked up as there was no sea cove to be seen on Cresswell Beach just plenty of Seaweed and washed up Sea Coal from the colliery down the coast !
That was the other thing about Cresswell beach in all the many years I walked on it, and all the many Sea Anglers that I must have seen fish it I never once saw one catch anything other than seaweed ! In fact the guy who used to drive his tractor onto the beach grab his shovel from his rickety trailer and shovel up the sea coal had more success on his Seaquest.

My love of the Sea also means I love seafood. The only problem as mentioned before as despite being a couple of seagull squeaks  from the sea the nearest Fish suppliers is Asda, Ashington and they are ok but the variety could be better. Not even the bloke who used to sell Crab sticks on a Friday night comes to my local Pub anymore. I think he must have finally got sick of drunken people asking him if he had 'crabs' and then laughing !
So if I want great Seafood a 15 mile trip to North Shields where Taylor's Seafood have a fabulous shop is the order of the day. Trouble is as much as I fancy Joanne the sales girl for Taylor's (ha ha !) its still a trek out there and as I believe the fish has to be eaten fresh its no good buying stack loads as I just simply wouldn't be able to eat it in time.
Today for a change and for a bit of a drive out due to being off from work I decided to have a bit of a even longer trip to a Fish Supplier that follows me on twitter (Marispiper68) called Latimers Seafood in Whitburn which is south of the Tyne from me and near Sunderland. (Where all the best girls come from apparently according to Becky Ford !!!!)
The location is perfect. Its near the sea. Yes I know that sounds obvious but as I said the sea and its smells make buying and eating fish so much more romantic. I'm not standing in a cue at the supermarket with a sticker with the number 13 on it counting down until its my turn to be served.
Latimers has great service, you go in, you go wow at the amazing seafood on display and then someone asks you are you being served while they serve another three people and start telling you what wonderful Monkfish they have, or how great the Crab is today ! Ok they might just be trying to sell it to you to make a living but buying the fish from them is an experience, a form of theatre where you are part of the act and the audience at the same time.

I got taken up in the excitement of seeing all this wonderful fish on display but managed to put the breaks on at a £30 spend only !!! I brought some Tuna Steaks, White Crab and 4 of the biggest prawns I have ever seen.
The King Prawns were from Brazil and were £15 for the four ! A tad indulgent on my part but it just had to be done ! I placed them in the cool box I had brought with me in the boot of my car and went and brought an Ice-cream cone and then sat on the beach taken in the wonderful early September rays while the sand filled my shoes. A young family walked past me obviously making the most of the last of the School holidays. The Children's father screamed "Arhhhh there be treasure in that sea cove over there kids !"
"Shut up Dad" Was the chorus from the laughing youngsters.
The Dad went quiet.
I was going to back him up and shout "Arhhhh yes there is" but I thought he might thump me and also my ice-cream was melting so I lay back and dreamed of........Keira Knightly in her pirate gear ! 

Massive Prawns with Washabi Creme Fraiche.

Ok when you buy something as good as these kind of prawns all you need is a griddle pan or a Barbi Q some salt and Lemon juice and maybe a cool lager ! That's it. End of Blog post. Well on this occasion I made a really simple dipping sauce from Creme Fraiche and for a bit of a heat kick squirted some Wasabi paste into it. Wasabi paste is from a root grown near mountain streams in the Highlands of Japan. Its very perishable therefore expensive to import but its tastes like Horseradish only it has a fabulous lime colour. While reading on the BBC food website about Wasabi it says most sushi you find in supermarkets is just Horseradish with colouring........a bold statement if ever there was one ! ha ha ! That's it really meal done.......Enjoy !
Here's a few pics from the eating experience ! ha ha !

Marinade for half an hour in some Olive Oil and Lemon Juice.

On a Hot Griddle cook for about 3 minutes either side.

Take the pan off the heat and allow to cook for about another 2 minutes. Then allow them to rest.