‘Chefs’ goes classic with Capt. Anderson’s

For the latest kitchen adventure on “Emerald Coast Chefs,” Beach TV hangs out with two seafood specialists who have been cooking together for 55 years. They’re featured on the tourist-information station at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays through May 25.

Executive Chef Alonzo Keys and co-owner Johnny Patronis of Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant share the Beach TV kitchen with host Tim Creehan.
Johnny Patronis and his brother Jimmy Patronis Sr. hired Keyes right off the bus from Marianna, just after they opened the Seven Seas restaurant in Panama City in 1953. The trio went on to define fine Southern-style seafood dining in Panama City Beach at Capt. Anderson’s.

Amid banter with Johnny Patronis and Creehan — who enjoy just a little bit of Ouzo, the anise-flavored Greek liqueur — Keys prepares Capt. Anderson’s classics: Lobster Thermidor, Crab and Shrimp Au Gratin, and Scamp Imperial.

Keys cooks with a practiced hand, and he adds ingredients more by memory than by measuring cup. As with most segments of “Emerald Coast Chefs,” Beach TV is able to provide summarized recipes and instructions, but not necessarily specific step by step.

But Capt. Anderson’s does list recipes for some dishes on its Web site, www.captanderson.com — and you can sign up for an e-mail list to get recipes personally delivered each season.

At one point in the “Emerald Coast Chefs” segment, Keys confides to Creehan, “I will tell you off camera” what goes into the seasoned bread crumb topping that Keys calls magic dust. But Patronis is quick to intercede — “Oh, no, you won’t, either ... over my dead body.”

The magic dust goes into in all three dishes. Keys’ own béchamel, or cream sauce that begins with flour and milk, is a basic ingredient in Lobster Thermidor and Crab and Shrimp au Gratin.

“Just a little roux (and) cream,” Keys says. “It holds it all together.”

Lobster thermidor
Ingredients: Butter, chopped steamed lobster, pimentos, sliced mushrooms, béchamel sauce, shredded cheese, sherry, lobster on half shell, seasoned bread crumbs.Procedure: Sauté chopped lobster in butter with pimentos and mushrooms, heat with béchamel sauce and cheese, and add a dash of sherry. Ladle over lobster on half shell and dust with seasoned bread crumbs. Broil on high heat until crust is golden brown.

Shrimp and Crab Meat Au Gratin
Ingredients: Butter, lump crabmeat, shrimp, béchamel sauce, sherry, seasoned bread crumbs.Procedure: Sauté crab meat and shrimp in butter (stir crab meat carefully so that it doesn’t break up). Continue to heat with covering of cheese and béchamel sauce, add a dash of sherry. Ladle into serving dish and sprinkle seasoned bread crumbs; broil until crust is golden brown.

Scamp Imperial
Ingredients: Scamp fillet, seasoned bread crumbs, butter, lump crabmeat.Procedure: Butterfly scamp fillet, dust with bread crumb seasoning and lie it flat on a hot grill. Turn once or twice, gently, to keep fillet intact. While fillet is grilling, sauté lump crabmeat in melted butter. Place grilled scamp on plate, allowing residual heat to finish cooking. Ladle crabmeat on top. Garnish with parsley, add fresh-squeezed juice from a whole lime.