Colleen preparing conch salad

Oscar prepping butterfish

Butterfish ready to cook

Miles chops veggies for the risotto

Green crabs simmering in a stock

Breading the butterfish for frying

Amy serves snail salad

Kerri explains how to eat deckers

Deckers, aka slipper limpets

Filling the plates

Oscar grilling the scup

Enjoying good food and company

115 people shared the experience

Rodman thanks the volunteers

Ginni promotes the raffle

Plenty of food for all

Monkfish liver pate

Relish Rhody! Food Day 2015

The tireless organizer of the event, Rodman

Raffler winners announced

Our Second Annual Community Seafood Dinner fundraiser event brought together 115 people to enjoy fresh-caught local "underappreciated" seafood species, mingle with fellow seafood lovers and fishermen, and support Eating with the Ecosystem's mission of diversifying local seafood consumption in New England.

We enjoyed scup donated by Chris Brown, butterfish donated by Handrigan's Seafood, squid donated by Sea Freeze Ltd., conchs donated by Steve Barber, sea robins donated by Rodman Sykes, monkfish liver donated by Rodman Sykes, green crabs donated by Sarah Schumann, and slipper limpets (deckers) donated by Sarah Schumann. Cooking and serving for this event was performed entirely by amateur cooks who generously volunteered their time. Thank you to the following volunteers for prepping food, serving plates, organizing raffle and ticket sales, washing dishes, and making it a fun time: James Nelson, Kerri Handrigan, Colleen Handrigan, Oscar Sisson, Dave Healey, Meg Healey, Jack Casey, Ginni Collins, Miles Sturm, Amy MacKown, Beth Hamilton, Jean Matteson, Suzanne Chapin, Scott Christopher, and Tony Ponte. Thank you to the following businesses for donating raffle items: Ginni's knit creations, Sweenor's Chocolates, Phil's Main St. Grille, Brickley's Ice Cream, and Roger Williams University. And last but not least, thank you to the South Kingstown Elks Lodge for being our host for this wonderful event!

Proceeds from this event supported Eating with the Ecosystem's Seafood-to-Food-Pantry program.

Menu:

Monkfish liver pate
Conch (snail) salad
Slipper limpets (deckers) in wine sauce
Sea robin chowder
Grilled scup
Deep-fried butterfish
Squid in tomato sauce over pasta
Green crab risotto

VIDEO: Watch below as fisherman Rodman Sykes and his deckhand Oscar go fishing on the F/V Virginia Marise (Point Judith, RI) . A beautiful day on the water was cut short when the net tore, but the crew still brought in several barrels of skate for lobster bait, scup for the Community Seafood Dinner, and sea robin and fluke for the market.