Grilled jerked swordfish; shrimp & grits; bouillabaise crammed with lobster, scallops, cobia and mussels.  These are some of the extremely tempting entrees to choose from during October’s National Seafood Month at the RumFish Grill at Guy Harvey Outpost, a Tradewinds Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach.  And don’t forget stone crabs, oysters on the half shell topped with tuna poke, and grilled mahi.

Executive chef Aaron Schweitzer has a deft touch when it comes to culinary riffs on old favorites that manage to be piquant and intriguing, but not too far out there for the restaurant’s family-centric clientele.  His menus rely heavily on fresh, local Gulf seafood, but he’ll pull in salmon and snow crab from afar just to mix things up.

Ideas tumbling around in Schweitzer’s creative brain include amberjack pastrami; jerk mahi roasted with calabaza wrapped in banana leaves with banana-rum cream sauce cut down with spices like Habanero, cinnamon and allspice; and seared snapper with green chilis and clams over corn and roasted vegetables in clam stock.

The dining ambience couldn’t get any better; a huge aquarium teeming with fish covers the entire rear wall.

And if you’d like to re-create one of the chef’s signature recipes at home, here it is:

JERKED SWORDFISH WITH RED BEANS AND RICE (serves two)

Ingredients:  two 8-ounce, one-inch-thick swordfish steaks;  1/4 cup jerk rub (store-bought Jamaican brand preferred); 1/2 cup pineapple salsa; 1 cup red beans and rice; 1/4 cup sliced green onion.

PINEAPPLE SALSA

1 cup fresh pineapple medium diced; 1/2 cup poblano pepper cut julienne-style; 1/2 cup red onion (cut julienne); 1/2 cup red bell pepper (cut julienne);  2 tbsp red raspberry vinegar; 2 tbsp honey; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 lime (juiced); 1 tbsp fresh ginger (minced); 1/4 Habanero seeded and chopped finely; 1 tsp ground allspice.  Combine all salsa ingredients and set aside.

RED BEANS AND RICE

2 cups cooked red beans; 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh garlic; 1/2 cup poblano pepper (small diced); 1 /2 cup yellow onion (small diced); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 1/2 cups chicken stock; 2 bay leaves; 2 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 1/2 cup cooked jasmine rice.

DIRECTIONS:

To make red beans, heat butter in small sauce pot and sauté garlic, onions, and peppers together until onions are translucent.  Add cumin, bay leaves and chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  To cook fish, place steaks over grill, turning every 4-6 minutes to lightly char until cooked through–10 to 12 minutes total.

Portion the rice between two plates, top with red beans, then fish, and finish with salsa.