Artist cooks up East End-inspired recipes

Save the bays, and eat well, too.

That's how artist Carol Boye feels about the waterways around her Sag Harbor home. She has gathered 150 seafood recipes from 42 prominent chefs and artwork from 37 well-known and local artists for her "Go Fish" cookbook.

The project benefits the Peconic Baykeeper, an organization dedicated to the protection of the Peconic and South Shore estuaries, and Southampton Trustees -- the elected town officials charged with protecting the waterways -- and their shellfish reseeding program.

"It's a fabulous way to donate your work," Boye said of the cookbook, whose artwork and recipes are inspired by the culture of the East End.

Among the book's featured chefs are "The Barefoot Contessa" Ina Garten, who donated a recipe for Bay Scallop Gratin, and George Hirsh, of "Living It Up with George," a nationally syndicated cooking show, whose recipe is for Peconic Scallops & Pasta with Garlic Sauce.

Microbrewery and restaurant Southampton Publick House provided seafood recipes with a beer theme, including Bier de Mars Mussels.

The book is illustrated with artworks of well-known artists -- some of whom live on the East End. Patton Miller, a Southampton resident, and Massachusetts artist Alan Bull, a frequent North Fork visitor, contributed, as did Tykie Ganz, a Hampton Bays artist who has shown in the Smithsonian Institution.

The book is dedicated to local legend Monty Hine, known as "Skeets," an old-time fisherman who Boye said personifies the area's fishing history. Boye lives across the bay from Hine, and often helps him set the nets.

"Go Fish," which retails for $24.95, will have its launch Friday at Wolffer Wine Stand in Sagaponack. In keeping with the local fishing theme, chef Randy Reese of 230 Elm Street Southampton is donating the food, and Brewster Seafood Market in Hampton Bays will smoke fish caught by Hine.

A "Go Fish" Benefit Art Show and Cookbook Sale will be held Aug. 20 at the Galerie Belage in Westhampton Beach. The Long Island Wine Council will hold a regional wine tasting there, along with LiV, a local potato vodka company, and Southampton Publick House will have some of its beer there, too. Celebrity chef Starr Boggs will donate seafood snacks.

For more information, visit gofishbenefit.com.