Cook Entertains at His Ocean Hydeaway

Mick Woodbury loves entertaining but hates parties--not as paradoxical a statement as it sounds.

“I enjoy conversation and I enjoy time with my friends, and both get lost in the noise and confusion of a party,” says Woodbury, “so I confine my entertaining to small groups of two or three couples.”

He also pretty much confines his entertaining to his 36-foot trawler, Hydeaway III, docked a few doors down from his waterfront home in Huntington Harbour. “I like to make things easy for both myself and my guests,” he says, “so I prepare all the food at home and then cook it and serve it aboard the boat.”

And while he has a roomy galley aboard Hydeaway, most of the food he serves is cooked on a large deck barbecue he jerry-built from restaurant serving trays (regular boat barbecues are just too small for his needs, he says).

President of Ripley-Woodbury Advertising in Cerritos, Woodbury has discovered one way to the hearts and billfolds of clients is through the amenities of his boat. “Often, particularly during the summer months,” he says, “I’ll have business presentations at the house, then bring the clients down here to the boat for cocktails, dinner and a sunset cruise. It’s relaxing and we have time to get to really know each other.”

And to give himself time for fraternizing with his guests, he has over the years compiled a collection of elegant dishes--such as the salmon-shrimp-corn dish he shared with Guys & Galleys--that can be mostly prepared ahead and require a minimum of grill time.

“My overall time is limited,” he says, “so I look for dishes that are easy but still are different enough that they elicit a lot of ‘wows’ from my guests.

“I mean, how often does someone serve you fresh salmon wrapped in corn husks?”

Other than advertising and cooking, Woodbury’s other passion is the U.S. Power Squadron, which teaches boating safety. He is an instructor in navigation at the squadron’s Long Beach base.

MICK WOODBURY’S

CORN-WRAPPED

SALMON AND SHRIMP

Ingredients

4 ears fresh corn with complete husks

1 pound salmon fillet

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned

2 large limes, halved

2 green onions, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preparation

Carefully remove corn husks, keeping them as intact as possible. Rinse to remove silk. Tear 1 leaf of each husk in half lengthwise to use as ties. Cut kernels from corn and reserve. Spread out 1 husk, making sure the leaves overlap to prevent dripping during cooking. In center of husk, spoon a quarter of the corn kernels. Top corn with piece of salmon. Top salmon with a quarter of the shrimp. Add a quarter of the butter, salt and pepper to taste and juice of half the lime. Wrap tightly inside husk and tie with strip of husk. Repeat process with remaining husks. Grill, turning once, about 10 minutes or until salmon is just opaque (open corner of 1 packet to check for doneness). If corn with complete husks is not available, aluminum foil can be substituted.