Snapper Recipe



S

sf

Guest
This looked too good not to share!
http://www.lidiasitaly.com/index2.htm


Fillet of Red Snapper with Fresh Thyme

There’s no point in straining for an Italian rendering of the name if
this dish; my first language has no word for red snapper, which
doesn’t swim in Italian waters, and everybody knows that fillet and
filleto denote a boned piece of fish. This is an excellent example of
an old culinary truism: One simple primary flavor paired with one
distinctive complementary ingredient makes a good dish. In this
recipe, the intensity of the thyme and simplicity of the red snapper
are all you should be conscious of, with the remaining ingredients
playing subsidiary roles. I don’t like too many herbs and spices in a
dish. They create confusion.

Ingredients:


Salt to taste

Flour for dredging

2 pounds (4 pieces) red snapper fillets

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

½ cup white wine

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 cup fish stock

Freshly ground pepper to taste


Salt and lightly flour the snapper fillets, shaking off excess flour.
In a large non-reactive skillet, heat the vegetable oil over
moderately high heat. Add the garlic. In two batches, lightly brown
the fish fillets on both sides, about 1 minute for each side, remove
and pat dry with paper towels, and reserve.

Clean any excess oil and any burned particles from the skillet, and
add all the remaining ingredients except the reserved fillets, bring
to a boil, and cook until thickened, about 7 minutes.

Return the fillets to the sauce and cook just long enough to allow the
sauce to flavor the fish, about 1-2 minutes. Remove the garlic and
serve the fish immediately.
 
On Mon, 01 Aug 2005 17:02:01 -0700, sf <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>This looked too good not to share!
>http://www.lidiasitaly.com/index2.htm


Looks good.

Red Snapper is great for a light, low cal meal. The following is in
the style of a Veracruz Huachanango dish I had once in Mexico and
tried to recreate from memory:

Per serving:

1 single serving-sized red snapper fillet
..25 cup small cocktail-size shrimp
tomato, diced into small chunks
green onion, diced
cilantro
serrano or jalapeno chile, diced
mexican oregano, .5 - 1 tsp.
lime juice, to taste
white wine, dash

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix diced tomato, chile, cilantro, oregano, and green onion. Set aside
while preparing fish packets. Stir occasionaly to mix flavors.

Place snapper filet on parchment paper (or tin foil). Partially fold
up paper/foil around filet and top filet with shrimp, then salsa
(reserve some uncooked salsa to serve with the final dish). Squeeze
lime juice and a splash of white wine over all.

Repeat for each serving.

Fold up paper/foil into a tightly sealed packet. Place packets in
oven, and bake for ~15 - 17 minutes. Place unopen packet on plates and
serve (obviously the parchment paper makes for a better presentation).
Opening the packets at the table allows you to savor the steamy aromas
of the dish before digging in.
 
Jed wrote:
>
> Red Snapper is great for a light, low cal meal. The following is in
> the style of a Veracruz Huachanango dish I had once in Mexico and
> tried to recreate from memory:
>

Nice. I like to add a pinch of salt to the salsa, and a shake of white
pepper to the snapper filet. -aem
 
sf wrote:
> [snip] This is an excellent example of
> an old culinary truism: One simple primary flavor paired with one
> distinctive complementary ingredient makes a good dish. In this
> recipe, the intensity of the thyme and simplicity of the red snapper
> are all you should be conscious of, with the remaining ingredients
> playing subsidiary roles. I don't like too many herbs and spices in a
> dish. They create confusion. [snip]


Good point. There are a good many restaurant chefs who seem to equate
"creativity" to the number of ingredients they can load into/onto a
dish. You often see this on the American Iron Chef show. The chef
will introduce his dish to the panel and will name 11 items that went
into the teaspoonful of sauce that decorates the bottom of the plate.
Sometimes it works because the combinations work to complement one
another. Often, as you say, the result is just confusion. -aem
 
On 1 Aug 2005 17:41:31 -0700, "aem" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Jed wrote:
>>
>> Red Snapper is great for a light, low cal meal. The following is in
>> the style of a Veracruz Huachanango dish I had once in Mexico and
>> tried to recreate from memory:
>>

>Nice. I like to add a pinch of salt to the salsa, and a shake of white
>pepper to the snapper filet. -aem


You're right. I overlooked the seasonings. To taste...

It's just me, though, I've never liked white pepper even though I
understand why it's used in white sauces and dishes where black pepper
distracts from the look of the dish.

It tastes a bit bitter to me, but it's been a long time since I've
used it.