Veracruz Style Red Snapper (Or Cod Or Mahi Mahi Or…)

It’s that time of year again.  That time when I cannot see straight, I have too much on my calendar and am unable to think beyond the next day and end up missing appointments and double booking things as a result.  My blog gets pushed to the background as I try to keep up with end of school year housekeeping, ballet recitals, impending summer plans that need to be finalized, road trips to see U2 to be organized, Alex’s birthday parties…. Ah early June. How I don’t miss you.

So with apologies for being brief, I got this recipe from Saveur: The New Comfort Food – Home Cooking from Around the World (ed. by James Oseland, it is a must-have for those of you who enjoy recipes reflecting the way international cuisines have influenced American cooking in the last century).  I made it, oh, about a thousand years ago.  Yep that’s how things are right now.  But it was excellent and worth sharing, so here it is now–better later than never.  I made it for my mom and I used whatever fish I had around, because I am not fish-knowledgable enough to have opinions on what should be a substitution for what.  The recipe called for red snapper and I used mahi mahi and Pacific cod.  The cod was better but I think maybe that is because it was fresher (yes seafood should always be fresh but I live in Ohio so cut me some slack).  It was a cinch to prepare so it scores definite points for being a fast weeknight meal.  I served it with boiled baby redskin potatoes and a salad.

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Veracruz Style Red Snapper (Or Cod Or Mahi Mahi Or...)

Closely adapted from Saveur

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Mexican

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

• 4 6-8 oz boneless fillets of skin-on red snapper, I used skinless, boneless cod and mahi mahi
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 pickled jalapenos, minced
• 3 T liquid from pickled jalapenos
• 2 T capers, rinsed and drained if salt packed
• 1/2 t dried Mexican oregano
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup fish or chicken stock, I used chicken
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 8 large green olives, roughly chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used frozen from last summer)
• 2 T roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 T roughly chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 200 F, then turn it off but leave shut (you will use it to keep the fish warm).
2. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper and then dredge them in flour, shaking off the excess.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick pan. Cook the fish, 2 fillets at a time, until golden on both sides and cooked through (if using red snapper with skin the instructions say to press down on the fish to prevent curling, not necessary with the fish I used). Cooking the fish will take about 4 minutes. Transfer the fish when cooked to a plate in the warm oven. Repeat with the next 2 fillets (using another 2 tablespoons of oil).
4. Add the remaining oil to the pan and when it is hot add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes and then add the pickled jalapenos, the pickling liquid, capers, oregano, garlic and bay leaves. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the stock, lime juice, olives, tomatoes, parsley and cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes to meld the flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer the fish to plates and pour the sauce over them.

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