Red Snapper a la Mexicaine
Submitted by lumpy
Red snapper a la Mexicaine with seared fillets baked in fresh tomatoes and herbs, finished with a creamy avocado sauce spiked with lime and Tabasco. French-Mexican fusion at its finest.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
60 minThis red snapper recipe is French technique meeting Mexican soul. Fillets get a quick sear in olive oil, then bake under a blanket of fresh tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and herbs. The real star arrives at the end: a chunky avocado puree stirred into the reduced pan juices to create a rich, silky sauce.
The avocado sauce is not guacamole. It’s mashed with lime juice and a dash of Tabasco, then beaten into the hot cooking juices so it melts into a creamy, savory coating for the fish. The key is keeping the heat low once the avocado goes in. A boil turns it bitter and brown.
Fresh herbs make a difference here. The combination of oregano, thyme, and chervil gives the tomato base a complexity that dried herbs can’t replicate.
Kitchen Tips
- Sear the fillets over high heat for just 2-3 minutes per side. You want color, not cooked-through fish. The oven finishes the job
- Leave small chunks in the avocado. Over-mashing makes the sauce too smooth and loses textural interest
- Never boil the sauce after adding avocado. Heat it gently, stirring constantly. Boiled avocado tastes bitter
- The optional beurre manie (flour-butter paste) thickens the sauce if the pan juices seem too thin after reducing
Variations
- Use any firm white fish: Grouper, halibut, or sea bass work in place of snapper
- Spicier version: Add a minced serrano pepper to the tomato mixture before baking
- Skip the beurre manie and let the avocado do all the thickening for a gluten-free sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Combine 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon sweet butter on a small flat plate and blend the mixture with a fork into a very smooth paste.
Roll the paste into a ball.
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Season the fish filets with salt and pepper and dredge them lightly with flour, shaking off the excess.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the filets over high heat for 2 or 3 minutes on each side.
Remove them carefully to a flameproof baking dish large enough to hold the fish in one layer.
In the same oil, sauté the shallots and 2 cloves of garlic.
When the shallots are lightly browned, add the tomatoes and cook the mixture for 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture together with the herbs on top of the fish and cover the disk with buttered wax paper.
Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
While the fish is baking, mash the avocado in a small mixing bowl, adding lime juice, salt, pepper, a little Tabasco, and the remaining clove of garlic.
Do not mash it too fine; it should have some small chunks left in it.
When the fish is ready, lift it out carefully onto a platter.
Place the baking dish over direct heat and reduce the juices by ⅓.
If a Beurre Manie is used for thickening, add it bit by bit before adding the avocado puree.
Add the optional tomato paste.
Lower the heat and beat in the mashed avocado.
Once the avocado purée has been added, do not let the mixture come to a boil.
Correct the seasoning and pour the sauce over the fish.
Garnish with avocado slices, lime slices and mint leaves.
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