Serves 6
BUTTER SAUCE
tablespoon olive oil
tablespoons peeled and sliced shallots
garlic cloves, sliced
coriander seeds, toasted
bay leaf
toasted ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed, soaked in water
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons Spanish vinegar '/г cup heavy cream
1 pound butter, cut into small pieces and
kept very cold in a bowl
recipe Sauce Bearnaise (page 238),
made with white wine
cup diced ripe avocado, at room
temperature
cup tomato concasse, at room temperature
Ч4 cup clarified butter 6 grouper fillets, skinned and boned, cut
into 7- or 8-ounce pieces
Salt and pepper 4* cup all-purpose flour
1. Make the butter sauce: In a medium-size saucepan, warm up the olive oil. Add the sUced shallots and garlic and stir. Add the coriander seeds and bay leaf and stir, keeping the flame low. Remove the anchos from the water and pat dry. Add half of them to the pan and stir. Cut the other half into thin strips (they are called rajas), and reserve for garnish.
2. Now add the Spanish vinegar to the sauce and reduce until glazy. When this is done, add the heavy cream and reduce until thick and bubbling. Keeping the heat low, whisk in the butter pieces one piece at a time until all butter is incorporated. Adjust seasoning. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve in a warm place.
3. Prepare bearnaise and fold in diced avocado and tomato. Keep warm.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put the clarified butter in a large, heavy skillet or saute pan and bring to high heat.
5. Season the fish with salt and pepper and then lay it skin side down. Dust it with the flour. Now spank any excess flour off the fish and lay it carefully in the hot pan.
6. Shake the pan a bit and saute fish about 2 minutes on medium to medium-high heat.
7. Turn fish with a spatula. Drain off any excess fat and put fish in the oven until just done (approximately 5 minutes). It will feel slightly springy to the touch.
8. Ladle 'Л cup of butter sauce onto each warm plate and then place a portion of fish on top. Add a generous dollop of the avocado-tomato bearnaise and garnish with the reserved strips of ancho. Serve.
Note: For a lighter dish you can omit one of the sauces.
A dry, assertive white wine with good acidity, such as a White Hermitage or a Spanish Chardonnay, would stand up to the complexity of flavors in this dish.
JOY- AND SESAME-GRILLED GROUPER with a Tropical Fruit Salsa
This is a summertime dish. It is light, spicy, and a cooling foil to hot evenings.
Serves 4
SALSA
1 papaya, seeds and skin removed, cut 2 jalapenos orserrano chilies, stems,
into small dice seeds and ribs discarded and cut into
1 mango, seed and skin removed, cut into small dice
small dice Чз cup Spanish wine vinegar
'A pineapple, core, outside skin, and % red onion, peeled and diced small
eyes removed, cut into small dice 2 tablespoons olive oil
'A tomato, concassee 'A cup roughly chopped cilantro or mint
leaves
MARINADE
% cup peanut oil 1 orange, cut in half
'A cup roasted sesame oil 10 whole black peppercorns, slightly
'A cup soy sauce bruised
2 bay leaves
Four 8-ounce grouper fillets, cut on an
extreme bias
1. Prepare the salsa: Gently combine all of the ingredients and keep at room temperature.
2. Prepare the marinade: Combine all of the ingredients and keep at room temperature.
3. Prepare a hot grill and oil it. Slip the fish into the marinade for about 3 minutes.
4. Grill the fish until just cooked through.
5. Place the fish on warm plates and top with the desired amount of salsa. (The salsa will keep in the refrigerator for about a day.)
A Tavel Rose or a California Blush with low residual sugar would be a refreshing complement.