ANEED GROUPER WITH ALABAMA OYSTERS and Conch Butter Sauce
After making tomato butter sauce by following the world-renowned chefFredy Girardet's recipe, I began to make other butter sauces with a tomato base. Gazpacho, creole, and ratatouille butter sauces all yielded very interesting results. But recently it occurred to me to try it with conch, our most famous local shellfish, and everyone really got a kick out of it. I would suggest trying this when you have conch chowder left over. (By the way, paneed is a Southern way of saying pan-cooked in a little more oil than you would use for sauteing.)
Serves 4
2 whole eggs, beaten 1 to 2 cups fresh bread crumbs, finely processed but not dry
Cracked black pepper to taste '/г cup heavy cream
1 pound butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
Salt and pepper to taste 20 freshly shucked oysters, liquor strained and reserved Flour for dusting the oysters and grouper
SAUCE
2 cups Bahamian Conch Chowder (page 22) Reserved oyster liquor 'A cup Spanish wine vinegar
Four 7- to 8-ounce boneless, skinless fillets of
grouper, cut on the bias
Clarified butter or peanut oil, to saute the
fish
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season and roll the shucked oysters in flour, then in the eggs, and then in the fresh bread crumbs. Set them on a piece of parchment paper and chill.
2. Prepare the sauce: Process the chowder for a full minute and then heat it in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan. Add the reserved oyster liquor and allow the mixture to reduce and thicken. Stir it often; it will splatter if not attended to. When it is reduced to % cup, add the vinegar and some cracked black pepper. Reduce by half. Now add the heavy cream and reduce until fairly thick.
3. Beat in the butter, piece by piece, stirring until it is all incorporated. Adjust seasoning as needed. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and keep warm.
4. Season the fish with salt and pepper and flour lightly.
5. Heat a skillet large enough to hold the fish without crowding. When it is hot, add enough clarified butter or oil to fill the bottom of the pan. Carefully lay the fish in the pan skin side down and shake the pan a little. Allow the fish to cook till lightly golden on each side.
6. Discard any excess oil, put the pan into the oven, and bake until the fish is just cooked through. Remove the fish to a warm platter for a moment. Wipe out the pan and add enough additional oil to the skillet to fry the oysters. When the oil is hot, add the oysters one by one and fry briefly.
7. Ladle the butter sauce onto 4 warm plates. Top with the grouper and surround each fish portion with 5 oysters per serving.
Traditionally, Muscadet is paired with oysters. But with the richness of the butter sauce in this recipe, I woulAUTEED SHRIMP with Anchos, Tequila, and Red Onion Salsa
/ began making this dish around 1982 when I was deeply intrigued by American regional cuisine. I was obviously thinking of the Southwest when I hit upon this combination. It is not traditional to use beurre blanc sauces in the cookery of this area of the country, to be sure, but the sauce makes a soothing bridge between the heat of the salsa and the bite of the tequila.
Serves 4
BUTTER SAUCE
4 ancho chiles, toasted and soaked I'A cups dry white wine
3 tablespoons butter 1 cup heavy cream
'A teaspoon chopped shallots 1 pound butter, cut into small pieces, and
1 cup chopped mushrooms kept cold
2 sprigs parsley 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 bay leaf Salt
1 cup Fish Stock (page 244) Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 medium red onion, diced medium 1 jalapeno, finely diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, roughly 1 freshly squeezed lime
chopped to make 'A cup 1 pinch coarse salt
1 large ripe tomato, skinned, seeded, and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
diced
'A pound (1 stick) butter 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped shallots V2 cup Cuervo gold tequila
24 large fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
1. Prepare the butter sauce: Toast the anchos by holding them by the stems, with metal tongs, over an open flame. Then drop them into a bowl of water to soften. Remove stems and seeds and cut into strips. Put aside.
2. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter and add shallots, mushrooms, parsley, and bay leaf. Cook until glazy. Add the stock (for additional flavor, add the shells from the d recommend something a bit more full-bodied, such as a Macon Villages or Italian Chardonnay.
shrimp). Add the wine and % of the ancho strips and reduce again until glazy.
3. At this point, add the cream and stir often. When reduced by lA to 3A, add the butter piece by piece, whisking constantly. When all butter is incorporated, add lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve, keeping warm but not hot.
4. Combine all of the salsa ingredients and keep cool in a small bowl.
5. Heat a large skillet to medium-high temperature. Add the butter and swirl pan. As the butter begins to foam, add the shallots and shrimp, stirring and tossing. Add the garlic and cook the shrimp, being careful not to burn garlic or overcook shrimp, for no more than 8 minutes.
6. Remove shrimp to a bowl. Drain off and discard cooking butter, then add tequila and deglaze pan. When liquor is almost a glaze, add salsa and stir.
7. Spoon the reserved warm butter sauce onto 4 plates. Arrange shrimp in a circle over sauce. Spoon tequila-infused salsa into center of plates and garnish with reserved ancho chile strips.
A full-bodied Sauvignon Blanc would complement the earthiness of the anchos; or you can try a Dry Riesling as a foil to the heat and the perfume of the tequila.