Pan-roasted Snapper with Crabmeat and Roasted Garlic – Sun-dried Tomato Butter
Louisiana has such an embarrassment of riches from rivers, lakes, and sea that creative chefs instinctively call on the bounty for new recipes. Here, Chef Frank Brigtsen tops a sauteed fillet of snapper with crabmeat in a highly flavorful sauce.
Ingredients
- Roasted Garlic – Sun-dried Tomato Butter
- Unsalted Butter - 1 cup, room tempature
- Sun-dried tomatoes - 1/4 cup finely, chopped oil-packed
- Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
- Basil - 1 teaspoon, minced fresh
- Cayenne Pepper - 1/8 teaspoon
- Garlic - 2 tablespoons roasted
- Snapper - Six 7 oz, fillets with skin on
- Seafood seasoning (recipe below) - 3 teaspoons
- All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Clarified Butter - 1/2 cup
- Fish stock - 1 cup (alt. bottled clam juice)
- Crabmeat - 1-1/2 cups (16 oz) fresh, picked over for shell
- Chive - 10 – 15 stems, cut in half
- Green Onion - 1, tops only, chopped or shredded
Instructions
To prepare the butter: In a blender or food processor, blend all of the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This may be done a day ahead.
To prepare the fish: Preheat the oven to 450 F. Season each snapper fillet lightly with 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning and dust the skin side of each fillet with flour. Heat two large ovenproof saute pans or skillets over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup clarified butter to each. Place the fish in the hot butter, skin-side down, and cook for 1 minute. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until the fish begins to flake.
Place a fillet on each of six warmed plates. Discard the butter in the pans and return the pans to high heat. Add 1/2 cup of the stock or clam juice to each pan and bring to a boil. Add half of the garlic and tomato butter to each pan and cook until the butter is almost melted, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup of crabmeat to each pan and toss gently until the crab is heated through, about 1 minute.
To serve: Divide the crabmeat and sauce evenly over the top of each snapper fillet. Garnish with chives and green onions.
Suggested accompaniments: mushrooms, corn maque choux, snap peas.
Seafood Seasoning
Combine all ingredients. Store tightly sealed in a cool dry place. The herbs will lose their pungency over time, but they do not “go bad.”
