Dali Veracruz Sauce Recipes

VERACRUZ SAUCE (FOR FISH OR CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Warm oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic briefly to release its flavor.
• Add tomatoes and onions and cook over low heat until tomatoes soften, about 20 minutes.
• Add jalapeño, olives, oregano, capers, water, and salt, to taste. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
• Serve Veracruz Sauce over grilled or pan-fried white fish or chicken breast. Accompany this with white rice , if you like.
• Use one whole red snapper of about 3 pounds or two pounds of snapper filets. If using the whole snapper, clean it and remove the scales, but leave the head and tail on for presentation.
• Prick the fish with a fork on both sides.
• Lay the fish (or the filets) in a single layer in a shallow baking dish. Whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and 2 cloves (diced) of garlic. Pour this marinade over the snapper and refrigerate for about an hour.
• Make Veracruz Sauce (above), but reduce garlic to only 2 or 3 cloves. Simmer sauce for only about 5 minutes after adding jalapeños and other ingredients, as it will finish cooking in the oven.
• Cover the fish with the sauce and bake in a 300 F (150 C) oven for about 30 minutes, turning once.

VERACRUZ-STYLE RED SNAPPER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion; cook and stir until onions begin to turn translucent, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Cook and stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add capers and caper juice; stir to combine.
• Stir in tomatoes, olives, jalapeno pepper, . Cook and stir until jalapeno pepper softens and tomatoes begin to collapse, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in oregano.
• Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil into a small baking dish. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the tomato-olive mixture. Top with 1 snapper fillet, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Top with more filling and juice from 1 lime. Repeat with remaining snapper fillet, seasoning, and lime juice in a second baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fish is flaky and no longer translucent, 15 to 20 minutes.

VERACRUZ-STYLE TILAPIA ("PESCADO A LA VERACRUZANA")

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the fish fillets on both sides with salt and black pepper, to taste. Saute the fillets until they are opaque and just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the fish to a glass baking dish where they fit snugly.
• In the same saute pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, Anaheim chile, bay leaf and oregano and bring the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and let the sauce simmer until the chiles soften, about 6 minutes. Uncover the pan, add the olives and capers, and cook until the flavors combine, about 4 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Pour the sauce over the fish in the baking dish. Bake until the fish is heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, discard the bay leaf and serve.

PORK CHOPS IN VERACRUZ SAUCE

Steps:

• Use a paper towel to pat pork chops dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Heat olive oil and butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until butter is melted and oil is shimmering. Carefully add pork chops and cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Add onion slices to the same skillet. Saute, stirring frequently, until onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, olives, capers, jalapeno strips, bay leaves, thyme, and oregano. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Nestle chops into the vegetable mixture and cover. Reduce heat and simmer until no longer pink in the center, about 12 minutes. Place chops on a serving plate and increase heat to medium-high. Discard bay leaves and herb sprigs. Cook until liquid is reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes.
• Spoon vegetables and sauce over chops. Garnish with cilantro. Squeeze lime juice over all. Serve warm.

HALIBUT VERACRUZ

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until lightly colored, about 3 minutes. Add tomato, jalapeno and white wine. Cook until wine is reduced by 2/3, about 5 to 7 minutes. While sauce is reducing, heat butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Season fish with kosher salt. When butter is melted, add halibut to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, flip over and then transfer pan to preheated oven and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove sauce from heat when reduced and stir in olives and olive juice.
• To serve, divide sauce equally among 4 dinner plates. Place halibut (first caramelized side up) in the center of each plate on top of the sauce. Place avocado slices on top of fish, sprinkle with lime juice and cilantro, as garnish.