Roasted Snapper Island Edition Recipes

ROASTED SNAPPER FILLET

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°.
• Rinse and dry fish well.
• Line a broiler rack with aluminum foil.
• Lightly spray with oil.
• Rub fish with 1 tsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper, garlic and rosemary.
• Place skin side down on oven rack and sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
• Drizzle remaining oil and bake until fish is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.

WHOLE ROASTED SNAPPER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large baking dish or a baking sheet with parchment paper and top with a rack.
• In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon zest, chopped thyme, garlic, chile flakes and kosher salt.
• Cut 3 diagonal slashes down to the bone on each side of the fish. Season fish all over, including inside the slashes and cavity, with mixture.
• Lay on the rack and stuff each slash and cavity with the thyme stems, sliced lemons and kumquats.
• Cook, without turning, until fish flakes with a fork and flesh is opaque in the center, about 20 minutes.
• Carve fish into four portions and transfer to plates. Drizzle with juices from the baking dish and garnish with flaky salt before serving.

ROASTED WHOLE SNAPPER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• In a heavy roasting pan or large cast-iron skillet, toss together the fennel, onions, 5 lemon quarters, and the wine. Rub the snapper all over with olive oil and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the herbs and the remaining lemons.
• Roast about 30 minutes (15 minutes for each inch of thickness), until the flesh just begins to flake.

SALT-ROASTED RED SNAPPER

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse fish thoroughly inside and out until no traces of blood remain. Pat fish dry with paper towels.
• In a large bowl, stir together salt and egg whites until thoroughly combined. Place a 1/2-inch layer of salt mixture in the bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan. Place lemon rounds, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves on top of salt, arranging ingredients so they form shape of fish and reserving some of each ingredient. Fill fish cavity with reserved lemons and herbs; place the fish on top of mixture.
• Pour the remaining salt over fish, completely covering the body; the tail can stick out of the pan. Using your fingers, pat down salt, completely sealing the fish.
• Place pan in center of oven. Cook fish until done, allowing 15 minutes per pound. (One way chefs check for doneness is to insert a carving fork or metal skewer through the salt crust and into the fish, then place it to the chin under lower lip for 15 seconds; if the metal feels very warm, the fish is done.) Remove pan from oven; let sit 5 minutes.
• Gently break away crust. Transfer fish to a cutting board. Using a paring knife and your fingers, peel away skin. Separate, and serve.

ROASTED SNAPPER, ISLAND EDITION

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with a large cast-iron skillet or small rimmed sheet pan (an aluminum quarter sheet pan is ideal) on the middle rack. Do this at least half an hour before cooking.
• Grind the allspice berries coarsely with a mortar and pestle. Add the garlic and grind to a chunky paste. Add the ginger and grind until broken up, then add the Scotch bonnet and grind to a paste.
• Stir in the thyme, half the lime zest, half the salt, and 1 tablespoon of the oil.
• Cut 5 diagonal, shallow gashes across each side of the fish from the head to the tail. Try not to cut more than 1/3 of an inch deep. The cuts should be diagonal from belly to back but also diagonally into the flesh...on the bias.
• Lightly lube the fish with oil. Sprinkle with the remaining half of the salt, being careful to salt the cavity as well.
• Smear the paste onto the fish with a spoon, working it into the gashes. Repeat on the second side.
• Carefully place the fish on the preheated pan and roast for 12 to 15 minutes or until the fish flakes with a fork.
• To remove, carefully work a metal spatula (a slotted "fish turner" is ideal) and carefully move to a cutting board or platter to serve with the lime wedges. Serving in pieces is virtually impossible so just let people eat directly off the board or platter.
• Consume...careful of the bones