Veracruz Sauce Recipes

VERACRUZ-STYLE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add whole garlic cloves, and cook, stirring, until golden on all sides. Remove garlic and discard. Add minced garlic and the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes.
• Add olives, chiles, capers, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, marjoram, oregano, salt, canela, and wine. Cook until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If using fresh whole herbs, remove and discard before serving.

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.

VERACRUZ STYLE WHITE FISH

Steps:

• PREPARING THE SAUCE
• Over medium heat, fry the onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons of cooking oil for 4 minutes.
• Add the tomato, black pepper, and salt.
• Reduce the heat to low and cook the sauce for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have given off much of their liquid.
• Then, crush the tomatoes, onion, and garlic with a bean or potato masher.
• Next, add the spices and stir.
• Add the chicken broth.
• Add the chopped olives and capers and stir. Simmer for 15 more minutes.
• COOKING THE FISH
• After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, start cooking the fish. In a separate pan over medium heat, lightly brown each side of the fish in 3 tablespoons of oil.
• Once you have browned the fish on both sides, place each fish fillet in the simmering sauce.
• Cook for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly and the fish is fully cooked and has taken on the flavor of the sauce.
• Check the flavor of the sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.
• SERVING
• Serve the fish with white rice. First, put the rice on the plate then place the fish next to the rice. Gently spoon about 1 cup of the sauce over the fish and serve immediately.

FISH VERA CRUZ

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, boil the tomatoes, jalapenos, oregano, and garlic salt for about 8 minutes, or until tomatoes have cooked down to a liquid. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. *Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return sauce to pan, add chopped onion and cilantro, and stir well. Heat through and keep warm until ready to serve.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (you can use as little as 2 tablespoons oil to up to 1/2-inch deep). Season fish with salt and pepper and then carefully place in the pan; this may require adding the fish in 2 batches if your skillet is not large enough to hold all 4 fillets. Saute or pan-fry the fish until cooked on 1 side (fish will be opaque on that side). Carefully flip fish and continue cooking until cooked on second side and cooked through in the middle; the fish should be opaque in the middle. Cooking time will vary based on thickness of the fish fillets and the type of fish, but it should not take more than 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Transfer fish onto a serving platter or each of 4 dinner plates and top with the sauce. Serve immediately.

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.

SPAGHETTI WITH VERACRUZ SAUCE

Steps:

• Cook 8 oz. spaghetti al dente according to package instructions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return to the pot and toss with olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) to prevent from sticking; set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a large cast-iron skillet or saucepan, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add 3-4 crushed garlic cloves and 1 chopped onion and sauté until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add 2 chopped Roma tomatoes and 1 cup tomato sauce. Stir to combine and simmer for 5 more minutes.
• Mix in the lime zest, 12 chopped and 12 whole green olives, 2 tablespoons rinsed capers, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and chopped hot pepper (if using), and 1cup dry white wine. Cook for 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Remove bay leaves and crushed garlic.
• Lower the heat and add cooked spaghetti; toss to evenly coat pasta with the sauce. Cook for 5 minutes until heated through.
• Sprinkle with fresh cilantro leaves before serving. Enjoy!

PESCADO A LA VERACRUZANA: WHITE FISH IN VERACRUZ SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into a large saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
• Add the chopped onions and sauté until they become translucent, about 2 minutes.
• Lower the heat to medium and add the chopped garlic; sauté for a minute or two until fragrant.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and roasted and chopped green chiles and continue to stir and cook.
• Reduce the heat again to medium-low and add the remaining ingredients, except for the fish. Simmer the sauce for 10 to 15 minutes.
• While the sauce is cooking, heat another pan over medium heat and drizzle the bottom with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil .
• Place the fish in the pan and lightly season each piece with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 3 to 6 minutes on each side, or until the fish is opaque and cooked through. (The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of each cut of fish.)
• To serve, place a piece of fish on each plate and top with 1/4 of the sauce; or you can place all of the fish on a platter and spoon all of the sauce on top.
• Enjoy.

VERACRUZ SAUCE

Steps:

• Saute chopped onions in olive oil until soft. Add cinnamon and cloves. Add tomatoes, green olives, green chilies, capers and mushrooms. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. In a baking pan, spray with oil and put fish in the pan. Cover fish with ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until fish flakes. Garnish with avacados if desired.

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.