Snapper Provencal?

by The CFT

Monday August 18, 2008, 9:56 PM

I have never been to Provence, and prefer to think of Cleveland as a freshwater Normandy (I'm not alone on that). But I had fish, leftover tomatoes and basil from making brushetta, and a loaf of bread. None of those things get better with age, so this is what happened.

Ingredients:
- Fish, fillets (Lane Snapper from Kate's Fish, they filleted a small whole fish that couldn't have been fresher. While not the very most sustainable choice, it still has Monterey Bay's blessing.)
- Olive Oil, extra virgin (I love the stuff from Spain)
- Onion, sliced (Here half a red onion from Blissful Acres--nice people and great farmers. Available at the Shaker Market, and maybe Crocker too.)
- Chili Pepper, thin slices (These were Portuguese red peppers from the garden. It's been a good year for peppers. Chili flakes would be a good sub.)
- Garlic, minced (Also from the garden. Sadly, not much of a year for my garlic.)
- Olives, chopped (Fancy ones would be great. I just used ones a friend left in the fridge.)
- Tomatoes, chopped with any juice (More of the bruschetta leftovers were used here.)
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley, chopped (not pictured)

Preparation:
- Heat a pan and add some olive oil
- Add onions and some salt and saute until soft and somewhat translucent, but not caramelized
- Then add chili, garlic, and olives
- Once garlic is fragrant add tomatoes, salt, and pepper and bring to a good simmer
- Salt and pepper both sides of the fish (I also scored the skin side of the fillets to keep them from curling. I rinsed and dried the fish first too. It's just a habit.)
- Add the fish fillets skin side (if there's skin) down right on top of what now should look like a sauce
- Heap some sauce on top of the fish and cover the pan (if you don't have a cover and can't rig something up with a plate or the like, throw the whole pan in a hot oven (no plastic handle, of course, or at least cover it with foil)
- Less than ten minutes and it should be done (It's easy to peak in the fillet for doneness, as the fish gets covered with sauce at the end anyway. The steaming/braising in a covered pan is great for a nice, moist piece of fish also.)
- Plate and add parsley if using

For the bread, it's just slices of a baguette drizzled with olive oil and then heated on a very hot grill pan. The broiler would work too. It's a nice, simple starch.

Start to finish this dish took right around half an hour to make on the stovetop. Perfect for summer. And just about any fish fillet or steak can be subbed for the snapper, and anything thrown in the sauce (it begs for capers and anchovies). As for Normandy, it'll have to wait for apple season. I'm sure it's patient.