While at the market I saw an ice filled bin stacked with red snapper that was on sale. Normally I steer clear of discounted fish but these had clear, bright eyes, crimson gills, a clean smell and firm texture. At $3.15 a pound it seemed more like a bargin than a discount. I pulled a fish out of the bin and had it bagged with ice. For about $6.50 I got the head, I got the tail, I got the whole damned thing(minus the innerds, of course).
I got the fish home and gave it a good rinse in the sink and scraped the scales off the sides. With my sharpest filet knife I cut along the head and down the backbone, letting both sides fall away. The head, backbone and tail went into the compost, buried about halfway down. My grandmother used to bury her fish carcasses in the garden, covering them with about a foot of soil. Fish will break down pretty quickly in a hot compost heap where the temp is between 104 and 160 degrees, and it provides good nutrient to the soil. It has to be buried in the heap, or else it will stink and draw insects and scavengers.
S. is skeptical of most fish. She only began to eat salmon and tuna after she met me and I prepared it correctly for her. She was unsure of this snapper business but I convinced her that snapper is a clean tasting, mild fish with a good texture that holds up to frying, baking, broiling or smoking. It is not as high in Omega 3’s as salmon or herring, and the mercury content is a bit higher, but very safe when eaten in moderation.
I looked at the filets and decided to do an double entree. I cut filets from the head end, each about 6 ounces. I scored the skin with little cuts and dredged the filets in cornmeal. I took the tail parts, removed the skin and diced up the flesh. I mixed the raw fish with some diced sweet gaya melon, red onion, red pepper, cilantro, basil, garlic, cracked pepper and sea salt. I made a dressing of lime juice, honey, tequila and rice wine vinegar as tossed it all together. I filled two martini glasses with seaweed salad, the ceviche mix, sliced tomatoes and sunflower sprouts.
I cut up some purple potatoes I bought at a farmer’s market and mixed them with some olive oil and garlic and rosted them in the oven. I cut up some asparagus and my market fresh chantrelles and quickly sauteed them in a skillet until they just sweated. I put a pan of olive oil on the stove and brought it to just smoking and laid the fish in, skin side down. The skin crackled and curled, but the little slits allowed the skin to draw up without buckling the flesh. Olive oil is not the best choice for pan frying. It is very heart healthy but it has a low smoke point and will break down quicker that a soy, canola or peanut oil. After a couple of minutes the skin was quite crispy and I turned the filets over, letting the cornmeal just brown. I put everything on a plates. By now the vinegar and the citric acids had “cooked” the fish. We sat down with both and ate. The ceviche was very good, being sour, sweet, a little salty and herby. I wish I had some habeneros to add. That would have brought it up even more. The asparagus, chantrelles, and potatoes were very good but seemed like a kind of “forest” plate, better suited to beef or roast chicken or venison. The fish was very mild and moist, and flaked away easily under our forks. The plates were very pretty, too. I have to get a better camera or more light for these pictures.
S. cleaned her plate and emptied her martini glass, and this is testament enough for me.
Red snapper is a great source of low-fat calories and protiens. It contains selenium which is touted as good for the blood and an agent in fighting cancer and depression and aiding in mental alacrity. The mercury issue means it is best not to eat snapper with great indulgence, and larger fish are subject to ciguatoxin, but that is rarely a problem in store bought fish. Red snapper are not farmed, they are caught from marine environments and their stocks have been severly depleted by overfishing over the years. There are special laws to regulate the fishing of snapper. It is also important that we take care what we put in the ocean, lest it find its way back onto our dinner plates. Seaweed contains B12, iodine, iron, aids in brain development and helps hair become thick and lusterous(no kidding, that is what my research says). Seaweed is both farmed and harvested from natural sources, again prompting all of us to become more aware of our enviroment.
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