Pan Seared Snapper with Fried Okra and Cucumber Tomato Salad
Summer on a plate! The sides are the star of this dish featuring the southern classic of fried okra and a side of bright, fresh summer veggies.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 55 minutesminutes
Servings 2
Ingredients
Snapper
2red snapper filetsno bones and no skin (ask your fish monger to remove)
Tony Chachere seasoning
black pepper
olive oil
Fried Okra
½lbbaby okraregular okra is fine, just choose small okra pods
1Cbuttermilk
1egg
1tsphot sauceI used Crystal
1Ccornmeal
2tspTony Chachere seasoning
vegetable oil
salt
Cucumber Tomato Salad
1large tomato
1Armenian or Persian cucumberEnglish cucumber would be fine
½red onion
3Tbred wine vinegar
1Tbolive oil
½tspfinely minced tarragon
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Snapper
Pat both sides of your fish filets dry with paper towels. Season evenly with Tony Chachere seasoning and black pepper on both sides. You won't need salt as Tony Chachere is plenty salty. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tb of olive oil to the pan or enough to coat.
When the oil has a ripple, it's hot enough to add fish. If you don't get your pan hot enough, the fish will stick to the pan. Place fish in the pan, and DO NOT disturb for 3-4 minutes or until a crust has formed. Carefully flip fish using a second spatula if necessary to keep fish together. Cook on the second side for 3-4 minutes without moving. Cook until just firm and cooked through. Overcooked expensive seafood is f**king terrible.
Serve immediately.
Fried Okra
Trim the ends off the okra including the entire stem. Cut into 1-inch pieces, cutting horizontally to make small rounds. Prepare a baking sheet with a layer of paper towels and top with a cooling rack.
Mix buttermilk, egg and hot sauce in a small mixing bowl until well combined. Put cornmeal and Tony Chachere in a quart size Ziploc. Working in small batches, add okra first to buttermilk mixture, tossing to coat. Then remove okra from buttermilk being sure to shake off excess liquid and add to cornmeal. Try to separate okra as you drop into the bag so they don't all stick together. Zip the top of the bag shut and toss to coat in cornmeal. SMALL BATCHES ARE ESSENTIAL TO GOOD FRIED OKRA….if you try to do too many you end up with shitty okra that is not thoroughly breaded or crisp.
Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a 10-inch cast iron pan until the oil reaches 350 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, you can test the oil by dropping a small piece of batter into the oil. If it floats and sizzles immediately, your oil is ready. Cook okra until well browned or about 5 minutes moving occasionally in the pan to ensure browning on all sides. Once browned, remove from pan and place on cooling rack. Don't worry if some fall through. That's why you put the paper towels down first. Season with salt immediately!
Work in small batches until all okra is complete. You can keep what's not cooking warm in the oven on 175 degrees. Keep the okra batches warm while you prepare the fish or serve immediately.
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Core the tomato and cut into a 1-inch dice. Trim ends from cucumber and slice into ¼" rounds. Finely dice half of a red onion.
In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients to form a dressing. Add prepared vegetables to dressing and toss to combine. Return to refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve within a couple of hours of preparing to keep the crisp texture of the cucumber.
Notes
1) You may not be familiar with tarragon. It has a very subtle and bittersweet anise flavor. If you can't find tarragon at your market, basil would be a great substitute.2) I would recommend making the Cucumber Tomato Salad first and keeping in the fridge until your hot items are ready to go. Then move onto making the fried okra and keeping it warm in the oven as you work through the batches. You can then hold it in the oven when you saute your fish to finish the meal.