Yucatan Style Snapper Recipes

Steps:

• Make the pickled onions: Put onion in a bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Add serrano, 3 tablespoons orange juice and 2 tablespoons lime juice, then mix well. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. Combine and reserve remaining citrus juice for marinade.
• Make the marinade: Put achiote, cinnamon, oregano and chipotle in a small stainless steel or glass bowl. In a small dry skillet over medium heat, lightly toast cumin, cloves and allspice until fragrant, 1 minute or less. Grind toasted spices to a powder in a spice mill or mortar, then add to other spices. Add garlic, 1 large pinch salt and remaining citrus juice and stir to make a paste. If very thick, add more lime juice. (Note: achiote may stain surfaces or clothing.)
• Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Using a sharp knife, score skin at thickest parts, if desired. Paint fish on both sides with marinade. Squeeze a little lime juice over fish. Chill for 45 minutes (or up to 2 hours).
• Bring fish to room temperature and heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut banana leaves crosswise into footlong lengths and soften by passing them briefly over a stovetop burner. Rinse leaves and pat dry. Lay a double thickness of leaves on a baking sheet and lay fish on it, skin-side down. Top fish with a large handful of pickled onions. Arrange tomato wedges over onions. Sprinkle with salt and a little more lime juice. Lay more leaves on top, then wrap like a package, tying with string or strips of leaf. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove and let package rest, unopened, for 15 minutes. Serve with remaining pickled onions.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F Over medium heat saute garlic and onion in olive oil until onion turns clear.
• Stir in olives, red pepper, cilantro and annato or paprika and cook stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes.
• Add orange juice, lime juice and seasonings. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Place fish on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to envelop fish. Pour sauce over fish and wrap bringing longer sides of foil over fish and folding edges down loosely and crimping to seal.
• Place on cookie sheet and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
• Note: Annato seed may be purchased in the ethnic aisle of your grocery store or at a Hispanic grocer. If unavailable, they may be omitted. The sauce will be less intense in color but the flavor will not be altered much.

Steps:

• The sausage can be stuffed into a natural casing and smoked; it can be frozen or grilled fresh. It can also be served in patties as well. Please allow the sausage to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking to allow the flavors to develop. Use half the batch for this snapper recipe, and freeze the rest.
• To assemble: Place the oil in a sauté pan over high heat and add the onions, garlic, herbs and spices. Cook for several minutes until onions are glassy. Add the tomatoes and cook until liquid is evaporated. Cool and fold in the corn, lime juice and cheese.
• Unroll the banana leaves and cut into 3-foot lengths. Place a fish portion into the third of the leaf nearest you. Place a few tablespoons of raw sausage, crumbled on top of the fish and cover with a few tablespoons of the sauce. Season with salt, pepper.
• Fold the fish packages burrito-style, tucking the sides in as you roll up the leaf. Place on a sheet pan, seam side down to prevent unrolling, and bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 40 minutes until cooked through.
• Serve with corn tortillas, limes and a good spiky fresh hot chili puree.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut orange in half horizontally and section it as you would a grapefruit; do this over a bowl to capture all its juice. Remove seeds and combine flesh and juice in bowl. Repeat with grapefruit and lemon. Stir in cilantro, habanero and salt.
• Put oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. A minute later, add fish, skin side down; season top with salt. Cook until skin begins to crisp, 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to oven. Cook another 3 or 4 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife meets little resistance when inserted into thickest part of fish. Serve fish with xec, immediately.