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Redfish Sauce Piquante

Source of Recipe

From "Kevin Belton's Big Flavors of New Orleans" by Kevin Belton


Recipe Introduction

"Uncle Chet would bring my mother big ol' redfish. My mom said the big fish, because of their age, could sometimes be too tough to filet. She'd just have him scale and gut it and bring it whole. Then, she would cook a huge amount of this sauce. She always layered the bottom of a big turkey roaster with the sauce and would place the whole redfish simply seasoned with salt and pepper right on top. To finish, she would then top the fish with more sauce. The fish was super tender after about an hour and a half. When she lifted the lid and you saw the fish swimming in that sauce, you thought, 'Oh my, this is gonna be so good.' I created this recipe using filets because finding the whole redfish can be challenging when you live away from the coast."

List of Ingredients

◦� � cup vegetable oil
◦� 6 (8-ounce) redfish or drum filets
◦� � cup diced yellow onion
◦� � cup diced celery
◦� � cup diced green bell pepper
◦� 4 cloves garlic, minced
◦� � cup minced Italian parsley
◦� 1 teaspoon red pepper
◦� 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
◦� � teaspoon cayenne pepper
◦� 6 ounces tomato paste
◦� 32 ounces chicken broth
◦� � cup dry red wine
◦� 3 bay leaves
◦� 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
◦� 8 ounces tomato sauce
◦� 1 tablespoon hot sauce
◦� Zest of 1 lemon and lemon slices for serving
◦� Cooked rice
◦� 1 cup chopped green onions


Recipe

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown filets on both sides, remove, and set aside. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley. Saut� until cooked, about 10 minutes. Add red pepper, Creole seasoning, and cayenne and saut� for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and continue to cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Deglaze pan with broth and wine. Add bay leaves, tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, and zest and cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes to reduce sauce and marry flavors. Check often to prevent scorching.

After 30 minutes, remove cover and gently add filets to sauce. Simply lay them on top. Cover again and keep flame on low. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes until fish is cooked through (it will steam in the covered pan with juices from sauce). Serve over rice and garnish with lemon and green onion.

Serves 4 to 6



❧ My recipe calls for filets. The recipe remains the same whether you are using whole fish or filets. There are a few simple changes for the whole fish in this recipe. First of all, you don't have to brown the whole fish. Simply place on the sauce. Top with more sauce and cook for about 1 hour, covered, just like my mom did. You can also use trout as a fish substitute.