Pan-Seared Red Snapper With Lemon- Zest Butter Sauce
- 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
- 8 tablespoons very cold butter, cut into 16 chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 7-to 8-ounce red snapper fillets
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
- Grate the zest from 1 of the lemons, carefully avoiding the pith.
- Set aside.
- Using a paring knife, remove the peel in long strips from the second lemon, scraping off any pith.
- Cut the peel into a fine julienne.
- Bring a small saucepan half full of water to a boil and add the strips.
- Boil 1 minute.
- Drain and rinse the strips under cold water.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Set aside.
- In a small heavy saucepan, simmer the lemon juice, orange juice, shallot, peppercorns and grated zest, uncovered, until the mixture is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
- Discard the solids and return the liquid to the pan and set it over very low heat.
- Whisk chunks of cold butter into the sauce one at a time, whisking continuously.
- When all the butter has been incorporated, immediately remove the pan from the heat.
- (The sauce will separate if it becomes too hot.)
- Transfer the sauce to a small thermos or to a glass cup set inside a bowl of very warm water.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- When hot, add the oil.
- Add salt and pepper to snapper fillets taste.
- Place the snapper fillets in the pan and cook, turning once, until they are lightly browned and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
- Transfer the fillets to 4 warm plates.
- Coat with the sauce, garnish with parsley and lemon-zest strips and serve.
lemons, lemon juice, orange juice, shallot, peppercorns, very cold butter, olive oil, salt, parsley
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4825 (may not work)