Thursday, April 30, 2009

Potato crusted snapper with yellow pepper salsa

One thing I don’t talk about much on this blog is my grocery shopping preferences. I try to buy locally grown food as much as possible. My grocery store labels the origin of all its meat and produce, which makes it easier. I buy very little processed food, and I try to avoid farmed shrimp and fish. Instead, I typically go for wild caught, sustainable seafood.

We eat a lot of what my store calls "pacific red snapper", which is really just a fancy name for rockfish – it’s sustainable and fished locally. It also happens to be relatively inexpensive.

This recipe takes snapper to a whole new level with a potato crust and yellow pepper salsa. A mixture of shredded potato, herbs and parmesan cheese is pressed onto the top of snapper fillets. The fish goes into a hot pan, potato side down to cook, then is flipped to finish the other side.

The salsa consists of roasted yellow bell peppers, tomato, herbs, capers and onion. I used red onion because the flavor is tamer than yellow or white onion. I also chopped up the capers so that they’d incorporate better into the salsa.

What you end up with is a delicious dish that’s easy enough for a weeknight meal, but also fancy enough for a dinner party.

red snapper, snapper, potato crusted fish, pepper salsa

61 comments:

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

Beautiful way to serve snapper.

Unknown said...

Wow, that's a really gorgeous photo Sara! Sounds like a delicious meal.

LK- Healthy Delicious said...

this is gorgeous! I love simple meals like this with fresh ingredients. sometimes simple is tastier than some complicated fancy recipes!

Tyler said...

I like trying to buy local, too : )
That recipe looks fantastic!

Christina Kim said...

So interesting with the potato crust. And the salsa is so vibrant and full of color -- of course your excellent photography skills make me want to jump into the computer and eat it up!

Lyndas recipe box said...

This is quite a different dish, in a great way! It's so full of color and that makes it very appetizing1

Kerstin said...

Oh my goodness - a potato crust and a lovely veggie salsa - I love it!

Karen Brown Letarte said...

What a beautiful dish!! One of my favorite cookbooks has a similar dish I always wanted to try, but yours looks waaaaaaaayyy better, with that gorgeous yellow pepper salsa! What a great combination of flavors!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Marvelous! A tasty way of preparing snapper!

Cheers,

Rosa

LaDue & Crew said...

Now this is totally making my mouth water! Your food always looks so pretty!

noble pig said...

I think I pulled this same recipe out of a magazine because I thought it looked good and wow it really does!

Creative Classroom Core said...

What a beautiful looking salsa! Great pic! The snapper is drool-worthy!

La Bella Cooks said...

Beautiful! I just love that potato crust and the salsa looks so vibrant.

gastroanthropologist said...

Love the colors and flavors of the yellow pepper salsa. And YES! to wild, sustainable fish!

Anonymous said...

love the whole fresh seasonal approach to snapper! so uncomplicated, yet intricate in flavors! I LOVE the potato crust!

Heather S-G said...

Gorgeous! The colors and the flavors are just perfect with this dish! It sounds so good :)

Donna-FFW said...

What an absolutely gorgeous dinner Sara! The snapper sounds incredible and the salsa sounds delicious! Perfect pairing and your photo is beautiful!

Robin said...

I love the slasa with this. I think the whole salsa idea has really gotten us away from such heavy sauces and so much more healthier!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous preparation for snapper! Love the potato crust and the yellow pepper salsa sounds excellent!

Stacey Snacks said...

Sara,
Healthy and beautiful!
The way we should all be!
Have a great weekend!
Stacey

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Seriously fresh flavors in this Sara. i love finding new ways to prepare fish!

Culinary Wannabe said...

The salsa really makes the dish pop. It's nice that you have the option to eat locally. I know I'm glad to have similar options here in nyc. When I was in college in MS though, I couldn't even find an organic apple!

Cathy said...

I do the same coating with halibut - but I'm lazy and use shredded hash browns instead of shredding my own potato.

Yasmeen said...

Potato crust is such a brilliant idea.I definitely prefer wild caught fish to farm raised:)

Carrie said...

This looks right up my alley! And it's so pretty/perfect for spring. I love the colors!

Angie's Recipes said...

I try to avoid buying contra-season vegetables.
My brother spent quality time for the hobby: fishing. I therefore had many different kinds of fish, and other shelled seafood daily. Now I live in a place with almost no seafood, it's not fun at all. I had no other choices, but the frozen from the supermarkets.
The fish with the colourful salsa makes a perfect lunch, that even could please a picky one.

stephchows said...

The salsa topping is just so colorful and inviting :)

teresa said...

Gorgeous! This looks WONDERFUL!

Reeni said...

The crust looks so crispy and delicious. So creative. The salsa is gorgeous!

Diana said...

Great recipe! I've never cooked with snapper before, but also make an effort to seek out wild caught, fresh fish when I'm at the market. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm in the mood for fish. And definitely want to try it Sara style! :)

Marta said...

Easy and fancy, I'm with you!
The salsa looks amazing, I like the addition of bright condiments like these to white fish, it makes them sing (wow, no, that's weird, fish don't sing!).
I wish I had more access to seasonal, local, sustainable foods here. Unfortunately, when the ground is frozen for more than 7 months, not much grows! But as thaw gets closer, the farmer's market is beginning to get better stocked.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe :)

Carolyn Jung said...

On a dreary day like today, it's uplifting to gaze at something so colorful and delicious looking.

lisaiscooking said...

The potato crust sounds great, and the salsa looks so fresh and bright. Great dish.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Sara that photo was amazing you could really see all the details of the dish!

Yum, I bet that would be a wonderful topping for a lot of different fish.

Happy Friday!
~ingrid

leslie said...

my mouth literally started watering when i saw this photo and recipe!

Claudia said...

This looks stunning. I shop the same way - no farmed fish and as local as possible - winter is a chaellnge!

Sean said...

I love the color of the salsa! I'm glad you try to buy wild caught fish vs. the farmed ones and buy locally!

Dewi said...

WOW Sara, you are one creative and clever blogger.I would never thought topping my snapper with patatoes. Looks delicious!

Soma said...

Your recipes are all so fresh, full of flavor & colors & above all very very Innovative! love it.

Dragon said...

Wow, what a gorgeous dish!

Foodie with Little Thyme! said...

Beautiful. Love all the combinations of color and taste!

Netts Nook said...

Looks like a keeper I collect all the fish recipes I can get my hands on. Hoot Hoot

NKP said...

Delicious! I haven't tried a potato crust on a fish before.

Cathy said...

psst - left you an award on my blog ;)

Juliana said...

Such a great looking fish, love the salsa...I love food with colors, and the one that you featured is so pretty...very tempting.

priscilla joy said...

What an amazing picture! It looks so appealing!

Leslie said...

Oh I love the pototo topping! Clever

Melissa said...

Oh Sara that's gorgeous! I think I would have used red onion for the color and the taste both. I love red onion anyway.

And I try to buy wild caught too. I figure we're going to end up all eating farmed one day though. :(

Tatieva said...

Ce que c'est beau à regarder...
J'adore toutes ces couleurs, ça sent l'été ! J'adore aussi le poivron vert.
Ca donne envie de croquer dedans, délicieux !
Kisses from France,
Tatieva

pigpigscorner said...

Ahh...wonderful flavours and textures.

Lori said...

That plate looks familiar. I would have never thought of potato crust. It sounds amazing.

Most of what I buy is local too or at least seasonal. However I just cant live without bananas and mangoes. Well I guess I could but I would miss them immensely.

Sarah said...

Just what I was looking for, a delicious and simple fish recipe! It looks great, but I bet it tastes even better.

Shari said...

This looks healthy and tasty all at the same time. I love the idea of the potato crust. Great job!

Jamie said...

Lovely dish and it looks really tasty. I love the crispy potato crust and the salsa is a wonderful fresh, summery accompaniment.

Jenna said...

I have never had snapper before. This recipe looks truly amazing.

gaga said...

That's beautiful! I'd love to make more fish at home except I have cats that go insane whenever I do. :P

The Caked Crusader said...

I love red snapper - it somehow manages to be both light and meaty. This looks a great dish

Ana Powell said...

Hi Sarah
Gorgeous photo. Tremendous recipe x

Sara said...

Lori - I totally agree with you on the bananas!

Chef E said...

I keep thinking I am going to 'encrust' something, and need to go to our local fish market...you guys are right fresh is the best!

I always admire your photos :)

Colleen said...

This looks absolutely delicious! And a beautiful picture!