Jamaican Steamed Snapper

I was looking through my blog posts and realized I have been severely slacking. I know I have been busy and I am not making excuses. I am just sad that it has been over a month since my last Top Chef inspired post. I really need to get a move on so we can get past Season 1 Episode 1. 

Tonight I want to bring us back to Harold's winning dish of the night. He made a steamed red snapper with shrimp, Chanterelle mushrooms and Brussels sprouts leaves over roasted butternut squash puree. You can find that exact recipe on the Bravo TV blog. I am not trying to copy any recipes though, so I was simply inspired to steam a snapper. I ended up with this Jamaican Steamed Snapper, and I couldn't be happier. 

I'm going to be honest. I don't think I started out with red snapper. I didn't see any red in the scales of my fillets. I do know that the seafood counter listed them as Wild Caught Snapper from Indonesia, so it seemed close enough. Before cooking, I always rinse my fish and then pat it dry. 

Then I rubbed the fleshy side of the snapper with fresh lime juice. I used a half a lime per fillet. Next, I seasoned the fillets with fresh thyme, paprika, grated ginger, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Once seasoned, I covered the fillets with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator for an hour.

I used seafood stock for my steaming liquid, but first I sauteed green onion, onion powder, more fresh thyme, half of a poblano pepper and Jamaican Jerk seasoning in olive oil. I also added carrot sticks and yellow and red bell pepper slices to the liquid. You can add whatever veggies you want to eat with your fish though.

I placed my seasoned fillets, skin side down, right on top of the veggies. I sprinkled freshly chopped tomato over the top and then put the lid on my Dutch oven. I steamed the fish for 10 minutes. Then I added a tablespoon of butter to each fillet and let it melt before moving my fish and veggies to a serving plate. 

I served my fish with a side of brown rice and the veggies. It had just enough kick from the pepper and jerk seasoning, but was not over powered by the heat. Everyone loved it, including my mother in law, who isn't a big fish eater. 

Jamaican Steamed Snapper

Ingredients

• 2 lbs snapper fillets
• 1 lime, cut in half
• 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped and divided
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic, crushed and divided
• 1 tsp grated ginger, 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 poblano pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow pepper sliced
• 2 c carrots, julienned
• 2 c fish stock
• 2 TBSP butter
• 2 c prepared brown rice

Directions

1. Rinse fish in cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel. Place fish on a large plate or serving platter.
2. Squeeze half a lime over each fillet. Season with salt, black pepper, ginger and half of the garlic and thyme. 
3. Cover your fillets with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 
4. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the remaining garlic and thyme, along with the paprika, onion powder, poblano pepper and green onions. Saute over high heat for 1 minute. 
5. Add the carrots and then the bell peppers, followed by the fish stock. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover and allow the vegetables to simmer for 5 minutes. 
6. Place the snapper, skin side down, over the vegetables. Sprinkle with the chopped tomato. 
7. Cover and steam for 10 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. 
8. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Place a tablespoon of butter on each fillet and allow it to melt. 
9. Serve with brown rice. 

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	765
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11.5g	15%
Saturated Fat 1.3g	7%
Cholesterol 108mg	36%
Sodium 687mg	30%
Total Carbohydrate 91g	33%
Dietary Fiber 7.6g	27%
Total Sugars 7.9g
Protein 70.9g
Vitamin D 0mcg	0%
Calcium 209mg	16%
Iron 5mg	26%
Potassium 926mg	20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet.2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.
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I realize that 765 is a lot of calories. All I can say is that most of them are coming from the almost 71g of protein. That is a seriously huge amount. And this meal is filling. You won't be hungry for something else in an hour. So cook the fish and then go for a protein powered walk and thank me later. 

I would love to hear your opinion of this recipe. Let me know if you make it. 

Happy cooking. 

Kristie