Red Snapper Pontchartrain

Or With Any White Fleshed and Bland Fish Fillet

I love seafood and one of my favorite fishes is red snapper. We went to a fish wholesale place and saw some very fresh whole red snappers. I could not resist the urge to buy a couple of them along with a pint of lump crabs and some fresh off the boat shrimps.

Actually we went there to buy some live crabs but they did not have any that day except for the shelled crab meats in pint containers. I was disappointed that I wasted a trip but I bought the shelled crabs anyway.

I wanted to make a special dish with the red snapper other than just frying it. I thought I’d try making red snapper Pontchartrain but I have never made it before. I braved myself to try making it anyway and see how it would go. I did not want to waste the ingredients that went with it in case I failed because they were a little pricey. I winged this recipe and hoped for the best.

My version of this sauce does not have all the ingredients used by chefs and recipes found online but I was surprised that it tasted so good. My husband even requested to have it again for dinner the next night.

I have had red snapper Pontchartrain at some restaurants before and I loved it. It is a very rich dish and I never could finish my plate every time I had it. I knew how it is supposed to taste but I never cooked it before until now. This is one of the higher priced dishes on the menu and not many restaurants offer it, except in some higher end seafood restaurants in our area. It has been years since I last had it because the restaurant we used to go to burned down and relocated and when they reopened it was not as good as before. I heard the original owner retired and his brother took it over. He also had a different cook or chef. This restaurant was actually well known and popular for their steaks and was always full, but not anymore. Too bad!

Pontchartrain is a sauce named after Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. It is a Cajun dish that is very popular in and outside Louisiana.

Ingredients for the Pontchartrain sauce: (they don’t have to be exact)

¼ cup lump crab meat
4 or 5 medium size raw shrimp shelled and sliced lengthwise (or a few small shrimps but not sliced)
1 clove garlic minced
2 TBSP chopped onion (or about ¼ of a small onion)
1 small Roma tomato, diced
2 TBSP diced green bell pepper (about ¼ of a bell pepper)
½ stalk of celery, diced
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (Zatarain, Slap Ya Mama, or Tony Chachere, etc.)
1 TBSP butter
1 tsp. flour
¼ cup Half and Half or milk (Use heavy cream if you want it richer)

Melt butter in a small skillet. Drop in the onions and sauté until limp. Drop in the garlic and sauté until fragrant and the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, bell peppers and celery. Sauté together until the tomatoes are cooked. Add the shrimp then add the Cajun seasoning, stir until the shrimp curl and turn pink then add the 1 tsp. flour. Stir until well mixed and thickened. Add the Half and Half and heat until thick. Add the lump crab meat. Stir a little then remove from heat and set aside but keep warm. The crab meat in the container is supposed to already be cooked that’s why you add it last and only need to be heated briefly.

For the red snapper or any fish filet with white meat:

2 fish fillets (no skin)
1 TBSP veg. oil or olive oil
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP lemon juice

Sprinkle salt lightly on both sides of the fillets. Heat a large skillet until very hot (this is to prevent the fish from sticking to the pan) add the cooking oil then lay the fish fillets in the pan with skin side up to pan fry. Brown that side then flip and brown the other side. This will take about 2 minutes or less each side. Turn off the heat. Cut the butter in fourths then drop around the fillets. Pour the lemon juice around the fillets with the butter and spoon the buttery juice over the fish.

Remove from the pan and plate the fish fillets skin side down. Put half of the warmed Pontchartrain sauce over each fillet. Serve with your preferred vegetables and rice pilaf if desired.

This serves 2.