There is a lot to this recipe, but it's worth it.
Fire Roasted Snapper with Charred Corn-Charred Jalapeno Salsa and Jalapeno Pesto
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 6 ears corn
- 8 jalapeno chiles
- Canola oil for brushing, plus 2 to 3 tablespoons
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
- Cilantro, to taste
- 4 red snapper fillets, 8-ounces each
- 4 limes, halved
- Red bell pepper,optional
- Corn Milk and Jalapeno Pesto Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
Remove the husk from corn and brush with oil, grill on high heat until the kernels are golden brown and slightly charred, about 15 minutes. Remove the kernels from the corn and place in a bowl. Save the cobs for the pesto, recipe below.
Brush the jalapenos with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until charred all over, about 6 minutes. Dice chilies, including skin and seeds, and add 2 peppers worth to the corn with the onion, lime juice, honey, 2 tablespoons canola oil, cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Save the remaining jalapeno for the pesto.
If using red bell pepper, char it on all sides on the grill then put it in a glass bowl and cover with saran wrap and let sit until cool. Then peel, seed and chopp pepper and add to the jalapeno/corn salsa.
Brush the snapper on both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until the fish is just cooked through.
Brush cut side of limes with some canola oil, place on the grill, cut side down and grill until slightly charred, about 1 minute. Serve alongside the fish.
Corn Milk and Jalapeno Pesto Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves
- 6 grilled jalapenos, from recipe above
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Corn cobs, from recipe above
Combine cilantro, grilled and diced jalapenos, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and process until emulsified. Scrape into a bowl.
Scrape milk and any remaining kernels from grilled corn by standing cobs in bowl and running a knife blade down the cob. Stir the milk and scrapings into the pesto and serve.
Sally’s Notes: The original recipe is much more involved so I simplified the dish. If you don’t have a grill, use a grill pan. If you don’t like spice remove the stems and seeds from the jalapenos. If you really don’t like spice grill a green bell pepper, remove the seeds and use that instead. I had a half of a red bell pepper left over so I grilled that and added it to the salsa. I think it gave it a nice pop of color!
The original title of the recipe is “Fire Roasted Snapper Wrapped in Green Corn Husks with Charred Corn-Charred Jalapeno Salsa and Jalapeno Pesto” You can find it at FoodNetwork.com
