Todd's Redfish Courtbullion Recipe 

Ingredients 

2-3 lbs Boneless and skinless Louisiana Redfish filets
1 small can Del Monte tomato paste
2 large cans Del Monte tomato sauce
2 cups white long grain rice
2 large Red Onions
1 small bunch of green onions
1 large green bell pepper
1 small bunch of fresh parsley (about ¼ cup)
3 stalks of fresh celery
2-3 large lemons
1 small Naval Orange
¼ Cup sugar
¼ Cup powdered garlic
2 tbsp Season All Seasoned Salt
1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Table Blend
1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning
3 tbsp McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak (powdered) seasoning
¾ Cup Regina Red Sherry Cooking Wine
1 tbsp Cajun Chef Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 tbsp Sea Salt
1 tsp White Pepper
½ Cup Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Large Bay Leaves

Preparation

Mix dry seasoning ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir until completely mixed. Coat both sides of filets with olive oil thoroughly. Coat both sides of fish filets with the dry seasoning mixture and place flat in a large 9 x 14 Pyrex baking pan. Refrigerate filets (uncovered) for 15 minutes. Put the dry mix off to the side, as you will need it later. In a Dutch oven (a.k.a. black iron pot with a cover), pour ¼ cup olive oil and bring to a low heat. Be careful not to heat the oil too fast. You will burn it and it won’t have the proper flavor. Dice green onions, bell pepper, celery, parsley and red onions. Take the redfish filets, one or two at a time and place in black iron pot. Braise them about 30 seconds on both sides and put to the side in a plate and sprinkle some of the cooking wine about ¼ cup over the filets. Let cool to room temperature. Be careful not to break the filets when taking them out of the skillet.

On a medium to high fire and in the same pot, start with the red onions first as these take the longest to melt down and brown. Stir constantly so as not to let them burn. As the onions start to brown and stick to the bottom of the pot, add a small amount of water. Only enough to barely cover the bottom of the pot. You don’t want to make onion soup! Repeat this step until the onions are completely golden brown and caramelized (pasty looking). Add the green onions, parsley, bell pepper and celery. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. Again, you don’t want to make a soup. Pour just enough water to keep everything from sticking or burning. Repeat until all ingredients are well blended and melted down. Turn the fire off and place the cover on the pot.

Sauce Time

This takes a lot of patience and time to get the right consistency.

In a large deep black iron skillet, pour remaining olive oil in skillet and bring to a medium heat. Add tomato paste. Stir constantly until tomato paste is browned. Add sugar and ¼ cup cooking wine. Reduce heat to lowest setting. Add ¼ cup of water and stir until mixed well. Let simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Add one can of tomato sauce and remaining cooling wine and stir until well mixed. Let simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Repeat with the last can of tomato sauce. Let simmer until the sauce is thickened to the point that it barely pours off the spoon. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Give or take a few minutes.

Add the hot sauce, the remaining dry seasonings and onion mixture to the skillet. Mix thoroughly and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Bringing it All Together

Adjust oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350°. Place the fish filets in the un-greased disposable turkey-baking pan. Slice the lemons in half and squeeze the juice over the filets. Don’t forget to take out the lemon seeds. They take too long to cook. HA. HA. Do the same with the orange but you won’t have any seeds of course. Slice the lemons and orange into thin slices and place on top of the fish filets. Take the skillet of sauce and pour slowly over the fish completely covering the filets. Place the four bay leaves evenly across the top of the sauce. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. At this point you may want to start cooking the rice in your favorite rice cooker. Remove the pan carefully from the oven, as it will have a fair amount of water that was released from the fish. Depending on the amount of water, you may want to remove one or two cooking spoonfuls to prevent it from boiling over the sides. It’s totally up to the cook. Return the pan, (uncovered) to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes or until you just can’t wait any longer to eat some.

Serve over cooked rice with your favorite garlic bread or French bread. It’s better with garlic bread. That’s my personal favorite. Don’t forget to enjoy.

Words of Wisdom

“The most important thing to remember when preparing any dish is that it’s main ingredient is never listed……

……..patience!”

Todd J. Gautreaux - Houma, LA