Potato Wrapped Snapper With Creamy Leeks

Flying Fish Café's

Yield: 4 servings.

4 (6-ounce) skinless red snapper fillets

2 large russet potatoes

2 ounces (1/4 cup) potato starch (see note)

2 bunches leeks, whites only, sliced

1/2 of a bunch of fresh thyme

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces (1/2 cup) heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup canola oil

4 ounces red-wine reduction (see note)

1. Season fish with salt, pepper. Cut potatoes into rectangles. Thinly slice potatoes. Soak in cold water; drain. Lay out 4 (12-inch-by-12-inch) pieces of plastic wrap. Place 4 pieces of potatoes across and 2 pieces up and down on sheets. Sprinkle with starch. Put fish in center. Bring plastic over fish to wrap potato around it.

2. In oven-safe, nonstick pan, heat oil to 300 F. Unwrap fish. Place in pan. When golden, turn. Put pan in 350 F oven. Cook 10 minutes. Drain. Season with salt, pepper. In pan, melt butter with thyme. Add leeks. Cook until soft. Season with salt, pepper. Add cream. Place fish on leeks. Finish with red-wine reduction.

Recipe notes: Potato starch (potato flour) is available in gourmet and Asian stores.

A reduction sauce can be made by heating oven to 500 F. In pot over low heat, cook 2 diced onions, 1 sliced carrot, 1 head of garlic (halved), 1/2 of a leek in 11/2 ounces olive oil. Season with salt. In oven-proof pan, heat 1 ounce of chicken bones in 1 ounce of olive oil. When bones discolor, place pan in oven. Roast until golden. Drain fat. Add 1 bottle of cabernet to vegetables. Cook until reduced in volume by half. Add 1 gallon chicken stock, 1/2 gallon veal stock, roasted bones to vegetables. Bring to simmer. Reduce in volume, skimming often. Simmer 1 hour, 20 minutes. Pour through fine mesh. Return liquid to heat. Cook until reduced to desired consistency. Season with salt, pepper and additional wine to taste. Pass through strainer again.

Source; Orlando Sentinal