Fresh Fish with Key Lime Butter Sauce

This is the fish recipe you’ve been waiting for!  The question I hear the most is. . .   “Do you have a good recipe for fish?”  Here is a GREAT recipe for fish!  This works well for most whitefish:  hogfish, grouper, yellowtail snapper, mahi  – and is delicious with conch, too.  My guys caught mahi yesterday – fresh fish with this delicious sauce is a real treat!   Don’t forget the topping of tomatoes, scallions, Parmesan cheese and parsley.  You will love the flavor combination.

Here’s what you will need:

1 cup water

1/4 cup dry white wine – Chablis or Chardonnay

1 tablespoon key lime juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1 stick butter

3 teaspoons water

3 teaspoons cornstarch

2 eggs

2 tablespoons water

1 cup flour

2 cups panko – Japanese-style bread crumbs

2 pounds fresh catch

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 cup sliced scallions

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons parsley

Place 1 cup water, wine and key lime juice in a large saucepan over high heat and reduce by half.  This takes about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic powder.  Add pepper to taste.  Cut the butter into pats about the size of a tablespoon.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add one pat butter and whisk until the butter is incorporated.  Add another pat and continue until all the butter is added.  Mix 3 teaspoons water and the cornstarch together and add to the sauce.  Raise the heat to medium and stir until the sauce thickens and a few bubbles appear.  Set aside.

Mix eggs and 2 tablespoons water together in a small bowl.  Place the flour on a plate and dip the fish filets into the flour, coating both sides.  Dip the fish into the egg wash.  Place the bread crumbs on a second plate and coat the fish with bread crumbs.  Make sure to coat both sides.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the Key Lime Butter sauce over medium heat in a skillet large enough to the hold the fish on one layer. Add the fish and sauté for 4 minutes.  It should be golden.  Turn the fish and sauté for 4 minutes for 1-inch-thick filets.  Sauté 2 minutes longer for thicker fish or 2 minutes less for thinner fish.  The fish is cooked when the flesh is opaque, not translucent.

Place the fish on a serving plate.  Spoon the sauce over the fish.  Sprinkle the tomatoes, scallions, Parmesan cheese and parsley over the fish.

This recipe comes from Chef Lupe at the fabulous Lazy Days Restaurant in the Florida Keys.  If you’ve eaten there, you’ve probably ordered Lazy Conch with this sauce or had your fish prepared Lazy Days style.  So Delicious.  This recipe is a keeper!