Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 (6-pound) snapper
- 2 pounds lump crabmeat
- 1/2 cup minced green pepper
- 1/2 cup minced pimiento
- 1 cup minced scallions
- 1 cup minced celery
- 2 Tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 2 slices white bread, without crusts
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup brut champagne
- Salt and pepper to taste
- .
- Champagne Beurre Blanc:
- 1 bottle brut champagne
- 2 cups minced scallions, white portion only
- Strong dash of Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 pounds (6 sticks) unsalted butter
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.Bone the red snapper, leaving the head and tail intact.
Pick over crab for filament, and toss with green pepper, pimiento, scallions, celery, butter, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and thyme. Soak bread in milk, squeeze out the excess, and crumble the soggy bread into crabmeat mixture.
Stuff the snapper with the crab mixture and place in a shallow baking pan. Moisten with champagne, dot with butter, add salt and pepper to taste, and bake for about 30 minutes.
Yield 6 servings
Champagne Beurre Blanc Sauce:
Cut the butter into 1-ounce pieces and keep chilled. Boil the champagne fiercely over a high flame, with the scallions and seasonings, until the pan is very nearly dry. Whisk butter into the hot, damp scallions, still over a high flame. When all the butter is absorbed, remove the pan from the heat, let cool briefly, and strain into a sauce boat. Serve at once.
Yield: 3 cups sauce
Recipe Source: Miss Ruby's American Cooking by Ruth Adam Bronz (Harper & Row)
Reprinted with permission.
