Seared Sea Snapper with Summer Succotash

At no other time of the year do the fields and streams offer such rich flavours. This dish marries land and sea with a focus on healthy and wholesome.

Succotash

4 slices bacon, diced
2 cups (500 mL) fresh shelled fava and lima beans, blanched
2 cups (500 mL) cherry tomatoes
4 corn ears
1 Vidalia onion
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 Tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp (15 mL) quality sherry vinegar
1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh baby arugula
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp. Drain off all but 4 Tbsp (60 mL) of bacon fat and add all ingredients except for the basil and arugula. Cook over moderate heat for approximately 5 minutes or until soft. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in remaining ingredients. Season to taste, but remember the bacon has high sodium already and should provide sufficient salting.

Snapper

6 5-oz (140 g) red snapper fillets
1/4 cup (60 mL) canola oil
1/4 cup (60 mL) assortment fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, marjoram)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup (60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

Toss snapper, canola, herbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron pan until slightly smoking. Remove pan from heat and quickly place 3 snapper fillets in the pan. Cook for 1 minute or until golden around sides and perimeter of snapper. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and allow it to spread over the snapper before quickly turning the fish. Cook for 1 more minute or to your liking. Remove, wrap in foil, and repeat with your remaining three fillets. At its best, snapper should be cooked medium well–slightly firm and crispy on the outside and moist in the centre.

To serve, ladle a small amount of succotash across the centre of the plate, bisecting it with a snapper fillet, before adding a more generous swatch of succotash across the fish.

Serves 6.

source: "Glowbal Thinking", alive #297, July 2007