![Grilled Halloumi and Zucchini With Salsa Verde](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/08/16/multimedia/LH-grilled-halloumi-and-zucchini-hjqp/LH-grilled-halloumi-and-zucchini-hjqp-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Snapper Escovitch
![Snapper Escovitch](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/07/27/dining/mp-snapper-escovitch/mp-snapper-escovitch-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1teaspoon garlic powder
- ½teaspoon ground ginger
- 1teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1teaspoon black pepper
- ½cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
- 4(6-ounce) skin-on snapper fillets or 2 pounds whole red snapper
- 1dry bay leaf
- ½teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 3small bell peppers (red, yellow, green or one of each), thinly sliced
- 1medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1medium carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1Scotch bonnet chile, pierced
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1teaspoon allspice berries or pickling spice
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- ¾cup red wine vinegar
Preparation
- Step 1
Mix together 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, garlic powder, ginger, salt and pepper. Season the fish with the mixture.
- Step 2
In a large skillet over medium, heat oil until really hot but not smoking, about 3 to 5 minutes, and add the fish flesh-side down. Cook until the flesh gets a little color, about 5 minutes. Flip, then continue cooking until the skin is crisp. Remove fish and set aside on a serving platter. Drain oil, leaving about 2 to 3 tablespoons in the skillet.
- Step 3
Return the skillet to the stove. Add the bay leaf and fresh ginger, and sauté over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Step 4
Add bell peppers, onion, carrots, Scotch bonnet chile, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, allspice and the remaining thyme leaves, and continue cooking, stirring, for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Step 5
Add vinegar, and stir to combine all the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes, until the vegetables soften but still retain bite, and spoon over fish. (Leave the allspice berries or pickling spice in the topping. Simply eat around them.)
- You can also turn this into a sandwich. Mix together some mayonnaise, fresh chopped cilantro and lime to taste. Then spread that sauce evenly onto a soft hero bread or crusty French bread, and add the fillets. Serve with sweet plantain fries.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
score the fish skin to prevent it from curling. this was delicious!
I'm guessing powdered allspice can be used in place of allspice berries. If I'm wrong, please enlighten me!
Made this as per the recipe - the flavors are wonderful but it felt like the red wine vinegar overwhelmed the sauce in the end. I would likely use a lesser amount or maybe consider white vinegar instead of red wine vinegar since it’s generally less pungent. Only other feedback is that the prep work (thinly slicing all the vegetables, grating the ginger and garlic, etc) was quite time consuming and effectively doubled the cooking time. Oh well!
Delicious, light and flavourful, especially on a hot summers evening. I cut back on the vinegar to ½ c.
Such great flavors and overall easy recipe to make. Since making for the first time, we have enjoyed 3 more times in just 2 weeks! THAT good!
Made this twice now. The first time we served over rice, & it was fantastic. Second time, tried in a sandwich, & it was not as great. Both times I threw in a few shakes of habanero hot sauce in lieu of a whole habanero (none at our co-op) & 1/2 tsp ground allspice. Both times I used a different type of fish than what is called for - halibut the first time, rockfish the second. Did not use as much oil as the recipe calls for because I had no skin to crisp but did use the full amount of vinegar.
I'd strongly suggest taking out the scotch bonnet chile before serving...
I reversed the steps and made the vegetables and sauce first. I used a glass baking dish to keep them warmed in the oven while I made the fish. Used Golden tile fish and dusted the filets with Wondra flour before placing them in skillet. It gave the fish a golden finish to serve alongside the vegetables over barley. Used 1/4 cup of white vinegar. So good!!!
I’m not sure what to do with the scotch bonnet pepper? The recipe says pierced? So do you cook it whole and then pull it out to serve? Why not chop it up and season to taste? I don’t know that much about the heat of different chilies and they always make me nervous so asking for some guidance here.
NameKathy G: Scotch bonnets are pretty spicy. Piercing them allows some of the heat to escape without overpowering the dish with spiciness. So, yes, pull it out to serve.
Pretty authentic, especially if you have fresh thyme.
This was one of the best things I have made over the past year! decreased the amount of vinegar as others suggested. Also made some leftovers into a sandwich and it was fantastic!
Delicious, light and flavourful, especially on a hot summers evening. I cut back on the vinegar to ½ c.
score the fish skin to prevent it from curling. this was delicious!
Made this as per the recipe - the flavors are wonderful but it felt like the red wine vinegar overwhelmed the sauce in the end. I would likely use a lesser amount or maybe consider white vinegar instead of red wine vinegar since it’s generally less pungent. Only other feedback is that the prep work (thinly slicing all the vegetables, grating the ginger and garlic, etc) was quite time consuming and effectively doubled the cooking time. Oh well!
Just tried this. Very tasty. I thought I had pickling spice but found none, so I didn't get to try that. A lot of liquid with all the vinegar - would cut back to 1/2 cup. Serving with rice is a good idea.
Make a side of rice to soak up all the delicious sauce! Yum
Please explain what to do with the allspice berries or pickling spices. Looking at the recipe instructions I don’t see where they are I mixed in it’s only noted to avoid eating them.
Step 4 calls for allspice.
Sounds a little like a riff on Snapper Veracruz. Eager to try it.
I'm guessing powdered allspice can be used in place of allspice berries. If I'm wrong, please enlighten me!
Dried allspice berries are as simple to find as ground allspice. I am not sure if I would do a 1 to 1 measure, allspice is very strong/intense.
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