Ingredients:

* 1 big bunch green onions or two small bunches.

* 0-10 hot fresh chilies. You can use as many or as few as suites your palate. As this dish is tropically inspired, the chilies work well here though. Use habaneros or scotch bonnets if you can get them, but one should probably be enough!

* Juice of 1 lime

* 1/2 tsp or more salt

* 1/4tsp dried thyme or 1 tsps fresh thyme.

* 1 clove of garlic

* 4 good sized white fish fillets (use whatever is fresh and great, Atlantic cod, tilapia, sea bass, haddock, whatever!)

* A bit of flour for dredging

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender (except the fish!) and puree until smooth. Taste for saltiness and add more salt if needed. It should be both a little bit salty and sour, as these tastes are going to compliment the mild flavor of any white fish fillet.

2. Sprinkle a bit of salt on the fillets and coat in flour. This is just to get a dry surface for the herb paste to adhere to, so shake off all the excess.

3. Smear the herb paste all over the fish; get as much on as you can. Gently cover the herbed fish with more flour, covering the herbs completely in flour.

4. Heat up a good non stick fry pan over medium with a couple generous spoonfuls of vegetable oil, and when hot, gently add your fish fillets. The frying time will depend on the thickness of the fish; an inch of fish will take about 3 minutes per side.

Note: This is a tropical inspired herb crust that will taste great with almost any fish. You can adjust the acidity in the herb crust to match the oiliness of the fish. The directions given here are for any mild white fish, but if you want to use it on an oilier fish like a mackerel or salmon, just increase the lime juice a little bit.

Serve with lime wedges and with any tropical chutneys or sauces or fruit salsas. This goes well with Caribbean rice and peas, but really will go well with any simply prepared vegetable sides. Try buttery new potatoes, corn on the cob and a mango salsa!

The spicy/sour/herby flavor of these fillets will have even people who swear they don’t like fish raving.

Ingredients:

(Serves 6)

Sauce:

* 1 cup dry white wine

* 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

* 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

* 1 teaspoon minced shallot

* 1 clove garlic , minced

* 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves , chopped

* 24 tablespoons (3 sticks) cold, unsalted butter , cut into tablespoons

* 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

* 1 teaspoon salt

* Pinch freshly ground pepper

Rice:

* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

* 1/2 medium onion , chopped

* 1 stalk celery , diced

* 3 small cloves garlic , minced

* 1 cup long grain rice

* 4 green onions , thinly sliced

* 2 medium tomatoes , diced

* 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

* 1 can chicken broth

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 3 small dried bay leaves

Fish:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil , plus more for greasing

* 6 red snapper or flounder or sea bass fillets, skin removed

* 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

* 2 lemons , cut into 6 wedges each

* Flat-leaf parsley sprigs, for garnish

Method:

To make sauce: In a small saucepan, combine wine, lemon juice, vinegar, shallot, garlic and thyme. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-high and continue to boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add butter, 4 tablespoons at a time, whisking until just melted. Butter should emulsify and thicken sauce slightly. (If the first batch melts too quickly and thins out sauce, turn heat to low, then continue.) Whisk in lemon zest, salt and pepper and set sauce aside.

To make rice: Meanwhile, in a 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice, green onions, tomatoes and parsley. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in 1/4 cup water, chicken broth, salt and bay leaves, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and let stand.

To make fish: Preheat grill or grill pan; grease with olive oil. Brush snapper fillets with olive oil and sprinkle with Creole seasoning. Grill fillets over medium-high heat until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Grill lemon wedges on medium-high heat until marked on both sides, about 30 seconds per side.

Reheat sauce over low heat. Do not allow it to simmer or the sauce will separate. Remove bay leaves from rice, then spoon rice onto plates. Top with snapper fillets and sauce. Garnish with grilled lemon wedges and parsley sprigs.