Pan Broiled Amberjack with Orange Apricot Butter Sauce

This is the entree for the previously discussed, Floridian Citrus Seafood Trio. This recipe was born from our love of the flavor combination heat and sweet. Fish is a delicate canvas on which to paint an experimental sauce, glaze, rub or breading. When we create a fish recipe we take in consideration the type of fish and its natural flavor and we try to cook it in a way in which the flavors will be enhanced. Our approach can be compared to a woman applying makeup. She will apply a combination of products to her face in specific shades and amounts with the goal of enhancing her natural beauty. If she applies so much makeup to her face that she no longer looks like herself, then she has failed. In the same fashion, if we create a sauce, glaze, rub or breading to a fish in a way that the natural taste of the fish is lost, then we have failed. This is a sauce that was amazing on amberjack but I would also suggest using it on mahi mahi.

SERVES 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lb amberjack, 2 fillets
• 1 stick butter, cut in half
• 1.5 teaspoons Marie Sharp's orange pulp habanero sauce (here)
• .5 cup orange juice
• 1.5 teaspoons ginger, ground
• .25 cup white wine (we prefer Riesling)
• 6 dried apricots, chopped
• handful sliced almonds
  

Cookware/Utensils:

• paper plate
• paper towel
• large skillet or saute pan
• small skillet or sauce pan
• wooden spoon
• fish turner

Place amberjack on paper plate and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Apply ginger to both sides of fish. Over medium heat place half the butter in each pan. Add orange juice, hot sauce, wine and apricots to small pan stir continuously. Once the butter melts in the large pan, add fish. Cook for 6 or 7 minutes on each side. Remove fish from pan and plate. Pour sauce over the grilled amberjack and sprinkle almonds over fish. Serve with confidence--this is delicious!

***The other components of the Floridian Citrus Seafood Trio include Pan Broiled Amberjack with an Orange Apricot Butter Sauce and Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale (blog posts listed separately). The salad, fish and beer all centered around the idea of the orange. The salad and fish shared almond as a common ingredient. This trio is Floridan for its use of the orange, as the official state flower is the orange blossom and the official state beverage is orange juice. The seafood used are also both Floridian in nature. Amberjack is found in great numbers swimming in the water surrounding Florida enjoying the reefs, rock outcrops and wrecks. Gulf shrimp is caught off the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Since we live on the Gulf Coast and know that our shrimp came from the local fishermen who docked their boats in our community this morning, we know that our shrimp shared our home state.