Crispy-skin snapper with oyster stew. Serves 6

Oyster Stew

- 50gm        Butter

- 1 Cup        Shallots - fine dice

- ½ Cup      Celery – fine dice

- ½ Cup      Sweet Sherry

- 36            Shucked Oysters, plus liquor

- 1 Cup       Chicken Stock

- 2 Cups      Cream

-                   Tabasco sauce, to taste

To cook and serve

- 6 x 100gm     Snapper fillets, skin on and scored

-                         Flakey Sea Salt and Fresh Black Pepper

-                         Cooking oil, for frying

-                         Al Brown & Co Lemon Fennel infused Olive Oil (optional)

-                         Lemon wedges, to serve

Take a heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium low heat. Add the butter, along with the shallots and celery. Sweat for twenty minutes until soft and translucent.

Turn the heat up a little, pour in the sherry, let it bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, then strain off the liquor from the oysters and add that to the sherry

Bring the saucepan back up to the boil and pour in the chicken stock. Simmer and reduce for 10 minutes, stir in the cream and cook for a further 5 minutes or so.

Now add 12 of the shucked oysters to the pan (refrigerate the remainder until serving). Cook the oysters for 1-2 minutes, remove the plump, cooked oysters with a slotted spoon, along with about 1 cup of liquid, and place in a bowl. Using a stick blender, process the oysters and reserved liquid until smooth, then return to the pan.

Add the Tabasco to taste, then cool and refrigerate until required.

Pour the oyster stew into a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring up to a simmer.

Place a cast iron skillet or similar heavy bottomed pan over high heat. Season the snapper skin liberally with salt and a little pepper.

Once the pan is hot add a little oil then place the snapper portions, skin side down, in the pan. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes until the edges are golden and the skin becomes crisp. Turn the fish and cook, depending on how thick the fillets are for a further minute or so. Once the fish is just cooked through, remove from the pan and keep warm.

When the oyster stew is simmering, drop in the remaing shucked oysters. Let them plump up for a couple of minutes.

To serve, ladle the oyster stew into warm bowls, then top with a piece of snapper, skin side up. Spoon over a little olive oil and serve with the lemon wedges on the side. Eat now.