“GRILLED RED SNAPPER WITH A HONEY BUTTER SAUCE” 

Talking about a really tasty meal here. Dinner called for a marinated red snapper and lobster tails served with a sauce made from white wine, butter, honey, and parsley leaves. Served with slowly cooked cabbage with asparagus as sides. “GRILLED RED SNAPPER WITH A HONEY BUTTER SAUCE” was a home-run; straight out of the ballpark! Everybody loved dinner this evening; as I’m sure your family will too!

Remember, we are talking red snapper here; the recipe for the lobster tails will follow in another post. As for the cabbage and asparagus; that also belongs in another post which I will eventually create a link for very soon. The reason for this is that I have read that we are only suppose to put one recipe per post.

“THE INGREDIENTS”

This evening dinner called for a marinade of the following; 1/4 cup of cooking white wine, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon chile powder, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed oregano, 1 crushed garlic, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon crushed cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grounded black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 bay leaf per fillet, and a tablespoon of McCormick’s Grill Mates “Applewood Rub.” I combined the rough seasoning and grinded them fine except the bay leafs and mixed everything together.

For the sauce; I combined a tablespoon of cooking white wine, 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed parsley leaves, and 1 tablespoon honey in a grill proof sauce pan. Yes, I warmed that up on the grilling grates while cooking the red snapper and lobster. I used this mixture to lightly coat both the red snapper and lobster in the last two minutes of cooking time. “Ouch; talking about sweeeeet!”

The recipe for the red snapper was inspired from a cooking book I bought while living in Germany called “Grilling. Where There’s Smoke There’s Flavor” by Eric Treuille and Birgit Erath. An excellent grilling cookbook which I felt should be mentioned. I used most of their seasoning recommendations, but added more to the list to fit my taste buds. “It’s great being the Chef!”

“AS FOR THE RED SNAPPER”

As for the red snapper, combine all ingredients and mix well. Rinse the red snappers under cold running water and pat dry. Add the snappers to the mix and marinade until the grill is ready for them (normally 25-35 minutes). “In case someone is wondering, I also marinaded the lobster tails in this same mixture.”

Today’s fire took an additional 10 minutes for me; must be the weather or the mesquite charcoal I was using. It is a local “Cowboy Brand” of mesquite coals. A little tougher to start, but once the coals get started they are good; and gives off that rich strong mesquite smell and flavor. I also added alder wood chips which I had soaking in water for 30 minutes; for that extra punch in flavor.

AT THE GRILL…

I grilled the red snapper and lobster tails for the same amount of time (just in case someone is wondering), which was a total of eight minutes directly over hot coals. I started with the skin up and the shells of the lobster facing up as well and flipped the red snapper and lobster tails over after four minutes had gone by. Grilled an additional four minutes basting with the honey-butter sauce in the last two minutes. I reserved the leftover sauce to be used for dunking the lobster as well. This was a very super tasty dinner!