One of my first memories of New Orleans was gathering the pecans off the ground at the naval base where my father was stationed, then sitting around a table with my family at night, watching Adventures in Paradise and shelling the seemingly bottomless pile. We had nutpicks, silver utensils with curved sharp tips, for digging out the tiny pieces of shell trapped in the crevices of each nut meat—talk about tedious! But I was always proud to have the cleanest and choicest halves to offer up for my mom’s approval. I was surprised when I went to France to cook at the jazz festival in Nice and learned that I had to bring my own pecans to make pecan pie (the nuts are not indigenous there)! It followed, then, that I would use local nuts to create this New Orleans rendition of the more classic Trout Amandine.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　4 fillets of snapper, redfish, drum, or trout (about 6 ounces each)

　　Salt and pepper

　　1/2 cup pecan pieces

　　1/2 cup flour

　　1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh

　　1 teaspoon chopped orange zest

　　1/2 teaspoon cayenne

　　1 egg

　　1/2 cup milk or buttermilk

　　3 tablespoons oil or clarified butter

　　Citrus Meunière

　　

Citrus Meunière

3 tablespoons butter

　　1 tablespoon each orange juice and lemon juice

　　1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

　　Salt and pepper

　　Hot sauce

　　

Step 1

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Place the pecans, flour, thyme, orange zest, and cayenne in a food processor and pulse until well blended but not powdery. Transfer the pecan mixture to a plate. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together the egg and milk. Dip the fish into the egg mixture, then into the pecan mixture. Press to coat the fillets.

　　

Step 2

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and when hot but not smoking, add the fish. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and cook for 4–5 minutes on each side. Remove to a platter or plates and keep warm while you make the sauce.

　　

Step 3

Spoon finished sauce over fish. Serve immediately.

　　

Citrus Meunière

Step 4

Melt the butter in a pan and let it foam and turn golden brown. Swirl the pan to see the milk solids on the bottom. When it is nice and brown, pour in the juices and swirl the pan to mix. Add the parsley, season with salt, pepper, and a few drops of hot sauce, and swirl.

　　From Crescent City Cooking by Susan Spicer Copyright (c) 2007 by Susan Spicer Published by Knopf.Susan Spicer was born in Key West, Florida, and lived in Holland until the age of seven, when her family moved to New Orleans. She has lived there ever since, and is the owner of two restaurants, Bayona and Herbsaint. This is her first cookbook.Paula Disbrowe was the former Cowgirl Chef at Hart & Hind Fitness Ranch in Rio Frio, Texas. Prior to that, she spent ten years working as a food and travel writer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, and Saveur, among other major publications.