Catch & Cook – Baked Stuffed Snapper – Vermillion Snapper
Eugene L. 11.30.24
So, I showed you all the semi-tedious act of butterflying out a vermillion snapper, and now I’m going to show you one of my favorite ways to cook a butterflied snapper. Taking that almost boneless vermillion snapper we are going to make oven baked stuffed snapper. This is a very easy recipe to make with the seafood stuffing being very easy to make with ingredients most will already have at home. While I used gulf shrimp for the recipe this time, you can use other seafood options you like as well such as lump crab meat, or bay scallops. Most seafood will work as long as they aren’t too wet, so if you want to use oysters or clams, I’d recommend parcooking them first to pull out the moisture first. Also while I am using a vermillion snapper this time, this will work with any smaller snapper just as well, honestly it would work well with any smaller white-fleshed fish you can eat with the skin on.
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Baked Stuffed Snapper Ingredients
- Boneless Butterflied Snapper – Vermillion Snapper
- Peeled Gulf Shrimp
- Mayonaise
- Panko Bread Crumbs
- Capers
- Worcester Sauce
- Dijon Mustard
- Hot Sauce
- Butter
- Creole Seasoning
The first step to make the baked stuffed snapper is to make the seafood stuffing first. We want to start with the stuffing base first, made of mayo, bread crumbs, and sauces. You are going to go about 1 part mayo to 1 part panko breadcrumbs. With those two in, just add in a dash each of Worcester, mustard, and hot sauce. Mix that all up well then add in some diced capers and creole seasoning to taste. Once you get the flavor to your liking you can add in your seafood to the stuffing base. In this case, I used chopped-up gulf shrimp, like I said earlier you can pick whatever seafood you like though. I have made this with lump crab, bay scallops, and even imitation crab to great success. Mix it up well so the shrimp/seafood is incorporated well and put it to the side for later.
Now that we got the seafood stuffing ready, it is time to do a little bit of final prep work on the butterflied vermillion snapper before adding the stuffing. Give it a once over to make sure you didn’t miss any small pin bones. If there are still pin bones in the snapper, take a pair of fish bone tweezers or even a clean pair of pliers, and remove the pin bones. First, find the pin bones, usually in the set in the thickest part of the fillet, by running your finger across the meat. Once you find them you want to firmly grab the pin bones while holding down the meat with your other hand. Then give it a firm pull straight up to pull out the pin bones without tearing up the fillets.
Once you have finished deboning the snapper, season both sides of the fish with your seasoning of choice, mine being Tony’s creole seasoning. Don’t be stingy with it, make sure you really get both sides well so the snapper itself isn’t bland. Also at this point it would be a good time to start preheating your oven to 375f.
Now that the butterflied vermillion snapper is ready. grab your seafood stuffing and put in decent amount of the stuffing into the snapper. Spread it over meat evenly throughout the butterflied snapper. You want the stuffing to be an even thickness so you get a consistent back on the stuffed snapper, if you go too thick with the stuffing in one area you might have it still raw in the center in one part of the fish while other parts are over baked.
Take your stuffed snapper and place it on an aluminum-lined baking tray. Then place a few pats of butter on top of it right before sticking the tray into your preheated oven. Cooking time can vary from 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of your stuffed snapper. Just keep an eye on it after 15 minutes in the oven, it should be done once the thickest part of the meat goes opaque. Once it’s done, pull it from the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes. This will ensure the stuffing in the very center of your stuffed snapper is cooked through as the residual heat holds it over before serving.
Once you let your baked stuffed snapper finish resting, serve it with whatever sides you prefer and some slices of lemon, and enjoy. This is an almost boneless way to cook a whole fish, with there still being bones in the collars and the very base of the tail.
