Whole Roasted Red Snapper with Herbs dinner

So, dinner turned out to be a great success.  I really wanted to do something that was visually appealing as well as delish so I found this big, beautiful 2-1/2 lb Red Snapper at Central Market and had them scale it & remove the gills but left the head & tail on (somewhat of a disappointment to find out they did not do a good job scaling my fish). 

 So I go about my shopping looking for fresh, not dry bay leaves (they exist? I've never seen them fresh) and Marjoram.  Leave it to Central Market to have them both!

So I move forward getting the rest of my items: fresh thyme, oregano, parsley and lemons.  I have small bottles of white wine here at home as well as tons of garlic and olive oils.

So here are the ingredients you need:

2 1/2 lb Red Snapper (you can use bass), scaled, gutted & gills removed
Kosher Salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 lemon slices
2 fresh bay leaves
1 bundle each of: fresh thyme, oregano, marjoram & parsley
1 bundle of green onions
6-8 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 cups white wine -OR- (as in my case) 1-1/2 cups white wine & 3/4 cup seafood stock

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make 3 diagonal slices about 1/2" deep on each side of your fish. Salt & oil generously.

Lay your prepped items to the side:

These small bottles of Sutter Homes wines are fabulous if you're like me & not a wine drinker.  They are sold in 4pks and are perfect for cooking so you don't have to buy a bottle & have unnecessary open bottles in your fridge going bad.

Season the inside of your fish with salt and olive oil.  Place 4 lemon slices, the bay leaves, bundle of mixed herbs (what i did was take the bundles apart and split them each into 2 piles to create 2 separate mixed bundles), green onions and 3-4 garlic cloves inside the body cavity.

Line a sheet tray (I used a large jelly roll pan) with aluminum foil and arrange the remaining assorted herbs, lemon slices & garlic in the center of your tray & lay your fish on top.

 Fold the aluminum foil up around the sides of a fish to create like a baking dish.

Add the white wine & seafood stock and place in your preheated oven and roast until fish is cooked through about 30-35 min. (mine cooked for 39 min)

Voila!  The snapper came out perfectly cooked and so very moist and tender.  It had such a great flavor and the loft smelled amazing!  I served with Near East Long Garlic & Herb Long Grain & Wild Rice.

I ran my changes through my recipe analyzer and based on the usage of approx 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil used on the fish, here are the numbers I got:

Calories: 360
Fat: 10.4g
Carb: 3.1g
Protein: 50.4

***The recipe I found (courtesy of Chef Anne Burrell) states this is a 2 serving recipe!  That means that one side per person.  The above info is based on a 6 serving portion because it's a pretty big fish; however, if you're interested in the numbers based on 2 portions, here you go:

Calories:  1,080
Fat:  31.3g
Carb: 9.4g
Protein: 151.2

Either way you look at it, the fat to calorie ratio is under the recommended so you can't go wrong with this one! I hope ya'll enjoy the ideas and the food!  Tomorrow, I am making chili, and there isn't really anything special about my chili, lol.

Happy Eating!!