INGREDIENTS
¼ cup minced shallots
4 6-8 ounce white fish fillets, such as snapper
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry white wine
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons bottled clam juice
2/3 cup fresh Hale grapefruit juice
¼ cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
¼ teaspoon crumbled dried tarragon (or 2 teaspoons fresh, minced)
Fresh Hale grapefruit sections
PREPARATION
Sprinkle the shallots into a buttered shallow baking dish (large enough to hold fish fillets in one layer). Arrange the fish on the shallots, skin side down, and pour the wine and clam juice over them. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and bake them (covered with a buttered piece of waxed paper) in the center of a 425 degree over (preheated) for 10-12 minutes or until just cooked through. Transfer fillets with spatula to a platter and keep warm and covered. Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve into small saucepan, adding the grapefruit juice, and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. Add the cream and boil again until it is reduced by half, then reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter, adding it gradually, just until melted and the consistency of thin hollandaise. Whisk in the tarragon and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the fillets with slotted spatula to each plate, skin side down. Pour ¼ or the sauce over each fillet and arrange grapefruit sections around each plate.
YIELD: 4 servings.