FERNANDINA FARE
Tested recipes of local favorites

PESCADO A LA VERACRUZANA
(Fish with tomatoes, capers and olives)
FROM: Authentic Mexican - Regional Cooking From the Heart of Mexico

1-1/2 lbs. of boneless, skinless meaty fish filets like red snapper or halibut
Fresh squeezed lime juice and a little salt
1 TBL. olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 15-oz. cans good-quality tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
20 meaty green olives (preferably manzanillo), pitted and roughly chopped
2 TBLS. large Spanish capers
2 medium pickled chiles jalapeños, stemmed, seeded and sliced into strips
1 TBL. pickling juices from the chiles
1-1/2 tsps. mixed dried herbs (such as marjoram and thyme)
2 TBLS. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus a few sprigs for garnish
3 bay leaves
ground pepper
1 cup tomato juice from canned tomatoes

    Rinse the filets, lay them in a noncorrosive dish and sprinkle with lime juice and salt. Cover and
refrigerate about an hour.
    In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until
golden, 7 or 8 minutes.
    While the onion is cooking, lightly drain the tomatoes, reserving the juice for later, and cut into
1-inch pieces.
    Add the garlic to the lightly browned onion and stir for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes and
any stray juices from the cutting process. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce some of the liquid.
    Divide the olives and capers between two small bowls, and set one aside to use as garnish. To
the other bowl, add the jalapeño strips, pickling juice, mixed herbs, bay leaves and chopped
parsley.
    When the tomatoes have cooked down, add the mixture of pickled things, herbs and spices, along with the reserved tomato juice. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
    Fifteen minutes before serving, remove the filets from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to
400 degrees. Place the filets in a single layer in a lightly greased baking dish. Spoon the sauce over
them, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the fish just flakes when pressed
firmly with a fork at the thickest part.
    Serve the fish on warm plates with lots of sauce, garnished with the reserved capers and olives
and a sprig of parsley.

MAGGIE'S CHICKEN
FROM: Maggie Schwertner

4 to 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 8-oz. container sour cream (can use light sour cream)
1 8-oz. pkg. package Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing
4 TBLS. butter

    Place the chicken breasts in an oven-proof pan to fit. Spread the sour cream over the chicken.
Place stuffing mix over the sour cream. (Depending on the size of the pan and the chicken breasts,
you may not need to use all of the stuffing.) Top the chicken with pieces of the 4 TBLS. of butter.
    Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.

(We tested this delicious and easy recipe in an 11" x 17" pan with four chicken breasts and
had about 1 cup of the stuffing mix left over. Also, this worked great in a toaster oven!)