Potato Wrapped Snapper With Creamy Leeks from Flying Fish Cafe on Disney’s Boardwalk

Flying Fish Cafe's Potato Wrapped Snapper With Creamy Leeks.

Who doesn’t like nice surprises wrapped in neat little packages — even in the kitchen? This week we’re sharing a recipe from the 2002 recipe files for Flying Fish Cafe’s Potato Wrapped Snapper With Creamy Leeks. To slice the potatoes as required in this recipe a gadget called a mandoline is needed. The hand-operated machine has various adjustable blades for thin to thick slicing and for julienne and french-fry cutting. Mandolines have folding legs and come in both wood- or stainless steel-frame models. They’re used to cut firm vegetables and fruits (such as potatoes and apples) with uniformity and precision. On most machines, the food is held in a metal carriage on guides so that fingers aren’t in danger. Top of the line French mandolines can cost as much as $200. But you can find $20 mandolines that will serve the home cook’s needs just fine. The restaurant is located on Disney’s Boardwalk.

FLYING FISH CAFE’S POTATO WRAPPED SNAPPER WITH CREAMY LEEKS

Yield: 4 servings.

4 (6-ounce) skinless red snapper fillets
2 large russet potatoes
2 ounces (1/4 cup) potato starch (see note)
2 bunches leeks, whites only, sliced
1/2 of a bunch of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces (1/2 cup) heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup canola oil
4 ounces red-wine reduction (see note)

1. Season fish with salt, pepper. Cut potatoes into rectangles. Thinly slice potatoes. Soak in cold water; drain. Lay out about 4 (12-inch-by-12-inch) pieces of plastic wrap. Place 6 to 8 slices of potato on sheets. Sprinkle with starch. Put fish in center. Bring plastic over fish to wrap potato around it.
2. In oven-safe, nonstick pan, heat oil to 300 F. Unwrap fish. Place in pan. When golden, turn. Put pan in 350 F oven. Cook 10 minutes. Drain. Season with salt, pepper. In pan, melt butter with thyme. Add leeks. Cook until soft. Season with salt, pepper. Add cream. Place fish on leeks. Finish with red-wine reduction.
Recipe notes: Potato starch (potato flour) is available in gourmet and Asian stores.
How to make the sauce: A reduction sauce can be made by heating oven to 500 F. In pot over low heat, cook 2 diced onions, 1 sliced carrot, 1 head of garlic (halved), 1/2 of a leek in 1 1/2 ounces olive oil. Season with salt. In oven-proof pan, heat 1 ounce of chicken bones in 1 ounce of olive oil. When bones discolor, place pan in oven. Roast until golden. Drain fat. Add 1 bottle of cabernet to vegetables. Cook until reduced in volume by half. Add 1 gallon chicken stock, 1/2 gallon veal stock, roasted bones to vegetables. Bring to simmer. Reduce in volume, skimming often. Simmer 1 hour, 20 minutes. Pour through fine mesh. Return liquid to heat. Cook until reduced to desired consistency. Season with salt, pepper and additional wine to taste. Pass through strainer again.