Wasabi Almond Crusted Grouper

My local grocery store sometimes lacks in certain departments. Sometimes, I really wish I could afford to shop at one or two of the 'upscale' food stores; not because of the brand/notoriety of the place, but simply because they are the only places I can sometimes find things I want.

Alas, these pricey stores are so out of my budget, that I can only dream of going actual weekly shopping there.

I stick to the normal food store and sometimes the grocery section of the local Wal-Mart superstore (which is also seriously lacking items on a normal shopping list - I mean, really? They don't even carry sofrito?).

So on a normal trip to a normal (but lower cost) food store chain, I of course can't purchase the fish that I originally wanted for this recipe - halibut. The only acceptable choices in the fresh fish case were flounder or grouper, so I opted for the grouper.

Don't get me wrong... I like grouper! But I had my heart set on halibut. You could use any firm white fish in this preparation. The grouper came out fantastic though, so we weren't disappointed in the least. The fish stayed firm but flaky, and the texture of the almond coating was crunchy and spicy sweet.

As a point of reference, Blue Diamond almonds are what I pulverized in a food processor and used as the coating.

I cut 3 rather large fillets into 6 smaller portions, but you could leave them larger.

Salt and pepper them up.

Coat in flour and shake off excess.

Dip in beaten egg to coat.

Dip into crushed almonds, pressing to coat and stick to fish.

Heat oil in pan and add the fish when it's good and hot.

Cook for a few minutes and flip when the coating gets a nice toasted color. Do the same for the other side.

Serve while the gettin' is good!

Wasabi Almond Crusted Grouper

serves 4

4 grouper fillets
Salt and pepper
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 can wasabi almonds (I used Blue Diamond), ground in food processor
4 tbsp olive oil

Rinse off your fillets and place on paper towel to pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Place fillets in the flour, and coat both sides. Shake off excess.

Dip the fillets in the egg and thoroughly coat all sides.

Place fillets on top of crumbs, and coat every side, pressing crumbs firmly on fish. Place fillets on clean plate.

In a large skillet, heat oil, over medium high heat. When oil is hot, place fillets in skillet. Cook about 3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the fish) and brown all sides until dark golden brown.

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