6    Fresh red snapper filets
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Flour for dredging
4 tb Olive oil
3 lg Shallots, finely minced
3 lg Garlic cloves, finely
-chopped
6    Ripe tomatoes, peeled,
-seeded & chopped
2 tb Finely chopped fresh herbs
-(oregano, thyme & chervil)
1    Ripe avocado
1 ts Lime juice
1 ds Tabasco

-OPTIONAL –
1 Beurre Manie*
1 tb Tomato paste

-GARNISH –
Avocado slices
Lime slices
Fresh mint leaves

* Beurre Manie is used to thicken sauces. Combine 1 T flour and 1 T sweet
butter on a small flat plate and blend the mixture with a fork into a very
smooth paste. Roll the paste into a ball. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Season the fish filets with salt and pepper and dredge them lightly with
flour, shaking off the excess. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and
saute the filets over high heat for 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Remove
them carefully to a flameproof baking dish large enough to hold the fish in
one layer. In the same oil, saute the shallots and 2 cloves of garlic. When
the shallots are lightly browned, add the tomatoes and cook the mixture for
2 minutes. Pour the mixture together with the herbs on top of the fish and
cover the disk with buttered wax paper. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30
minutes. While the fish is baking, mash the avocado in a small mixing bowl,
adding lime juice, salt, pepper, a little Tabasco, and the remaining clove
of garlic. Do not mash it too fine; it should have some small chunks left
in it. When the fish is ready, lift it out carefully onto a platter. Place
the baking dish over direct heat and reduce the juices by 1/3. If a Beurre
Manie is used for thickening, add it bit by bit before adding the avocado
puree. Add the optional tomato paste. Lower the heat and beat in the mashed
avocado. Once the avocado puree has been added, do not let the mixture come
to a boil. Correct the seasoning and pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish
with avocado slices, lime slices and mint leaves.