Categories: Fish 
      Yield: 6 servings 
  
      6    Fresh red snapper filets 
           Salt 
           Freshly ground white pepper 
           Flour for dredging 
      4 T  Olive oil 
      3 lg Shallots, finely minced 
      3 lg Garlic cloves, finely 
           -chopped 
      6    Ripe tomatoes, peeled, 
           -seeded & chopped 
      2 T  Finely chopped fresh herbs 
           -(oregano, thyme & chervil) 
      1    Ripe avocado 
      1 t  Lime juice 
      1 ds Tabasco 
 
----------------------------------OPTIONAL---------------------------------- 
      1    Beurre Manie* 
      1 T  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.