2016 Chef to Watch Lyle Broussard’s menu at Jack Daniel’s Bar & Grill at L’Auberge Lake Charles features bold barbecue dishes and fresh Louisiana seafood, like the amberjack he uses in this recipe for Pan Seared Amberjack. He makes his own tasso—a highly spiced chunk of cured meat—which he pairs with shrimp, smoked Cheddar grits, house-made Louisiana-style barbecue sauce, and Creole slaw for his popular shrimp and grits.
Lyle’s advice for this Pan Seared Amberjack is to get your fish completely dry and your pan really hot. “What a lot of people get wrong when they’re searing fish is that it sticks to the pan. I actually take the back of my knife and scrape all the moisture off the top.”

Pan Seared Amberjack with Warm Potato and Crawfish Salad
2016-08-16 06:00:19

Serves 4
Ingredients
- 24 ounces Abita Bayou Bootlegger (see note)
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup cane syrup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons diced yellow onion
- ¾ pound diced and blanched Yukon gold potatoes
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1½ teaspoons ground black pepper, divided
- ¾ pound cooked crawfish tails
- 4 (6-ounce) amberjack fillets
- 4 ounces chopped fresh rosemary
- 4 ounces chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1½ cups clarified butter
- 3 ounces fresh arugula
- ½ cup chopped tomato
- 4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
- Garnish: fresh arugula, fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat Abita Bayou Bootlegger, vinegar, and cane syrup over medium-high heat; cook, stirring frequently, until reduced to a thick syrup.
- In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook until tender. Add potato, capers, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; cook until potato is tender. Add crawfish, and cook until heated through. Set aside.
- Pat amberjack fillets dry with paper towels. Season with rosemary, thyme, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add butter, and cook until hot. Add amberjack, and baste with butter from pan until cooked three-fourths through. Set aside.
- Add arugula and tomato to potato salad. To serving plates, add potato salad, and top with Parmesan and amberjack. Drizzle plates with cane vinegar syrup. Garnish with arugula and lemon juice, if desired.
Notes
- Root beer may be substituted.
Louisiana Cookin https://www.louisianacookin.com/