Friday, April 04, 2008

Fish in wine sauce

I don't have too much time lately but I had to invite some friends over -- after all one cannot put dear friends off indefinitely. One must live a little every once in a while, no...? :)

Strapped as I am for time, I did not prepare an overly fancy dinner, the kinds I used to do that made me cook feverishly for two days ahead of time. I put together a nice antipasto platter for appetizer, served in the living room with crackers and soft fresh grain bread. Then for the dinner itself, we had a thick soup made with some turkey stock I had frozen down from some time earlier, a box of frozen mixed veggies that I keep in the freezer (I always buy two 2 kg bags at No Frills, cook them in a little water with a couple of soup cubes, and freeze dozens of small containers of the stuff to be used in soups, as side dishes or in potato salads), and a small batch of freshly made nockerls that I drop directly into the soup, using a handy small device.

For the main course I made the fish, for which I give you the recipe here below. And finally for desert I bought an almond danish ring from the Danish Pastry Shop on Pape Ave, refreshed it in the toaster oven to make it hot and crisp, and served it with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream.


Recipe

Stock
bones, head and tail of fish, skin, too, if you do not want to leave it on the filets
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
5 peppercorns
1 celery stock
a few sprigs of parsley
salt to taste

Fish
1 inch ginger, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1small sticks lemon grass, chopped fine
pinch salt

Sauce
1/2 onion, grated
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup wine
fish stock
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 reaspoon Dijon mustard
lime juice, salt pepper

For the stock, which I made earlier in the day, I chopped the onion and sauteed it in the butter on medium heat. When it started to gain colour, I added the rest of the ingredients and another liter (4 cups) of water. Counting from the time it starts to boil, simmer it on low for 20-25 minutes, removing the scum that keeps forming on the top. When done, take the pot off the heat and let it settle. If the fish was fat, you may want to remove some of that from the top. Then take a fine sieve, or use coffee filter, and sieve the liquid. Don't pour the stock, use a ladle.

For the fish I mixed together the ginger, mustard and lemon grass with a little salt, I rubbed the fish slices with the mix and put them aside.

When the stock was ready, I made the sauce. I sauted the onion in the butter, just until it became glassy looking. Then I added the flour and stirring constantly I added the wine, then enough stock to have the consistency I like (some people like it thinner, others thicker). Finally I added the spices, some lime juice, salt and pepper.

When it was time to serve the main course, I melted some butter in a pan, added the filets, and sauteed them for about 3 minutes per side, turning once, until they flaked easily.

Served it with parsley potatoes and the sauce.