Pistachio Crusted Black Cod Fillets in a Sicilian Sauce |
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Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 45 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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This recipe has been adapted from FoodNetworks Halibut in Sicilian Sauce. I guess any firm white fleshy fish can be used, but I used Black Cod, also known as Sablefish or Butterfish. I always prefer to buy a whole fish and fillet it myself, as I feel that it is fresher and has a better flavor. Then I can make stock out of the bones and freeze away for later use. The sauce is a savory, salty, sweet combination that combines unlikely ingredients creating a lovely marrying of flavors and could probably be prepared a day ahead. As you prepare the sauce, add salt sparingly, since you are adding salty ingredients toward the end of the preparation. I have served this over risotto before, but it is still excellent without starch-stacking. Ingredients:
4 (4 -6 ounce) black cod fish fillets |
1 cup pistachio nut, ground (or use what ever type of nuts you have on hand) |
1 egg white |
1 tablespoon olive oil |
1/2 fennel bulb, diced |
1 red onion, diced |
12 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced |
4 garlic cloves, mashed to form a paste with salt |
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave |
1 cup white wine |
1/4 cup sultana |
10 green olives, pitted and roughly chopped |
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed |
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted |
2 oranges, juice and zest of |
salt and pepper |
oil (i used peanut oil) |
Directions:
1. Plump sultanas in 1/2 cup of white wine.
2. Dip fish fillets in egg white, then coat with nuts and refrigerate while preparing the sauce.
3. Begin preparing the sauce by heating olive oil in a large skillet. Add diced onion and fennel and saute until softened and onions have begun to caramelize just slightly. Then add mushrooms, garlic paste, and thyme. Salt lightly to draw out the juices and add pepper to taste. Once mushrooms have cooked down, add remainder of wine, orange juice, orange zest, olives, capers, pine nuts and sultanas including the wine in which they had been soaking. Continue to simmer to allow all the flavors to marry.
4. In another skillet, heat about 1 inch of oil until hot enough for frying and gently slide in the fillets. Cook a few minutes on one side, then gently turn and cook a few minutes more. Remove and drain on a paper towel.
5. For plating, spoon a generous amount of sauce onto a plate and top with the fillet.
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