Monday, May 16, 2011

Fish with White Wine Sauce, Quinoa and Peas Please...


After a weekend of eating out for every meal (with the exception of a delicious bacon, egg & cheese sandwich on Saturday morning –mmmm, bacon from Eastern Market!), all I wanted to do after work today was make a tasty homemade dinner. 

Several months ago I was at a friend’s cabin for the weekend.  He loves to cook so I knew I was going to be eating well.  He made a great lunch of fish with a white wine butter sauce.  Well, not only do I enjoy cooking, but I also enjoy watching others cook, so I made sure to watch closely when he made the sauce as I knew I’d want to replicate that one at home.  I’ve been trying to eat more fish and this sauce definitely helps me do that!

If you’re familiar with buerre blanc sauce, this is basically the same thing, with just a few tweaks.  Buerre blanc is generally made with white wine, butter, shallots and often lemon juice.  This omits the shallots and adds milk and cream.  Here’s the concoction:

Sauce
½ cup white wine – I have used Sauvignon Blanc and Vinho Verde and both came out well
cup milk – I use 1%
¼ cup light cream
2-3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
Couple shakes of good quality garlic powder
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
S&P to taste

Combine all ingredients except the butter.  Stirring frequently, let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add the butter and allow it to melt in.  Continue stirring and simmering for another 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly (it will coat the back of a spoon).  Add salt and pepper to taste.  If the combination of the wine and lemon juice is a little too tangy you can add a pinch of sugar.  Keep sauce warm until ready to serve.

Fish
2-3 mahi-mahi filets – will be good with any white flaky fish
Olive oil for pan
S&P (optional)

Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat and add filets.  Add a couple shakes of salt & pepper to each filet and let sauté without moving for about 4 minutes.  Flip carefully and cook another 4 minutes or just until cooked through.

Quinoa

Toast ½ cup quinoa in sauce pan with olive oil and ¼ cup minced onion.  After 3-5 minutes when the onions start to become translucent, add ¾ cup water or chicken stock.  Stir, cover and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until tender and liquid has evaporated. 

*Directions on the box of quinoa generally don’t tell you to toast it first, but a friend of mine lived in Bolivia where quinoa is a major crop.  There, they toast it first and she taught me to do the same.  It brings out a great nutty flavor you don’t get by immediately adding the liquid.

To bring everything together…

Steam some peas; they are the perfect veg for this dish.  Plate the fish, quinoa and peas and ladle the sauce over everything!!  This is a deliciously healthy meal, and a perfect way to start the week.

2 comments:

Davis Consumer Law said...

Delish! One I will definitely try!

craveable said...

good seeing you Friday night. This dish looks awesome. I just posted on my blog about fresh peas coming out this past Sunday at the Baltimore's Farmer's Market. Yum. One of the best parts of this time of year!

Happy eating.