Sautéed Fish With Lemon Cream Sauce

This recipe was originally written for Whiting, which is similar to cod / pollack.    Recipes like this one, which breads the fish, can often be modified to use various types of fish.  This recipe would work great with any mild tasting fish from Halibut to Pollack to Whiting to Trout to even Bluegill and Crappie.    You could even use this recipe for Smelt.  You can substitute Tartar sauce for the Lemon Sauce, if you prefer or have some on hand.  

The preparation of the fish requests that the head is removed which is your preference.   You can remove the skin but should at least consider de-scaling the fish e.g. Crappies and Bluegills.    For small fish, I'd recommend only cleaning, removing the head (if  you  prefer) and scaling if necessary.   For trout, I simple gut and clean the fish while keep the head and skin intact.

Be careful not to over cook less firm fish (Whiting, Bluegill, trout,...) so the flesh does not become mushy.   If the fish is whole, overcooking makes it difficult to separate the bones from the meat, particularly on the smaller fish.

Published: NYTimes February 22, 2010
Time: 45 minutes

2 shallots, finely minced
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups crème fraîche
Salt and black pepper
1 cup fine bread crumbs
2 - 2 1/2 lb whiting/pollack/cod/trout/sole/bluegills/crappies , cleaned, heads removed
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, approximately
1 tablespoon minced chives.

1. Cook shallots, lemon zest and wine in a saucepan over high heat until wine has nearly evaporated. Add crème fraîche and cook on medium-high, watching so it does not boil over, until cream has reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Season bread crumbs with salt and pepper, and spread on a platter. Place fish in a shallow bowl and pour milk over them.

3. Heat 2 tblsp oil (Canola, Peanut or other medium heat oil)  in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Turn fish in milk then dip in crumbs, turning to coat all sides, and place in skillet. Repeat until half the fish are in the skillet. Cook, turning gently with tongs, until lightly browned, 3-5 min.  Don't worry if the fish isn't cooked all the way through since it will be finished in the oven.   Repeat with remaining fish and oil. (Or use 2 skillets at once.)  Transfer brown fish to a cookie cooling rack placed over a baking sheet.    Cooking partly in a pan and finishing in the oven keeps the fish from becoming too oily.

4. When all fish have been browned,  put fish in oven and cook for 5 - 10 mins til flesh is firm and no longer pink.  Amount of time will depend on  thickness of the filets.

5. Gently reheat sauce and fold in chives. Serve alongside fish.

Yield: 4 servings.