Recipe: Healthily Twisted Fish Meunière

A friend who came over for lunch today is currently eating extremely healthily and running marathons, so I planned a light healthy summery menu : A healthy twist on the Fish Meuniere, Roasted Chicken with Duxelles Stuffing, Pasta in a Chargrilled Red Pepper Sauce and Stir Fried Sesame Veggies. Dessert was freshly cut chilled Mangoes. The Badamis that I found in the market were quite tasty and sweet (or so the hubby said - I'm not a fruit person & I only eat raw mangoes not ripe ones)

The fish that I cooked today was a mix of inspirations from a classic Meuniere (Fish dredged in flour and fried - served with a butter, lemon and parsley sauce - French Origin - Meunière=Millers Wife) and a Gremolata (Parsley + Garlic + Lemon - Italian/Milanese in origin) I did change the entire methodology of these classics, but the inspiration came from both these flavour combinations and it worked very well.

Its quick to prep and also to cook. If you use frozen fish, it will take a little longer to cook, because the fish will let out water, but exercise a little patience, it will be worth it.

Ingredients:
750 gms of Firm White Fish - I used Basa Fillets - Clean & Dry

1 tsp olive oil (since Basa is a non fatty fish)
Zest and juice of 2 small limes (Indian limes are really tiny - smaller than a table tennis ball - so adjust to taste)
handful of parsely leaves - chopped fine
5-6 garlic cloves - chopped fine (I didn't chop mine too fine, because we like the taste of fried garlic)
salt to taste
a dash of freshly ground pepper - to season

Method:
Lightly pound together the parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.
Make an emulsion with the olive oil, lemon juice and grated zest

Marinate the fish in this (I left it overnight, but 15-30 minutes should be good too)

Fry gently on both sides in a hot pan and serve hot.
There is no need to add any oil in the pan, since there is oil in the marinade.
How long you fry each side depends on the thickness of your fish slices.
Watch the colour and texture of the fish in the pan - it is the best indication of  whether it is ready to be served or not.

I served this as an appetiser today and so I cut the fish into smaller pieces. You can slice a fillet in half and serve it as a main course too.

Kim's tips:
If you want to serve a sauce with the fish - add a little butter to the pan you fried the fish in, just before it turns brown, add some parsley and lemon juice and take it off the fire. Serve as a dressing with the fish.

Next Time I make this, I'm going to add some capers to the marinade too. I think the sharp salty flavours of capers will go excellently with this dish.

And this is what today's lunch looked like.

Pasta in a chargrilled red pepper sauce
Roasted Chicken with Duxelle stuffing
Healthily twisted fish meuniere
Stir fried sesame veggies