Arlin Wasserman leads the Sustainable Business Leadership Council at the Culinary Institute of America and is the founder of Changing Tastes, which works with food and agriculture companies as well as venture and philanthropic investors to realize new opportunities that bring together sustainability, public health and culinary trends. During a presentation he made at the Worlds of Healthy Flavors Conference he suggested that one way the food service industry can deal with overfishing is to branch out and serve more than the “four favorite†species – tuna, cod, salmon, and shrimp. This is wise advice for the home cook, too.
So this week I made five different fish dishes and did not use any of the favorite four. I turned, as I always do, to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch pocket guide (they also have an app) for advice about best choices and good alternatives, and bought my fish from a fishmonger at my farmers’ market, from Trader Joe’s, and from Whole Foods. I avoided farmed fish, especially farmed fish from far away. The species I cooked included local Pacific sole, mahi mahi, arctic char, and Pacific halibut. Other good seafood choices are clams and mussels, striped bass, sardines, and rainbow trout.
Oven-Poached Pacific Sole With Lemon Caper Sauce
A fish piccata of sorts, this dish is easy to make and the sauce is perfect for delicate fish like sole or flounder, as well as more robust fish like swordfish.
1 1/2 pounds Pacific sole or flounder fillets
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
1 cup dry white wine (you can also use rosé; the sauce will have a pink hue)
For the sauce
1 plump garlic clove, minced or puréed (more to taste)
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil or butter one or two baking dishes large enough to accommodate the fish fillets in one layer. Lay the fish in the dish(es) and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small or medium skillet and add the shallot. Cook, stirring, until tender and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the wine to the pan, bring to a boil, and pour the wine and shallots over the fish. Return the skillet to the stove (make sure the heat is off) for later use. Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the fish is opaque and pulls apart easily with a fork.
3. While the fish is in the oven, whisk together the garlic, capers, lemon juice and olive oil. You can also mash the garlic in a mortar and pestle and work in the capers, lemon juice and olive oil, though I prefer the capers chopped, even some intact, and not puréed.
4. When the fish is done remove it from the oven and carefully transfer to a platter or plates. Cover and keep warm. Pour the liquid in the baking dish into the skillet and turn the heat on high. Reduce, stirring often, to about 1/4 cup – it should be thick – and stir in the garlic and caper mixture and the parsley. Whisk together, taste and adjust seasoning, pour over the fish and serve.
Yield: Serves 4
Advance preparation: This is all pretty last minute, but you can prep the sauce before you begin cooking the fish.
Nutritional information per serving: 245 calories; 16 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 66 milligrams cholesterol; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 547 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 18 grams protein
Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.â€
