Fish with White Wine Sauce
Total Time
17 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Rating
4.94 out of 5 stars
(44)
Ingredients
4 servings
- 4 x 150g / 5oz white fish fillets (, skinless, boneless (I used snapper, Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 eschalot (, small, finely chopped (~1 1/2 tbs, Note 2)
- 1 1/4 cups white wine (, dry, not sweet or too woody (chardonnay is especially good, Note 3)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (sub white wine vinegar)
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar (sub more lemon)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 pinch white sugar
- 1 cup thickened/heavy cream
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter (, cold, cut into 1cm / 1/3" cubes)
- 2 tsp finely chopped parsley (or chives)
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Preparation
Step 1
Cook fish:
Step 2
Preheat oven to 50°C/120°F. Place rack over a tray.
Step 3
Season fish: Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Cook fish: Heat oil in a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Cook fish in two batches until golden, 2 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature is 55°C/131°F. (Note 4)
Step 5
Keep warm: Place fish on rack, and place in the oven to keep warm.
Step 6
White wine sauce:
Step 7
Discard oil: Tip out excess oil from the skillet but don't wipe clean.
Step 8
Reduce wine: Add eschalot, white wine, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar to the pan. Bring to simmer (still on medium high) and reduce by half (~3 minutes).
Step 9
Simmer cream: Add cream, simmer for 2 minutes.
Step 10
Finish with COLD butter: Turn heat to low and add cold butter one cube at a time while mixing with wooden spoon. Once all the butter is incorporated, the sauce should be thickened, satiny and beautifully glossy.
Step 11
Optional strain: Strain the sauce through a sieve (discard eschalot), then pour it back into the pan.
Step 12
Fish in sauce: Place fish back into the pan in the sauce. Spoon some sauce over the fish, leave for 30 seconds.
Step 13
Serve: Transfer fish onto serving plates. Spoon sauce over each fish, sprinkled with parsley if desired. Pictured with a side of pea puree (great colour splash!).
Step 14
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