A delicious pan sauce, such as this one made with cream, lemon, and herbs, can elevate a simple sautéd fillet in just a few minutes. After the fish is cooked, transfer it to a plate and use the same skillet to make the pan sauce. Dust the pieces of fish with a tiny bit of flour before sautéing to create a light crust. Try this with halibut, rockfish, lingcod, or Pacific cod.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or dill
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
In a medium skillet used to pan-sear fish, melt the butter over medium heat then add the shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallot is softened and just beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and lemon zest and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, then stir in the lemon juice and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve right away.
Know Your Cook
Grace Parisi
Culinary Director Grace Parisi is a cook, writer and cookbook author. Formerly the Senior Test Kitchen Editor at Food & Wine Magazine and Executive Food Director at TimeInc Books, her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Health, O Magazine, Epicurious, Fitness, Today, Serious Eats, Martha Stewart, and many more. She’s the author of more than 6 books, among them The Portlandia Cookbook and Get Saucy, which was nominated for a James Beard award for Best Single Subject Cookbook.
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