2 simple fish recipes

I've become a big fan of Costco frozen fish: reasonably priced, and delicious - none of that fishy taste that you get with lower quality frozen fish. These two recipes are for sauce/dressings for mahi mahi. Both were inspired by my CSA. Rhubarb is plentiful in the upper midwest in the spring, and after getting it two weeks in a row from my farm box and some from a friend at work, I realized I needed to branch out from pie. Mom kindly posted a halibut-fennel recipe at my request, and after glancing at it I realized I needed to figure out how to work the same flavors with much less effort.... so, I figured out the below preparation instead. It's different from mom's version - hers is more of a sauce, mine is more of a solid dressing, but I liked it just as much. The caramelizing softens the anise/licorice flavor of the fennel quite a bit - for me this is a plus, but if you love anise/licorice, perhaps it wouldn't be.

The first important step is thawing the fish:

• Place a filet per person in a large bowl of cool water (leave it in the wrapper for  now). Leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.

I emphasize this because I find that fish thawed in this way tastes much fresher than fish left at room temperature or in the fridge for a longer period of time.

To cook the fish:

• Heat heavy bottomed pan (we have a le cruiset skillet) over medium-high heat.
• Put 1-2T of vegetable oil in the bottom
• Rinse and pat dry your fillets
• Pat with EVOO or vegetable oil and season with black pepper, light salt
• Cook fish for 4" on each side

Grilling also works nicely.

CARAMELIZED FENNEL DRESSING - serves 2- 3:

• Heat 1-2T of EVOO in a saute pan on medium heat.
• Thinly slice one fennel bulb and place in pan
• Lightly salt
• Once fennel has warmed up (you can hear the gentle sizzle sound again), turn down the temperature to medium-low
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30", or until the fennel is caramelized (soft and brown at parts)
• If the fennel sticks to the bottom, or all the liquid dries up, deglaze the pan (add a splash of white wine) - I have to do this 1-2 times while cooking
• Top your fish with the fennel and serve

Probably not quite as amazing as mom's recipe, but a little simpler

RHUBARB SAUCE (adapted from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7846-sauteed-red-snapper-with-rhubarb-sauce):

• wash and trim 1 lb of rhubarb. Cut into ~1" pieces.
• Place rhubarb,  1/3 c sugar, a pinch of saffron, and a little water into a small sauce pan
• Simmer for about 30", stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb partially melts into a sauce
• Taste and add more sugar if needed
• Serve over your fish and brown rice

Also works well over chicken.

Halibut & fennel

2 lbs halibut, sliced into 6 pieces
3 fennel
3 garlic
1/2 c white wine
tarragon or white wine vinegar
veg stock

Pre-heat oven to 375.  Slice 3 large fennel into 6ths.  Heat 2 T oil in roasting pan until smoking.  Add fennel and cook until it starts to brown, 2 - 3 minutes. Put pan in oven and cook about 40 min.  (If you use a skillet, have one of those handle covers ready and pop it on as soon as you take the skillet out of the oven.)

About 10 min. before fennel comes out, heat a large saute pan with 1 T oil until smoking hot.  Season filets with salt and pepper and dredge in 1/2 c. flour.  Saute the fish, searing 2 - 3 min on each side, then put the skillet in the oven (get another handle cover ready).  Remove the fennel from the oven.  Leave the fish in oven for 5-6 min or until cooked through.

Remove the fennel pieces, then use the roasting pan to make the sauce, on medium heat.  Add 3 cloves chopt garlic and saute.  Add 1 T chopt fennel greens and 1/2 cup wine and cook 2 minutes. n Add 1 T tarragon vinegar, 1/4 c. veg stock, 1 T butter and coil.  Plate the fish, topped with fennel and sauce.