Cod With Mushrooms and Parsley Sauce

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This dish is easily adaptable in many ways. You can use cod, halibut or sea bass as your fish and any variety of mushrooms you wish. If you want to make it very fancy buy some Chanterelles. This makes quite an elegant meal that is light and delicious. It is shown here with our Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic.

MAKES: 4 Servings
PREP/COOK TIME: 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the Mushrooms

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 6 to 8 ounces Mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves (to taste), minced

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• ¼ cup dry white wine

• ½ teaspoon finely chopped or grated lemon zest

  For the fish

• 1 ½ pounds Alaskan cod, halibut or sea bass fillets

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup dry white wine

• Lemon juice, to taste

  For the parsley sauce

• 1 ⅓ cups, tightly packed, flat-leaf parsley leaves

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• Juices from 1/2 to 1 lemon

 DIRECTIONS

1. Transfer parsley to a small food processor fitted with the steel blade or a mini-chop and turn on the machine. When chopped leaves adhere to the sides of the machine, stop and scrape down sides with a spatula. Add lemon juice. Turn on again and add oil with the machine running. Purée until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.

2. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Oil a baking dish that can accommodate all of the fish. Season fish with salt and pepper. Place in baking dish. Drizzle oil over fish, add wine and a squeeze of lemon to pan and cover tightly. Bake 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillets), until fish is opaque and pulls apart when a fork is inserted.

3. While fish is baking, cook mushrooms. Heat a medium-size or large skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Add mushrooms and let them sit and sear for several seconds, then stir and toss in the pan for about 1 minute, until they begin to sweat. Turn heat to medium and add garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Toss or stir in the pan for another minute or two, just until the mushrooms have softened. Add wine and cook, stirring and scraping up any residue from the bottom of the pan, until wine has evaporated. Stir in lemon zest. Taste and adjust seasoning. Turn off the heat.

4. Place a piece of fish on each of 4 plates. Spoon parsley sauce onto plate, next to fish. Place mushrooms on parsley sauce and serve.