Pan-roasted black cod with mushrooms and sour cream
SERVES: 4
TIME: About 30 minutes
Black cod is also known as sablefish, for its luxurious richness. Meaty, dense shiitake mushrooms sets off the sweetness and delicate texture of this fish-but really, any mushroom is delicious here.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 1/2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and cut into 1/2-in.-thick slices
- 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
- About 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
- 4 skinless black cod (sablefish) fillets, each about 1 in. thick (about 1 lb.), rinsed and patted dry
- 3 tbsp. sour cream
- A few thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)
- Preheat oven to 375°. Heat a large (not non-stick) heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add 2 1/2 tbsp. olive oil; swirl to coat pan. Add mushrooms, thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper. Cook mushrooms, stirring often, until crisp and brown on edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in white wine and garlic and cook 1 minute more. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.
- When oven is at 375,° wipe out frying pan with paper towels. Set back over heat. When hot, pour in 1 1/2 tbsp. oil and swirl to coat pan. Sprinkle fish on skinned (outer) side lightly with salt and set, skinned side down, in pan. Cook 5 minutes without moving. Put pan in oven and bake another 3 to 6 minutes, or until fish is almost opaque throughout.
- Remove pan from oven. With a thin metal spatula, gently transfer each filet to a plate. Pour out liquid, scrape out and discard any browned bits, and set pan over medium-low heat.
- Pour mushrooms back into pan. When they're hot, remove pan from heat, pour off any excess liquid, and stir in sour cream. Spoon mushrooms over fish and add a couple of thyme sprigs if you like.
Margo True, the Food Editor at Sunset magazine, joined the company in January of 2006. As Food Editor, she works with her team of cooks to develop accessible, reliably delicious recipes and stories that celebrate western ingredients, cooking styles, and the people and places that produce them.
Before coming to Sunset, she was the executive editor at Saveur magazine in New York and worked there for eight years, writing and editing stories about food and culture. From 1995 to 1999, she was an editor and writer for Gourmet. She has won several honors for her writing, including four James Beard journalism awards, and her pieces have been anthologized in the Best Food Writing series. She lives in Menlo Park, California.
Website: http://www.sunset.com
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