I love fish and living in Porto there is always a some good fresh fish to buy. Most fish that you buy in the stores in Portugal are sold as a whole fish. Which is very nice because that way you can see how fresh the fish is and it gives a lot of possibilities on how you want to prepare the fish. Of course it would be easier to just prepare the fish as a whole fish on the grill or steamed, but I think a fish that has been filleted and grilled is more elegant. So I invested in some good sharp knives so I can cut beautiful fillets of my favourite fish.
An easy dish to impress
In this dish I used dorade but any firm white fish would be good for this dish. The flavour combinations of the orange, fennel and hazelnuts work very well with the fish it is a light dish with fresh flavours that works well on a sunny day. A light sauce, which is made with a splash of pomegranate juice combines the whole dish together and gives this dish more dept. With just a few ingredients you can make a dish that will impress on many occasions so let’s get cooking!
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb
- 200 ml of orange juice
- 200 ml of stock
- 30 ml of pomegranate juice
- 30 gr of hazelnuts
- 1 orange
- 2 dorade fillets
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
Cut the fennel in slices (about 1 centimeter)
Keep the green of the fennel
Heat the butter in a frying pan
Once the butter is browned a little add the slices of fennel
Add some salt and pepper on the fennel and brown both sides of the fennel on a medium heat
Mix together the orange juice, stock and pomegranate juice
Once both sides of the fennel has a light brown colour add the stock mixture and turn down the heat
Put a lid on the pan and let the fennel simmer for about ten minutes till it is soft and tender
While the fennel is cooking, crush half of the hazelnuts and set the hazelnuts aside
Peel the orange and remove all the white peel, cut into thin slices
When the fennel is soft remove the fennel from the pan and keep warm
Set the heat higher and cook the remaining juices for about 5-7 minutes till you have a nice sauce
At the same time grill the fish filets in a hot pan and season with pepper and salt
Depending how think the filets are this takes about 2 till 3 minutes on each site
Set the plate and start with the sliced orange, fennel and hazelnuts
Lay the fish on top and sprinkle some of the sauce over the dish
Finish the plate with some of the green of the fennel bulb
Notes
To get a more Mediterranean flavour you can also use pistachios in this dish instead of hazelnuts.
No Comments