I saw this beautiful and fresh fish in the supermarket and I couldn’t resist. Here in Hungary people usually don’t like to eat fish and you can rarely buy it in ordinary shops. It is common to eat salmon, catfish or carp, but in general that’s all the assortment. So, I was really happy when I saw these two fresh beauties!
After I started my blog just a few weeks ago, I realized that I need to learn and try as much as I can, so now I am open to any challenge in kitchen. And why to make our life easy with a whole baked fish, if we can do a fillet (or try to do). It was my first time doing a fish fillet at home, but I tried it many times in restaurant, so I knew what result I am looking for. I watched tons of videos about filleting the fish (and they helped a lot), and here you can see the result that I am really satisfied with. Because I was trying to reach the perfection for the first time, it took me a bit more time to fillet the fish, but I think it is worth it. After this experience I can say that only practice and a generous amount of attention can give you a good result.
The side dish idea came to me at the same supermarket, when I saw the tiny baby carrots which I always wanted to try. It would be a crime to cut them or process them, so I went with an easy but classy way of cooking the whole carrots in a glaze.
You can add to this combination any other ingredients you like. Personally, I served them with some radish and vegetable puree. You get a very light dish, which is perfect for dinner or lunch. The flavors are pure and simple. Also, when you have a great fish there is no need to use too much spices or techniques. For me it is the best, when you can feel the taste of the see with each bite.
Ingredients:
For the fish:
- 2 middle size fish (I had one sea bream and one sea bass), it’s enough for 2 persons
- freshly grounded sea salt and mix of peppers (black, red, green)
- olive oil
- fresh thyme
- butter
For the carrots:
- 300 gr of mini carrots
- water
- brown sugar
- salt
- butter
Instructions:
Fish
- To fillet the fish: look it up on You Tube, far easier to see than to explain😊
- Once you have the fillets ready (don’t forget to cut the skin with diagonal, parallel cuts) and seasoned (salt, pepper, thyme), heat the olive oil in the pan.
- Place the fillets in the pan, first skin side down, and fry for cca. 2 minutes until you get the proper crispy skin.
- Add the butter to the pan, and fry for another minute and then fry the other side of the fillets, for a one or two minutes until properly fried. That goes for both fish types.
Carrots
If you want to make really classy looking side dish, yet are pressed for time, here is the one you can’t make mistake with. Classical French, carrots a la Vichy. In plain English, baby carrots! You boil and steam them at the same time, and the good thing is that the liquid used for cooking turns into rather tasty sauce.
- Place the carrots in the pan, aligned, add water and a chunk of butter, a pinch of salt and brown sugar.
- Put a a lid on the pan and wait till the liquid boils and the carrots start to tenderize, then remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduce for several minutes until the sauce is thick and the liquid almost evaporated. And you are ready to serve.
Julia's Food Therapy 