David Rubel's
What's For Dinner?
5/24/06
Fish Filets Provencal
(serves two adults and two children)
My sister Erika recently taught me how to make this dish. Its great virtue, in addition to being easy and tasty, is that it can sit in the oven nearly indefinitely. We ate it with the kids early in the evening, and then her boyfriend enjoyed it an hour and a half later.
- 1–1 1/2 lb white fish filets (such as catfish or cod)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 red onion, coarsely chopped
- olive oil
- 1/2 c pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash the fish filets and pat them dry. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and pepper.
3. In a large skillet over a medium flame, saute the red onion in a little olive oil. Once the onions have softened, add the olives. After a few more minutes, add the tomatoes (including the liquid). Bring the sauce to a simmer.
4. Place the fish filets in the bottom of a large Pyrex baking dish. Pour the sauce evenly over the fish and bake until the filets are flaky, about 20-25 minutes.
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Tips
* Erika likes to make this with catfish; I make it with cod, but any meaty white filets will do. Pick whatever fish looks freshest.
* I stay away from canned olives.
* The timing in this recipe is almost unimportant. The sauce can simmer for a few minutes or half an hour on the stove. The fish can cook until just done, or for an hour or two past that (albeit at a lower oven temperature).
Listener Feedback
Barbara Ekedahl offers a similar riff on “what to do with those bland white fishes.” Instead of red onion, Barbara sautes coarsely chopped garlic, then adds enough Green Mountain Gringo Mild Salsa to cover the bottom of the skillet. (According to Barbara, “The salsa, though very mild, adds more zing than just canned tomatoes.”) Then she adds chopped black olives and a spoonful of capers. While the sauce is simmering, she cuts the filets so that they all fit into the skillet in one layer (skin-side up, if there is any). She cooks the filets covered for a few minutes before turning them over carefully to keep them intact. After a few more minutes, they’re done. “The fish usually adds more liquid to the pan once it's cooked,” Barbara advises, “ so I remove the fish to a flat bowl and cook down the liquid to a better consistency before pouring it over the fish. Sometimes, I also add a dry white wine to the sauce before adding the fish, but it's good either way.”
Susan Thompson reports that she has been on a mission to recreate this dish “exactly as I had it in Provence two years ago.“ Because Susan finds individual servings more convenient, she puts all the sauce ingredients along with the fish into foil or parchment-paper packets, which she bakes. “I also add red potatoes, slices of fennel, herbes de Provence*and some dry white wine to the packets,” Susan writes, “because these were included in the French version I loved.”
If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future.
David Rubel is president of
Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York. He spends his days writing American history, then heads home after work to cook for his wife and two young children. His most recent book is
The Story of America (DK, 2002).
