Brain Food Recipes: Mullet with Basque Sauce

15/10/2007

This delicious dish serves two. Basque sauces are usually prepared as an integral part of cooking the fish, which has many advantages - for example, it avoids the saturated butter fat that is often included in white sauces, as well as flour to thicken the sauce. What’s more, the vegetables offer one of the five healthy portions to your diet.

Ingredients
30 ml (2 tablespoons) of olive oil
1 small onion, skinned and sliced
1 clove garlic, skinned and crushed
½ green pepper, deseeded and sliced
150 ml (¼ pint) white wine, preferably Vinho Verde
450 g (1 lb) mullet
salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh parsley

Tip: Olive oil is fine in Mediterranean cooking and sauces, but it may be too strong in traditional British cooking.

Cooking instructions
To enjoy this dish the true Basque way, cook the fish in an earthenware dish. Put the oil, onion, garlic and green pepper in a saucepan and cook slowly over a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 30 ml (2 tablespoons) wine and cook for another 3 minutes.

Place the fish in an earthenware dish, add the freshly cooked sauce and pour in the remainder of the wine. Add a
little salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley. Cook in a preheated oven at 180 ºC (350 ºF, mark 4) for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, shake the dish gently, baste with sauce and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Delicious!