Just a Man and His Kitchen: Court Bouillon
Posted by By Frank at 25 June, at 15 : 52 PM Print
I love the simplicity of a Court Bouillon. For me, it is a quintessential method for preparing fish, and I use it often for tilapia, basa, and salmon. It’s a simple and fairly fast French preparation that works well with most fish and seafood. Below is the Court Bouillon that I have developed and use in my cooking. Here’s what you’ll need:
2-4 fish fillets (depending on size of pan)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp dried thyme
3-5 cilantro sprigs
3-5 dill sprigs
1 cup white wine
1 cup water (or chicken stock)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp peppercorns (or coarse black pepper)
1 lemon
Salt
Pepper
Begin by slicing your fish fillets in half if they are large and salt and peppering both sides of each. Add the olive oil to a pan and warm it over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is soft and both are fragrant. Add the dried thyme and stir it around in the oil to spread it throughout the pan. Add in the dill and cilantro (or parsley if you’re a cilantro hater) sprigs and allow the to sauté until fragrant. Be sure to move them about a bit as you don’t want them to burn or heavily cook in the oil.
Once everything is fragrant, it’s time to add the poaching liquid. Add the wine and then the water (or chicken stock) and stir. Allow the liquids to simmer for about a minute and then add the bay leaves, peppercorns, and lemon juice. Stir the contents of the pan and allow it to come to a heavy simmer. At this point, turn the head down to medium-low and add in your fish filets. Cover the pan and poach the fish for about 10 minutes or until done.
The fish is ready to serve! I like to serve it with a sauce like a Dill and Dijon Vinaigrette. Oooh! That sounds good! How do you make that?
We’ll get into dressings next time…
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