Poached Fish and Zucchini Croquettes

Over the weekend I was at my parent's place cooking up a storm! I wanted to go with a light main and a more substantial side dish to compliment it. I decided on a wonderful Poached Fish in Lemon Broth which I found on this blog with Zucchini Croquettes on the side. The zucchini recipe also comes from a blog but I can't quite retrace my steps to find it.

This was my first time poaching fish and I found the recipe very easy to follow. The broth was light and fragrant, perfect for the simmering fish fillets. Once it came time to make the sauce I was quite surprised that no flour was used to thicken it. But upon tasting it I could understand why...this is not supposed to be a thick creamy sauce but rather a light healthy one. The addition of hot sauce(I used Tabasco Garlic) made all the flavors come together harmoniously.

There were quite a few steps involved in making the zucchini croquettes and one problem I had was figuring out how much water to squeeze from the grated zucchini strips...the more I squeezed the more water came out...it seemed neverending! Eventually I settled on semi-dry strips and decided that the breadcrumbs added at a later stage would take care of the moisture. Once everything was mixed together I moulded the patties and fried away...the minute these hit the hot oil you can smell the aromatic mingling of herbs, cheese, and zucchini...it made my tummy grumble!

All in all these two dishes were a success...in the future I will try using different types of fish to see how that changes the flavors.

Here are the recipes for you to follow:

Poached Cod in Lemon Fumé Broth

1 cod fillet
1 cup vegetable or mushroom broth
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 lemon
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T dried dill weed
1 T dried onion (or 2-4 scallions, minced, or 1/4 C leek leaves, minced)
3-4 sprigs cilantro, chopped
2 T butter
salt, hot sauce to taste

-Cut the fish into serving pieces (1 per diner).
-Combine the broth, wine, garlic, dill weed, onion, and cilantro in a skillet (sufficient to eventually accommodate comfortably all the fish in one layer) over medium heat. Squeeze the lemon into the pan and then cut it into several slices and place in the pan. Simmer the mixture for about 20 minutes. Add the fish and modulate the heat so the broth barely bubbles. Poach the fish for a total of about 4 minutes per inch of thickness, turning carefully when half cooked. (Reduce the time proportionately for the thinner pieces from the tail of the fish. If the thinner pieces are completely submerged there is no need to turn them.)
-Remove the fish to a warmed plate. Cover with foil and set aside while you finish the sauce.
-Strain the solids from the broth in the pan and return the liquid to the pan. Raise the heat to high and reduce quickly by half. Stir in the butter and season carefully with salt and hot sauce.

To serve, place the pieces of fish on a warm flat serving dish and spoon the sauce over them.

Zucchini Croquettes

4 courgettes
1 onion
Mint leaves
Basil leaves
Salt and pepper
4 egg yolks
Bread crumbs
100 g of grated parmesan

-Grate the courgettes very finely and salt them. Let them rest for 10 minutes, then drain and squeeze them to throw all the excess water.
-Add the onion, grated, them mix together with the egg yolks, the minced herbs, 100 g of parmesan and some bread crumbs, until perfectly combined.
-Heat good quality frying oil, and add spoonful of the courgettes mixture, frying until golden.
-Sprinkle with salt and serve right away.