Tilapia with Lemon and Herbs in a White Wine Reduction

My mom needed something to go with the delicious couscous she made last week with zucchini, yellow squash, walnuts and craisins -- so I decided to get creative! Here's what I made for dinner last night-- a "scrumptious" (as she described it) Tilapia with lemon and a variety of Italian herbs, with some simple sauteed asparagus my mom made on the side (it was on sale at the store and I love it).  Both my mom and brother loved the fish -- It's probably the best fish dish I've ever made.  It was refreshing, delicious, and I didn't need to do any extra shopping -- I used ingredients that were already at home! 

Shout out to my cousin Salony (nickname - Kanu)... the wine I used in this recipe was a 2008 chenin blanc by a South African winery called Kanu!

Ingredients

1 piece of Tilapia (i'm working on the lingo) -- and yes, I just made once piece.  It was more of a side dish for us since we just wanted a couple pieces each for a little protein.  

flour

1/2 cup dry white wine (pick something you'd drink)
1 tbsp. olive oil (I used Extra Light)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 small cloves of finely chopped garlic (or 1 big clove)

salt, pepper

Zest of a lemon  (really get it all out, even take off yellow pieces of the rind with your knife if you can-- the flavor it adds is lovely)

1 tsp. fresh thyme (if you only have dry, you only really need 1/8 tsp.)

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (i.e. McCormick's)

1/4 tsp. red chili pepper flakes

1 tbsp. butter

juice of a lemon

1 tbsp. fresh parsley

How I did it

Pour just shy of a tbsp. of olive oil into a small sautee pan on low heat.  Once it heats up after about a minute, stir in the lemon zest, keeping the fire low so the zest doesn't burn.  After letting the zest's flavor release into the oil (you should be able to smell it), add the garlic and let it cook for about a minute.  After adding a pinch of salt and pepper, add the onion, cooking until its just transparent.  Stir in the wine, let simmer at low-medium heat for 10 minutes.

Now, stir in the thyme.  Let it simmer for 15 minutes.  Then add the Italian seasoning and red chili pepper flakes.  [NOTE: I did this at intervals to layer the flavor.  If you don't really have time, feel free to toss it all in at once.]  Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes, which should reduce most of the liquid down.  (If you want there to be more liquid, reduce this time.)

When there are few minutes left, rinse the fish, then pat it dry.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.  Let it rest for 5 minutes.  Then, coat both sides with flour, shaking off excess.  Place aside.

To the sauce pan, add the butter, juice of the lemon and the parsley.  It should take about 5 minutes to get those flavors in, and will turn a little brown.  Let the sauce rest.

To cook the fish, all I did was take two or so spoons of the liquid from the reduction and added it to a non-stick pan.  I sauteed each side for 3-4 minutes on Medium-high heat.  It is delicate, so please flip carefully!!

Spread the onion, garlic, herbs and liquid onto the top of the fish.  We don't like a lot of liquid on our fish, so I chose to reduce it till most of the liquid was gone -- but there was so much flavor packed in what was left, it was the right amount for us!

The final product: