Fish in White Sauce

Dating Tip #47: Okay guys, you’ve managed to survive your relationship to the third date with that amazing woman you can’t believe agreed to go out with you, so, now what? Since we all know the gravitas of a third date, the pressure’s really on to step up your game. You’ve invited her to your place for dinner, which is bold move, but be honest, you didn’t really think things through and now your stressing about what to serve. Date diners can be pretty damn tricky these days because who knows if you’re dealing with a Vegetarian, Paleotarian, Pescetarian, Carnivortarian, or someone who only eats preprocessed food.

Picking a third date appropriate cuisine shouldn’t be left to chance given everything at stake, so to help improve your odds of having a happy evening I suggest a fish dish, it’s simple, non-political, mostly non-ethical, and accommodates most fad diets, I’m even told hardened carnivores like fish.

If you’re like most fish chefs, you likely find yourself in the rut of constantly cooking the same fish the same way. Well here’s your opportunity to shake things up. This simple fish in a white sauce recipe is best with salmon; I’ll use Walleye sometimes, but it’s a delicate fish and this recipe benefits from something bolder. Also, wild caught pacific salmon has a deep red color that presents impressively in the white sauce. You can used this recipe in multiple dishes, such as in a buckwheat crepe (as shown), over yellow rice, or made into a cream sauce casserole with a boiled potatoes and sauteed mushrooms (if your date is from Minnesota).

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Salmon fillet (or other fish) – thawed
  • 1 large leek – cleaned and sliced in thin rounds (green parts discarded)
  • 3 TBL butter
  • 3 TBL Flour
  • 3 TBL Olive oil
  • 2 oz dry white wine
  • 12 oz whole milk
  • 0.5 cup Gruyère cheese – grated (can use Parmesan or Swiss cheese)
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste

Process

  1. Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Heat frying pan on Med heat.
  3. Add oil until warmed.
  4. Add leeks and saute until softened ~4 mins.
  5. Add fish fillets, flaking into small pieces as it cooks.
  6. Add wine when fish is about done cooking and saute for ~1 min.
  7. Remove fish and leeks from from pan and retain.
  8. Make Roux
    1. Return pan to heat and add butter until melted
    2. Add flour to butter. Let roux toast a bit in the pan being careful not to let it burn
    3. Add ~2 oz of milk to the roux, whisking until the lumps are worked out.
    4. Repeat step 3 until all the milk is added.
    5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    6. Remove from heat.
  9. Add fish mixture to roux. and stir in half the grated cheese.
  10. Let cool about ~4 mins then stir in nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
  11. Finish entree
    1. If serving over rice or as an entree, serve by topping with remaining cheese.
    2. If making a casserole:
      • Add remaining casserole items like cooked broccoli, mushrooms, and potatoes.
      • Place in casserole dish top with remaining cheese and bake for ~30 mins at 350 F.
    3. For crepes:
      • Prepare crepe
      • Spread fish mixture around one half of the crepe and fold over.
      • Spread more on folded top and sprinkle with cheese.
      • Place crepes in baking sheet and bake at 350 F until cheese melts.
  12. Serve immediately.

Note: You can saute the green part of the leek and use that as a garnish on top of the entree. Recommend sauteing in olive oil with one minced garlic clove.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email