Recipe By Dan Souza
Published on August 7, 2024
Restaurants have an unusual technique for turning out supremely moist, tender fillets of fish. But adapting it for the home cook required an even more unlikely trick.
Time
1 hr 35 minYield
Serves 4Why This Recipe Works
This restaurant-style dish requires a pot of pricey olive oil and promises super-moist, delicately cooked fish. Using a small skillet and flipping the fish halfway through allowed us to cut back to 3/4 cup of oil, which we employed to crisp flavorful garnishes and finally blended into a creamy vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Fish
4 (6-ounce) skinless white fish fillets, 1 inch thick
Kosher salt
4 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, patted dry, and sliced in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¾ cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ onion, peeled
Vinaigrette
4 ounces cherry tomatoes
½ small shallot, peeled
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
Kosher salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 ounces cherry tomatoes, cut into ⅛-inch-thick rounds
Instructions
Cook along with these step-by-step instructions
- Adjust oven racks to middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 250 degrees. Pat fish dry with paper towels and season each fillet with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.Recipe TipFillets of meaty white fish like cod, halibut, sea bass, or snapper work best in this recipe. Just make sure the fillets are at least 1 inch thick.
- Meanwhile, toss artichokes and cornstarch in bowl to coat. Heat 1/2 cup oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Shake excess cornstarch from artichokes and add to skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden, 2 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic is golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Strain oil through fine-mesh strainer into bowl. Transfer artichokes and garlic to ovenproof paper towel–lined plate and season with salt. Do not wash strainer.Recipe TipA neutral oil such as canola can be substituted for the pure olive oil.
- Return strained oil to skillet and add remaining ¼ cup oil. Place onion half in center of pan. Let oil cool until it registers about 180 degrees, 5 to 8 minutes. Arrange fish fillets, skinned side up, around onion (oil should come roughly halfway up fillets). Spoon a little oil over each fillet, cover skillet, transfer to middle rack, and cook for 15 minutes.Recipe TipThe onion half in step 3 is used to displace the oil; a 4-ounce porcelain ramekin may be used instead.
- Remove skillet from oven. Using 2 spatulas, carefully flip fillets. Cover skillet, return to middle rack, and place plate with artichokes and garlic on lower-middle rack. Continue to cook fish until it registers 130 to 135 degrees, 9 to 14 minutes longer. Gently transfer fish to serving platter, reserving 1/2 cup oil, and tent fish loosely with aluminum foil. Turn off oven, leaving plate of artichokes in oven.
- Process whole cherry tomatoes, shallot, vinegar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper with reserved 1/2 cup fish cooking oil in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add any accumulated fish juice from platter, season with salt to taste, and blend for 10 seconds. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible (discard solids).
- To serve, pour vinaigrette around fish. Garnish each fillet with warmed crisped artichokes and garlic, parsley, and tomato rounds. Serve immediately.Recipe TipServe with couscous or steamed white rice.
FISH
VINAIGRETTE
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