A Restaurant Quality meal you can make at home!
Featuring Pistachio Crusted Fish with a Grapefruit-Butter Sauce and Composed Grapefruit Salad

You’ll love this salad: See the linked Salad Recipe: Composed Grapefruit Salad with Ginger-Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Try it on top of the pistachio-crusted fish.. or by itself!

“Suprême” refers to the classic culinary technique of removing the flesh of citrus from the pith ~ the layers in between citrus segments.

Cut away the grapefruit peel with a small sharp knife to serrated knife. Go a layer deeper and remove all white pith, revealing  just the ruby red grapefruit. Next, cut between each membrane section to release the grapefruit segment. Place each segment on a plate and continue with all segments. Each grapefruit is unique ~ I had 11 segments. 

Beurre Blanc:
Somewhere in the early 20th century a chef by the name of Clémence Lefeuvre, in a village nearby Nantes, France, was supposedly making a béarnaise sauce for fish. Somehow she forgot to include the eggs and serendipitously created a beurre blanc. The new sauce was a hit and a classic was born!

The creamy mashed, softened garlic is added to the top of the fillets so the pistachios will adhere and stay in place.

You do not need a culinary degree to make a restaurant-quality meal at home!

Gathering great quality ingredients is a must, and mastering a technique from a well written recipe is a plus.
Fish is a wonderful main course to make – its rewards are pretty immediate – a fish fillet takes only minutes to prepare.
I like to choose accessories like a beautiful vintage platter, colorful plates to set the ambience.

We all “eat with our eyes” ~ so even at home, at mid-week, the dish needs to have some visual appeal!
Colorful ingredients rack up extra nutrition – this dish certainly excels on that front.

Yes – You can use another fish fillet!
Other good choices would be ~ Red Snapper, Black Sea Bass, Striped Bass or Rainbow Trout.
These fishes are firm enough to stand up to grilling in the pan.

See my Category: Zesty Citrus Recipes  for more exciting, zesty recipes! 

Enjoy this dish, for a weeknight meal or special occasion… maybe Valentine’s Day! 🙂
Karen

Pistachio Crusted Branzino with Grapefruit Salad

A Restaurant Quality meal you can make at home! Featuring Pistachio Crusted Fish with a Grapefruit-Butter Sauce, Composed Grapefruit Salad with a Ginger-Grapefruit Vinaigrette. Naturally gluten-free. Easily doubled.

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 2

Author: Karen Sheer a zest for life

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Ingredients

For the Pistachio Crusted Fish:

• 2 whole branzino fish fillets or red snapper* - 3/4 pound
• few pinches sea salt & freshly cracked pepper I use Himalayan pink salt
• 4 cloves softened garlic mashed (see recipe below)
• 2 tablespoons shelled pistachios coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon neutral oil such as safflower oil

Grapefruit Butter Sauce:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter divided, I use organic
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon grated or minced garlic
• 1 big pinch red pepper flakes I use Szechuan chili flakes
• 3 tablespoons red grapefruit juice freshly squeezed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure cane sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt I use Himalayan pink salt

Instructions

Start the Grapefruit Butter Sauce:

• Start with the butter sauce ~ Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small non-reactive 1 cup heavy pot. Add ginger, garlic and chili flakes. Bring to a simmer and turn off to blend flavors. (Will finish sauce after fish cooks.)

Pistachio Crusted Fish:

• Salt and pepper both sides of the fillet. Leave to stand 20 minutes at room temperature (helps so the fish does not curl while cooking.)Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to a skillet and raise heat to medium- high. Add fish, skin side UP and cook one minute until a touch golden.

  Turn the fillets over, press down with spatula for a few seconds so the fish does not curl.
• Quickly add the mashed softened garlic - and smooth over both fillets. Top evenly with pistachios and press down to adhere. Sprinkle thyme on top.
• Cook until the fish is firm and cooked through, about 4 minutes. I did not need to cover as the fish was not too thick.

Finish Grapefruit Butter Sauce:

• Heat the butter sauce in the pot, bring to a simmer. Add the grapefruit juice, sugar and sea salt. Reduce over low-medium heat until reduced by half.

  Take off heat - add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons cold butter and swirl in with a fork. Taste for seasonings.

Finish and Enjoy:

• Place each fillet on a dinner plate. Pour butter sauce a bit on top and around.

  Top with a supreme grapefruit slice - or top with a portion of my Grapefruit Salad with Ginger-Grapefruit Vinaigrette.

Notes

For softened garlic see recipe: Karen’s Garlic Confit ~ A Silky, Spreadable Condiment

Recipe: Composed Grapefruit Salad with Ginger-Grapefruit Vinaigrette 

This recipe may not be reproduced without the consent of its author, Karen Sheer.

COURSE: Main Course

CUISINE: American

KEYWORDS: branzino, nut crusted fish, pistachio crusted fish

Nutrition Facts

Pistachio Crusted Branzino with Grapefruit Salad

Amount per Serving

Calories

262

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

24

g

37

%

Saturated Fat

 

10

g

63

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

3

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

9

g

Cholesterol

 

38

mg

13

%

Sodium

 

159

mg

7

%

Potassium

 

235

mg

7

%

Carbohydrates

 

10

g

3

%

Fiber

 

2

g

8

%

Sugar

 

4

g

4

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

651

IU

13

%

Vitamin C

 

9

mg

11

%

Calcium

 

38

mg

4

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.