Seared John Dory with Artichokes, Pearl Onions, and Baby Potatoes
Sautéed vegetables — pearl onions, potatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, fennel, and asparagus — serve as a bed for golden fillets of John Dory, a fine-flake, firm, white fish also known as St. Peter’s fish. Flounder makes a good substitute. The difference between a stock which is “brown” and one which is not is bone-deep: the bones are roasted for a brown stock, lending the stock it’s color.
Ingredients
- Pearl Onions - 1 cup, peeled, white part only
- Baby Yukon Gold potatoes - 1 pound
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- John Dory (St. Peter’s fish) fillets - 4 (alt. other firm, white fish)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Artichoke Hearts - 3, cooked and quartered
- White Asparagus - 12 spears, blanched
- Garlic Cloves - 4, peeled
- Shiitake Mushroom Caps - 10, small
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Reduced brown chicken stock - 1/2 cup
- Chives - 3 to 4, chopped
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Fennel bulb - 1, julienned and blanched
- Chives - 12 - 15, minced
Instructions
Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil and add the pearl onions and potatoes. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain. Set aside and keep warm.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the fish liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the hot skillet, add 2 tablespoons of the butter, and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned on the outside and opaque throughout. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Put the onions, potatoes, artichokes, asparagus spears, and garlic in the fish skillet and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining butter and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the butter browns slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the mushrooms, tossing to glaze. Add the lemon juice, stock, and chives. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Return the fish to the pan and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the vegetables and fish with the juices.
Heat the butter in a medium sauté pan or skillet over medium heat and warm the fennel.
To serve: Arrange the vegetables in the center of each plate, with spears of asparagus at the outside edges of the vegetables. Place the fish on top. Spoon pan juices over the fish.
