Baked Whitefish with Mustard Sauce ~ fish fillets baking up in a zesty but comforting cream sauce is a quick and delicious 30 minute meal.
It might be 90 degrees out there, but a new Netflix BBC mystery series came through the mail slot today, the AC is cranking, and we’ve got our throws standing by on the couch. I actually look forward to this time of the summer when it gets so hot outside that we have no choice but to make it really cold inside. I’m talking no ice cubes in the wine cold. It’s a nice excuse to make this cozy baked fish.
I’m a great believer in the virtues of fish. It’s healthy, quick cooking, and so delicate tasting I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t love it. Since we eat a lot of it, I like to dramatically change up the way I cook it so we don’t get bored. Fish in mustard sauce pops up in lots of cultures: India, Britain, France and Germany, just off the top of my head, and probably many more. It’s a recurring staple in our lives, and brings us back to student days in London. One of the great things about it is that you can get it all ready and put the covered pan in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.
Also try ~
- Easy Whitefish with Burst Tomatoes
- Fish with Blood Orange and Thyme in Parchment
- Simple Greek Style Baked Fish
Baked Whitefish with Mustard Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb whitefish fillet, I had the fishmonger remove the skin
- olive oil
sauce
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- juice of 1 lime, or lemon
- 1 Tbsp stone ground Dijon mustard
- 2 heaping Tbsp capers, drained
- 2 heaping Tbsp snipped fresh chives, use parsley, or tarragon, if you don't have chives
- salt and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of a baking dish and lay the fish on top.
- Whisk together the sauce in a small bowl. When you add the mustard and the lime to the cream it will thicken. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Spread the sauce thickly over the fish.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, and then put the dish under the broiler until it's slightly browned and bubbling.
- Sprinkle a few more chives across the top.
Notes:
- When I cooked this I actually thinned the sauce with a splash of dry white wine, but because the fish releases juices during the baking, the sauce didn’t need it. So I’ve left that step out of the recipe above. If you want it to have the extra sauce like you see in the photos, add it back in.
- I served this with green beans, which are showing up at the farmer’s market right now.
Lovely! This may be my favorite recipe for fish that you’ve posted yet. Reminds me of something Ina Garten makes, which is always a good thing. 😉
I love the sauce!
The sauce is everything!
Oh, to be in your house right now. Our air sucks butt. I can crank it, but it doesn’t crank back =(. I can imagine the cool air…a good mystery series…and a plate of this fish. Good day, good day. I’m always drawn to things with stone ground mustard in them – I love the look.
Fish is one of my favorites too–and this mustard sauce sounds like an ideal combination. Clearly it’s super easy as well! 🙂
i never knew I could crave a seafood dish but I am craving this now! Looks delicious, healthy, sinful, rich, filling but light? Make sense?LOL!
My mouth is watering, literally! I am making fish tonight!
This looks a great quick, tasty and healthy recipe – thankyou for sharing this and the other fish ideas – I’m not very creative with fish so these are most welcome.
How strange to read of heat waves and cranking up the AC – here we have the opposite, mostly rain this summer with little sunshine and I have actually turned on the central heating tonight which is most rare in this house!
Gill xx
My mouth is watering – what a wonderful dish – love the mustard sauce
Mary x
That looks awesome, and what a great roundup of recipes! One of my favorite growing up halibut dishes was a creamy baked dish somewhat similar to this. I’ll have to try them both out soon.
ohh a creamy mustard sauce. Yum! The fish looks so moist and flaky. Enjoy the AC and TV series.