A little sauce for fish

Twice this week I have made a little sauce or dressing for fish that was new for me. In a hot pan, sear a minced clove of garlic then add a handful of fennel bulb cut into strands. When the mix has colored, transfer to a small pre-heated pot and add 6 tbsp of marinara sauce and (Day 1) chopped olives and pumpkin seeds, (Day 2) slivered oyster mushrooms and toasted walnuts. Stir in a bit of green herb -- tarragon, basil, thyme, whatever -- and keep over low heat until the fish is ready. I baked some cod for Day 1 and pan-roasted chunks of striped bass for Day 2. Plate the fish and spoon the sauce over.

The Day 1 mix worked better: the olives were a little strong but the pumpkin seeds were harmonious with the other flavors. Neither flavor in the Day 2 mix stood forth, even though I liked the bass better than the cod.

I'm trying hard to think of more flavor combos. I also think I might try a base of basil pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto, though I worry that 6 tbsp is too potent. I'd also like to try a cream sauce but not sure how to work in such small quantity.

Pretty cool!

Was there any fat in the pan when you did the garlic/fennel base in the first sauce?

If you're worried about cream in that quantity, how about either reducing it down before you add it, or maybe using butter instead and building a small beurre blanc?

Yes, Tom, I had a very little oil in the searing pan.

A beurre blanc is interesting but my current process makes the sauce first and lets it warm/merge while I do everything else. I would suppose the b.b. and the cream sauce would have me finish it last?

A beurre blanc is interesting but my current process makes the sauce first and lets it warm/merge while I do everything else. I would suppose the b.b. and the cream sauce would have me finish it last?

Well, you can make a b.b. first and hold it. Classically it's made with a little cuisson that helps stabilize it, along with any acid from the reduced wine/shallot mixture. But you can strengthen that by also adding a little reduced heavy cream - and the more reduced it is, the more stabilizing it is. So if you were bent on making the sauce first and holding it, that's what I would do. You'll get a bit of masking of the fresh butter flavor, but with all those other flavors you listed that's probably moot anyway.

Looks like it should be really tasty. I will try. thanks for sharing