A Yogurt/Basil/Red pepper/Fish Sauce Worth Remembering

Sometimes. Well, often, I wake up at 3 in the morning and think of cool things. Often inventions, sometimes complex designs. And every so often…food.

Last night I thought up a yogurt/roasted bell pepper/basil sauce to go on a fish…but with the same ingredients as a base, but not in a sauce form.

So tonight I give you a pan seared wild caught haddock on a bed of basil/garlic/roasted bell pepper with a delightful yogurt/basil/red bell pepper sauce.

And I have to say (and my dinner partner agrees) this was one of the best things I’ve cooked.

First, make the sauce so it has time to meld. This was a couple of handfuls of my basil from the garden, about half of a cup of greek yogurt, a couple fork fulls of jarred roasted red bell pepper, minced garlic, Chulula hot sauce, crushed black pepper, a bit of sea salt and Italian seasoning. This went into my small food processor and was pulverized with a little olive oil and water. These help emulsify the whole thing. Set aside.

The fish was my basic. I seasoned my haddock with Cajun seasoning and rolled it in almond flour. I used to put my seasoning in my flour dredge, but I found most of the seasoning was wasted in unused dredge. So, season…and then dredge.

The fish went into a heated cast iron skillet with some olive oil, cooked for a few minutes and set aside.

In the skillet, a bit more olive oil was added, along with another handful of basil and some roasted red bell pepper. This would be the base. A bit of the sauce was added and heated through.

The mixture was plated, the fish put on top, and then the sauce ladled above. This was served with an air-fried sweet potato and broccoli. We also did an olive-oil-herb mix to dip some toasted Wegman’s sourdough bread.

The result was a wonderful, original meal that we did not want to end.