November 7, 2006

tilapia in creamy pomodoro sauce with Israeli couscous

Lately I've been buying individually wrapped frozen tilapia fillets at the grocery. I find them very practical and convenient to have for our Friday fish dinners. A very mild flavored fish, it cooks in a snap and there's no need to cook it outdoors like I always do with other kinds of fish with stronger fishy smell. There are plenty of delicious ways to cook it. I've tried breading and pan-frying it, baking, steaming and poaching it. Haven't tried grilling it because the flesh is very delicate so unless I wrap it in foil or banana leaves, it will surely have a tendency to stick and crumble on the grill. Although we like to grill whole tilapia, wrapped in banana leaves, in the Philippines, I've never seen whole tilapia sold here, at least not where we are. For this dish, the fillets were thawed and dipped in lemon juice then seasoned with salt and pepper. Then they were dredged in flour with the excess flour shaken off leaving a very thin flour coating. Next, they were pan-fried in a small amount of olive oil until slightly browned and cooked through, then transferred and kept warm on a serving platter as they cooked. In the same skillet or frying pan, minced garlic was sauteed, and the pan was deglazed with white wine and some chicken broth. Chopped tomatoes were added in along with some lemon juice. Finally, a little bit of half & half was poured in and the mixture was simmered before pouring over the tilapia fillets. Garnished with orange or lemon slices, chopped green onions and served with Israeli couscous ( we like this bigger couscous variety which tastes more like the Italian orzo pasta ) this is just another fast and easy tilapia dish to make.

Israeli couscous

2 comments:

  1. oh wow! this is definitely a delish-looking dish! btw, good to know we are schoolmates! yeah CAFA is now located at the other end of the campus...i think it was built right after we graduated...and they say we have a different uniform na rin!

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  2. It's always good to read about your positive comments! Oh yes - small world - those were the days. I will always have fond memories of college days - curious about what the new uniform looks like...thanks for the info.

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