Eating out every night for two weeks really makes me realize how much I love to cook. Sure, we ate at some fantastic restaurants in Scottsdale, AZ (and you can check them out by clicking here), but I’m happy to be back home in my kitchen. (Tiny as it may be).
I wanted to make a winter citrus salsa for “W week,” and I was going to leave it at just that. But the night I made it, I was cooking for my friend Andrea, and the fish turned out so yummy, I had to include that too. But since I didn’t take any photos of it on Friday, I made it again Sunday and it was just as tasty. (That’s how much I liked this dish).
Overall, this is a pretty light and healthy dish, and it works great anytime of the year depending on what citrus is in season. I used tilapia, but any white fish would be great! (Or even salmon!)
First up, the salsa. I chose grapefruit, Satsuma tangerine, and blood oranges as the citrus. I also added some shallots, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeño and endive. I have no idea why I added endive, other than I was in the produce section and grabbed one, but it was a delicious addition.
Aren’t blood oranges so cool? I feel like they are the mysterious and exotic cousin to regular oranges. As my co-worker Andy put it, they sort of remind me of sangria. He made blood orange mojitos our last night in Arizona, and it inspired me to use them as the main ingredient in my citrus salsa.
I segmented 3 blood oranges, half a grapefruit, a tangerine, and mixed in a shallot, 4 endive leaves, a chopped jalapeño, and some lime juice. I also used some of the citrus juice, but I saved the majority of it for the tilapia.
As for that tilapia…I could have just seared or baked it, but that’s boring and no fun. I had some already-shelled pistachios in the pantry, so I used the chopper attachment of my immersion blender and chopped them up, along with some panko bread crumbs. Before dredging the tilapia filets in the nut/bread crumbs, I dipped them in a mixture of citrus juice, zest, and dijon mustard. I pan fried them on each side to lightly brown the outside, and finished them off in the oven.
The result? Flakey, nutty tilapia with a sweet and tangy citrus salsa on top. This would pair prefectly with green beans and a crisp and fruity Sauvignon Blanc.
Pistachio Crusted White Fish with Winter Citrus Salsa
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Loading...Take advantage of winter citrus by creating a tangy salsa to serve alongside pistachio-crusted white fish such as halibut or black cod.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 blood oranges
- 1 navel orange
- 1/2 pink grapefruit
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded, deveined and finely diced (or more, if desired)
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts separated)
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 4 Belgian endive leaves, chopped
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Four 6-ounce halibut or black cod fillets (or your favorite white fish)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons safflower oil
Instructions
Zest the blood oranges into a shallow bowl and set aside. Segment the grapefruit and all of the oranges by cutting away the peel and white pith with a sharp knife, leaving the flesh exposed, then carefully cut between the membranes to release each segment into a medium bowl. Reserve the membranes from the oranges and set the shallow bowl aside.
Add the jalapeno, the scallion whites, cilantro, endive, and lime juice to the medium bowl. Season with a pinch or two of salt and stir to combine. Refrigerate the citrus salsa until ready to serve.
Add the mustard to the shallow bowl. Squeeze in the juice from the reserved blood orange membranes and whisk to combine. If the mixture seems too thick, squeeze in more juice from the remaining orange membranes.
Combine the pistachios with the panko and a couple of pinches of salt in a food processor and process until the pistachios are finely chopped and well combined with the panko. Transfer to another shallow bowl.
Pat the fish fillets dry then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, dip each fillet in the citrus-Dijon mixture then dredge in the pistachio breadcrumbs, pressing to help the crumbs adhere, if necessary. Add the fillets to the skillet and cook until the nuts are golden brown and the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Remove the fillets to serving plates, garnish with the remaining scallion greens and spoon some of the citrus salsa on the side or over the top with a slotted spoon.
Notes
You can substitute with other citrus such as cara cara orange, navel orange, mandarins, tangerines, etc.
Salmon Fish Oil Manufacturers
March 6, 2012 at 9:19 amHi,
Nice dish i like it………..