Zander in Creamy Sauce with Brussels Sprouts and Pot Barley
Ingredients (zander and brussels sprouts):
- 150 g zander
- 100 g brussels sprouts
- sea salt
-
black pepper
- thyme
- lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 0,5 teaspoon nigella
Buy Ingredients (groats):
- 3 tablespoons pot barley
- sea salt
- turmeric
Ingredients (sauce):
-
4 tablespoons coconut milk
-
0,5 teaspoon ghee
- 0,5 garlic clove
- 0,5 teaspoon lemon juice
- sea salt
-
black pepper
- nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon dill
- several fresh basil leaves
Today I have a recipe for a super quick lunch. Baked zander with a delicious, creamy sauce, a serving of vegetables and golden pot barley make a balanced meal that you can easily prepare for the whole family. Do not forget, especially in the autumn and winter season, to add turmeric to your dishes as it strengthens the immune system.
Preparation
I sprinkled the fish with lemon juice and half of the olive oil, seasoned it with salt, pepper and thyme and put it into an ovenproof dish. I baked the fish at 180°C (350°F) for about 20-25 minutes. I cut the Brussels sprouts in half and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and drizzled the rest of the olive oil over them. I put the sprouts into a preheated oven and baked them for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.
I boiled the groats in salted water and stirred in the turmeric when they were ready. Then I sautéed chopped garlic in hot clarified butter, added coconut milk, lemon juice, salt, pepper and nutmeg, stirred and stewed it until the sauce slightly thickened. Finally I added chopped dill and basil.
I transferred the groats onto a plate, put the fish on top, added the baked Brussels sprouts, poured the sauce over the dish and sprinkled it with a little nigella.
Three things, three timings
Everything here cooks separately, and the dish falls apart on timing rather than on technique. The fish needs 20 to 25 minutes, the sprouts 8, the pot barley around 25 to 30 in boiling water, and the sauce five minutes of attention at the end.
Start the groats first, put the fish in the oven next, and add the sprouts for the last eight minutes of the fish’s time. Both bake at 180 degrees, so they share the oven. That leaves the sauce for the moment the fish comes out, which is exactly the window it needs.
Zander is lean, so 25 minutes is the ceiling
Zander has very little fat and dries out fast, which is why the lemon juice and olive oil go on before baking rather than after. Twenty minutes suits a 150 g fillet and twenty-five is already the upper limit for a thicker piece.
It is done when the flesh turns from translucent to opaque and separates into flakes under gentle pressure. Fish carries on cooking on a hot plate, so take it out when it just yields rather than when it falls apart in the dish. If yours is frozen, thaw it fully and pat it dry: surface water steams the fish instead of baking it.
Eight minutes is right for halved sprouts
Halved rather than whole is what makes eight minutes enough, because the cut face sits directly on the hot tray and browns while the inside softens. Whole sprouts at that time come out raw in the middle and need nearly twice as long.
Cut side down and spread out with space between them. Crowded on a small tray they release moisture that has nowhere to go and steam instead of roasting, which is the difference between golden and grey. That browning is also what removes the bitterness people associate with sprouts.
The sauce thickens by reduction, not by flour
There is no flour, no cream and no butter roux here: four tablespoons of coconut milk reduce down over a few minutes and that is all the thickening there is. Keep it at a gentle simmer and let it lose volume rather than turning the heat up, because coconut milk splits when it boils hard.
The garlic goes into the hot ghee first and needs under a minute, since garlic burns fast and bitter garlic will carry through the whole sauce. The dill and basil go in at the very end, off the heat: both lose their scent within a minute of simmering, and they are the freshness the coconut milk needs.
Turmeric into the groats, nigella at the table
Turmeric is stirred into the cooked barley rather than boiled with it, which keeps the colour bright and stops the slightly dusty taste that long-boiled ground spices develop. A pinch of pepper alongside it is worth adding for the same reason cooks always pair the two.
The nigella seeds go over the finished plate, not into the pot. They are there for the crunch and the faint onion note, and both disappear if they spend time in liquid. If you would rather have balanced lunches like this one planned into the week with a shopping list, that is what the Diet & Training by Ann app does.
Baked zander with Brussels sprouts and pot barley
Ingredients
Method
- Start the pot barley in salted water, allowing 25 to 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle the zander with lemon juice and half the olive oil, season with salt, pepper and thyme and bake at 180 C (350 F) for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Halve the Brussels sprouts, season them, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and roast them cut side down for the last 8 minutes of the fish's time.
- Stir the turmeric into the cooked groats.
- Saute the chopped garlic in hot ghee for under a minute, add the coconut milk, lemon juice, salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer gently until the sauce reduces and thickens.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the chopped dill and basil.
- Plate the groats, lay the fish on top, add the sprouts, pour the sauce over and sprinkle with nigella.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
Start the pot barley first, since it needs 25 to 30 minutes. Put the fish in the oven next for its 20 to 25 minutes, and add the sprouts for the last 8 minutes of that time, as both bake at 180 degrees. That leaves the sauce for the moment the fish comes out.
Take it out when it just yields rather than when it falls apart. Zander has very little fat, which is why the lemon juice and olive oil go on before baking, and twenty-five minutes is the upper limit even for a thicker piece. The fish carries on cooking on a hot plate.
Because the cut face sits directly on the hot tray and browns while the inside softens, which is what makes eight minutes enough. Whole sprouts at that time are raw in the middle. Spread them out cut side down, since crowded sprouts steam instead of roasting.
Reduction alone. There is no flour, cream or roux, just four tablespoons of coconut milk losing volume over a few minutes. Keep it at a gentle simmer, because coconut milk splits when it boils hard.
The turmeric is stirred into the cooked barley rather than boiled with it, which keeps the colour bright and avoids the dusty taste of long-boiled ground spices. The dill and basil go into the sauce off the heat, and the nigella seeds go over the finished plate. Balanced lunches like this one come planned into the week with a shopping list in the Diet & Training by Ann app.
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