For this dish you can use fish fillets or 4 fish steaks. It’s a simple recipe of fish in a lemon-thyme dressing, or sauce. The fish can be any firmed flesh white fillets such as haddock, cod, perch, turbot, sea bass, grouper, tilapia, snapper, whatever you can find.

This is an easy baked dish. So, the next time you are in a hurry and want to prepare an easy nutritious meal full of flavor, this is it.  Note that if you’re using frozen fish fillets, the cooking time, as shown in the recipe,  is a bit longer. Regular or thawed fish fillets require less time to cook. With a side of vegetables, with a grain or potatoes, this dish will satisfy.

In past posts I’ve included lemon zest and I’ve gotten questions about how to zest a lemon.  Lemon zest is the outer yellow layer of the lemon, and when scraped from the lemon, it adds flavor to any dish. The easiest way I know to zest is by simply using a cheese grater. First, wash lemon under cold running water, and pat dry with kitchen or paper towels. Then place the lemon against the smallest holes in the grater. The larger holes are for shredding, and you want grated lemon rind. Simply move the lemon back and forth as you would with grating cheese (be careful not to grate your fingers). And that’s it, lemon zest. There are special citrus zesters out there and, if you want, you can buy one of those. But I find the cheese grater just as good.

FISH FILLETS WITH LEMON AND THYME DRESSING

Ingredients:

2 pounds fish fillets, 4 to 6 ounces each
6 tablespoons butter, divided
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 sprigs fresh lemon thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

Instructions:

  1. Heat broiler to medium high. If using a broiler/oven, heat to 450 degrees F.
  2.  Rinse fillets under cold running water and pat dry with pepper towels.
  3.  Arrange fillets in a baking dish or pan. Broil 5 to 7 inches from the heat source for  about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place 1/2 tablespoon butter over each fillet. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons lemon  jiuce, then season with salt and pepper. Return to oven and cook an additional 7-10 minutes for frozen fillets, or 4-6 minutes for fresh or thawed fish.
  4.  While fish is cooking, add remaining butter to a saucepan with the lemon zest, remaining lemon juice and mustard. Heat gently, whisking until melted. Add the thyme and cook about 2 minutes more. Serve the fish, pouring the lemon-thyme dressing over the fillets.
    Yield: 4 servings.