Baked Tilapia with Rosemary, Broccoli with Rosemary and Wine

Wow it has been a while since I posted a recipe up here! I have still been cooking each and every day, but lately time seems to be moving faster than I would like! So far I have been doing my best to enjoy the amazing summer produce we have in south-western Ontario as it comes into season. For the past two months I think I have eaten asparagus at least once per week, but this will have to end now that the season is coming to a close (the asparagus in the market this week was from Mexico, it’s just not the same!).

There are however new vegetables and fruits coming into season all the time now! Broccoli is starting up and there are various berries as well. I can’t wait to finally get back out to the farmers market this weekend and see what I can find! For now though I wanted to share a quick dish that I whipped up tonight for dinner. It was ridiculously simple to make and I wasn’t expecting it to turn out nearly this well, what a great surprise! This week I bought a nice piece of tilapia from the supermarket as well as some fresh broccoli. I also had some crimini mushrooms that needed to be used up, a rosemary plant in desperate need of trimming, and some left-over red wine in the fridge (perfect for cooking, not so much for drinking)…so the meal kind of just fell into place!

I decided to bake the tilapia at high heat and chose a simple seasoning of just olive oil, Old Bay spice blend (amazing for white fish!) and some fresh rosemary leaves. The fish came out perfectly! It was just the right level of doneness and had great flavour, something I have struggled with in the past when baking some of these milder white fish. I think the secret here was to not hold back on the seasoning. I put on lots of the Old Bay and used probably two sprigs worth of rosemary leaves, it made all the difference! It also amazing what a difference using the proper heat makes (thanks Mark Bittman!). I used to cook most of my fish at 350 – 375 covered with foil. It turned out very well for fattier fish like salmon and trout, but often didn’t work so well for white fish like tilapia. I now tend to cook all my fish in a much hotter oven (425 – 450) where they cook faster and often come out more tender and moist.

Baked Tilapia with Old Bay and Rosemary

For the broccoli I simply cut it into medium-sized florets and tossed it into a saute pan over medium-high heat with some olive oil. I then added in the mushrooms, some chili flakes, salt, pepper, rosemary, and about a 3/4 of a cup of red wine. I let it cook covered for about 5 minutes and then removed the lid to let the wine reduce. The vegetables came out amazing! They were cooked through, yet not soggy and had loads of flavour (red wine is amazing!). The wine I used was a fairly nice Australian Shiraz which had a pretty bold flavour, and it was a great way to use up that last bit of the bottle. I actually like the colour imparted by the wine as well although I wish it had left a touch more of the bright green that you get with steamed broccoli (the stems were fine but the leaves quite dark). This is obviously a natural effect of using red-wine and the flavour was well worth it, but in the future I might steam a few pieces of broccoli on the side without the wine and add them back in for colour. I have also used this technique with cauliflower and in this case the colour produced is wonderful on top of the white vegetable.

Tilapia with Broccoli Cooked in Red Wine

Overall I was quite happy with this meal, it was satisfying and overall pretty light. I will definitely be cooking it again next time I grab some fresh broccoli, and I learned a valuable lesson about the amount of seasoning to use with tilapia: season till you think its done, and then add more!

Baked Tilapia with Rosemary and Old Bay

Ingredients (for one):

• One Tilapia filet (preferably wild if possible)
• Two sprigs of rosemary
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Old Bay

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 430 °F and remove the fish from the refrigerator to allow it to warm up a bit
2. Take a baking sheet or Pyrex dish and place one tablespoon of the olive oil down where the filet will sit
3. Rinse the tilapia and place it the baking dish on-top of the oil, move it around to cover the bottom with oil
4. Place the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on the fish and spread it around evenly. Take the Old Bay and season the entire filet; there should not be a thick layer of the spice but every part of the filet should have some spice on it. Sprinkle the rosemary leaves on-top of the fish
5. Bake the fish for 10-15 minutes until done. The fish is done when it is an opaque white the whole way through. Do not over-cook or it will dry out
6. Serve and Enjoy!

Broccoli and Mushrooms with Rosemary and Red Wine

Ingredients (for one):

• About 3 stalks broccoli, cut into medium florets and rinsed
• 4 crimini mushrooms, washed and dried
• One sprig of rosemary leaves
• 1.5 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup of bold red wine (doesn’t need to be high quality, but should have a bolder flavour)
• 2 Tbsp. Chili Flakes (or to taste; optional)

Directions:

1. Heat a saute pan with a well-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
2. Add the broccoli and the mushrooms to the pan and toss to coat with oil
3. Add the rosemary, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Add the wine.
4. Cover with the lid, turn down the heat to medium and let simmer for about 4-6 minutes. The vegetables should be tender and al dente, not soggy.
5. Remove the lid and let the liquid reduce by about 75 %
6. Serve and Enjoy!

-JR