Fish with Creamy Mustard Sauce

With its long North Sea coastline, the Netherlands has a long fishing history and fresh fish and seafood are plentiful. This delicious white fish recipe is easy to make and the sauce is rich and creamy without being heavy. This is because it is made with crème fraîche instead of cream. The addition of mustard, used in many Dutch dishes from dips to soups, gives it a subtle kick.

Note that the fish should stand for 45 minutes, so you will need to give yourself a little time for this step. The cooking time, however, is very short.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4 fillets of white fish, such as cod, plaice or sea wolf

2 oz / 60 g flour

1 tablespoon butter

8 shallots, chopped

4 fl oz / 125 ml white wine

1 lemon, cut in half

4 fl oz / 125 ml (low-fat) crème fraîche

1 rounded tablespoon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

½ lemon cut into wedges

Preparation:

Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry with kitchen towel. Put on a large plate and sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon. Season on both sides with salt and pepper and leave to stand for 45 minutes.

After this time, drain the fish and coat with the flour. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the fish until golden brown, about six minutes on each side.

Transfer the fish to a plate and cover with aluminium foil to keep warm.

Fry the shallots in the butter left over from the fish. Add the wine, crème fraîche, mustard and juice of the other half lemon. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir over a gentle heat until the sauce begins to thicken, 3-4 minutes.

Arrange the fillets on four plates and pour over the sauce. Garnish with the chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

Serve with rice or boiled potatoes and a steamed green vegetable.