Monday, October 01, 2007

Vermouth-poached Tilapia with Mushrooms and White Grapes

Part of having people over for dinner and serving them a home-cooked meal is the "Wow" factor. You want them to walk away from the table being satisfied, yet being impressed at your culinary prowess. It's always good to have recipes that look as if you spent all day in the kitchen, slaving away over a hot stove, but in actuality only take minimal amounts of time to prepare. That's where a recipe like this comes in. Just the title of this dish sounds gourmet and time consuming, right?? Yet I had this on the table in less than 15 minutes. The most time consuming thing you'll do is slice mushrooms and chop grapes, and then it's just a matter of a few minutes in the pan. This would be the perfect recipe to prepare ahead of time and throw together right before serving. I can guarantee you that your guests will be sufficiently "wowed" by this masterpiece.

Vermouth-poached Tilapia with Mushrooms and White Grapes I

Vermouth-poached Tilapia with Mushrooms and White Grapes
Serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 tilapia fillets, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 c dry vermouth*
1/4 c dry white wine
1/2 c seedless white grapes, quartered

In a flat-bottomed pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add lemon juice and mushrooms and saute until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are starting to become tender. Push mushrooms to the side of the pan and add seasoned tilapia fillets. Pour vermouth and white wine over top of fish, cover, and simmer util fish is almost done. (Mine took about 3 minutes in total) Right before fish is completely done, add grapes to pan and stir, being careful to not disturb fish. Cook until done. Serve fillets topped with mushroom and grape mixture.

*If you do not have vermouth, simply substitute more white wine.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow looks really good! :)~~

Mo said...

I love these kind of dishes. This one looks terrific! Thanks for sharing.

Brilynn said...

I love the grapes in this dish!
I do a similar one with scallops and grapes that I really enjoy.

Aaron said...

I'm not sure how else to point this out, but your RSS feed has gone wonky lately and just keeps showing that there are no new posts... I don't know if you can fix it or something, but it's making it harder for me to check your recipes (which is making me sad!).

Rachael said...

Oooh how interesting. I love adding fruit in unexpected places (especially salads) - but I've never added it to a hot dish. Will definitely give it a shot!

Berlinswhimsy said...

This looks very yummy. Vermouth has been one of my "secret" pantry items. I use it instead of white wine when I'm out...

Avory said...

Hi there! I'm just dropping by to let you know about a food blogging event I'm hosting, called "A Vegetarian Feast." The first round is thanksgiving themed, but broadly it can include any vegetarian dishes that use fall ingredients or make you think of Thanksgiving. (Unfortunately, fish and seafood aren't allowed for this challenge, but I see you have some great veggie recipes as well!) If you're interested in participating or mentioning the event on your blog, you can find details here. Thanks!

leslie @ definitely not martha said...

Very cool! I never would have thought to use vermouth, but it's tasty for sipping, so I'll have to give something like this a try!