Fish Napoli

This unscheduled recipe goes out especially for Jack, who was the first to leave a comment on this site. I have no pictures of this (yet), so you will have to make do with this illustration instead. Ofcourse, the dish looks nothing like this, but its the best I could do. Here we go ...

We ate at Shatranj Napoli last Friday, an Indo-Italian restaurant with minimalistic decor but excellent service. The mixed drinks were subpar and the entree left a lot to be desired. But the appetizers were awesome, especially the fish. Yumm! Oh yeah, especially the fish.

This is how it was made (I think). As always, try at your own risk. But please be nice enough to let me know if it turns out really bad -- I shall wait to hear from you before making it for myself. ;-)

1. Marinate four fillets of fish with the juice of one lemon and a sprinkling of salt for 20 mins.

2. Soak a teaspoon of peppercorns in a tablespoon of vinegar for an hour or so. Crush coarsely and keep aside.

3. For the sauce, melt butter in a pan. Sauté 3 teaspoons of refined flour (maida) for a minute.

4. Remove from heat and add half a cup each of milk and chicken stock, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.

5. Return to heat, simmer and cook till the mixture starts to thicken.

6. Add the crushed peppercorns, season with salt and a dash of soya sauce and cook till creamy. Stir in a spoonful of cream to add more taste (and many more yummy calories).

7. Pour on the marinated fillets and bake in a preheated oven for 10 mins.

8. Serve hot as an appetizer or as the entree with bread and soup.