Baked Fish Served with Chickpeas and Raisins

Baked Fish Served with Chickpeas and Raisins

Rewritten Recipe:

Jump aboard the Mediterranean culinary voyage with this scrumptious, health-friendly dish! Cooked in one pan, it brings the flavors of the Middle East and Mediterranean together, thanks to preserved lemons, olives, sumac, and chickpeas.

Ingredients Needed:Preserved lemons are a Moroccan cooking staple. Look for them in gourmet stores or buy online (igourmet.com). Alternatively, you can whip up your homemade version!

• Yield: 4 servings
• Difficulty: Easy
• Prep time: 30 minutes + marinating
• Cook time: 60 minutes

List of Ingredients (17)

• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin ground
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ground
• 1/8 teaspoon sumac
• 4 fish fillets, white-fleshed, mild, around 6 ounces each (halibut, grouper, cod, or haddock are great choices)
• Salt, Kosher
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• Onion, yellow, small diced
• Fennel bulb, 1 small, discard the outside layer, core, and cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup white wine, dry
• 2 tablespoons currants
• Chickpeas, 15 ounces can (~1 1/2 cups), chickpeas drained and rinsed
• Clam juice, 1 cup, bottled
• Olives, green, pitted, 1/4 cup, coarsely chopped
• Cilantro, fresh, 3 tablespoons, finely chopped
• Preserved lemon, 2 tablespoons finely chopped
• Preserved lemon slices, 12 thin

Instructions:

1. Over medium-high heat, heat a large, straight-sided pan with a lid. When hot, add 1/4 cup of the oil, cumin, cinnamon, and sumac, stirring until aromatic (around 30-60 seconds). Move the pan off heat and transfer half of the oil mixture to a large, shallow dish. Allow it to cool slightly.
2. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper, place them in the oil-coated dish, then turn them to ensure a full coating. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Return the pan to medium-high heat with the remaining oil. Add the onion, fennel (seasoned with salt and pepper), and cook, stirring often (lowering heat if required), until the onion softens (around 5 minutes). Pour in the white wine and currants, simmering until the wine almost disappears (about 3-4 minutes). Incorporate the chickpeas, clam juice, olives, cilantro, and chopped preserved lemon, bringing to a simmer. Cook until the liquid decreases by two-thirds, and the chickpeas soften (approximately 6 minutes). Check and season with additional salt and pepper if needed, then remove from heat. Set aside until the fish is ready.
4. In a small skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the preserved lemon slices and cook (around 3 minutes per side), then set aside.
5. Return the pan with the chickpeas to medium heat. Arrange the fish fillets in the mixture, and place three slices of preserved lemon over each fillet. Cover and cook over a lively simmer until the fish flakes when cut into (around 10 minutes for 3/4-inch thick fillets or 12 minutes for 1-inch to 1.25-inch thick fillets). Sprinkle the remaining cilantro over the fish. Serve each fillet in a shallow bowl, followed by a generous spoonful of chickpeas. Enjoy your trip to the Mediterranean with this delectable, easy-to-make dish!

Making Preserved Lemons at Home:

Making preserved lemons at home is an easy and rewarding process that requires a few ingredients. Follow this simple, traditional Moroccan-style preserved lemon recipe:

Things Required:

• 5-8 small organic lemons with thin peels (Meyer lemons or Eureka lemons work well)
• Coarse salt, like kosher or sea salt (around 70g for 5 lemons)
• Lemon juice, 2-3 lemons juiced

Steps to Follow:

1. Start by sterilizing the jar (boiling for 5 minutes; then set aside to cool).
2. Wash the lemons thoroughly, cut both ends off, and quarter but don't cut all the way through.
3. Coat each lemon with generous amounts of salt, pack them into the sterilized jar, and add any additional flavorings (like bay leaves, peppercorns, or red pepper flakes).
4. Add lemon juice to cover the lemons in liquid, seal the jar, and place it in a dark, cool spot for about a month. Check weekly to ensure the lemons are submerged in liquid.
5. After about a month, the lemons should be soft and the peel transparent. This indicates they are ready to use. Once opened, store in the refrigerator to extend shelf life.

Before using, rinse off the excess salt on preserved lemons. Both the peel and pulp can be used in various culinary applications such as salads, couscous, poultry, or braises and sauces.

1. Incorporate fennel into the Mediterranean-inspired dish, as it is one of the listed ingredients along with preserved lemons, olives, sumac, and chickpeas.
2. For nutritional benefits, consider adding lemons from the given list to your daily diet, as they are rich in vitamin C and can contribute to the overall goodness of the Mediterranean-style recipe.
3. To experience an authentic Mediterranean taste, preserve lemons for long-term use according to the provided method (with fennel, currants, and cilantro being other key ingredients), and refrigerate the preserved lemons at home with the code '39417e78a5e6cdd8e2510abf2cc0e056'.

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