Poached Tilapia with White Wine and Tarragon

Fast, economical and delicious? Yes! This recipe features an economical fish that lends itself well to poaching. This means that it will infuse the flavors during the poaching process. Add sautéed peas to the fish, round out the meal with Tarragon Basmati Rice with Baby Zucchini and Yellow Squash and a gourmet style dinner is on your table. Peas were removed from fresh sugar snap peas in this recipe and you can choose to do this option or use the frozen kind if time doesn’t allow for shelling of peas. Ingredient amounts will serve 2. Adjust ingredient amounts to accommodate the number of people serving.

Ingredients

2 tilapia filets
2 cups of white wine
4 sprigs of fresh tarragon
Kosher salt
1/2 cup of peas, frozen and thawed or fresh sugar snap peas, peas removed
1 tablespoon of Smart Balance brand butter or regular butter

Technique

If you are using fresh sugar snap peas, remove the peas from pods and set aside. Rinse tilapia filet and drain. Heat tarragon sprigs and white wine in a medium size skillet covered with a clear lid. Bring to a boil for about 3 minutes to blend flavors. Reduce heat to a simmer. Place both tilapia filets side by side into white wine mixture. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes. The wine should not bubble or boil. Throughout the 7 minute process, gently move skillet over heating element like you would do if making popcorn, in order for the hot liquid to coat the top of the filets. While tilapia is poaching, in a small skillet over medium heat melt butter and add peas and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Remove filets from skillet, ladle a bit of the wine mixture over the top, add the pea mixture and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Remove tarragon sprigs and discard or place on plate as an additional garnish. Serve immediately.

Suggested Beverage

Try Chateau St. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc (Columbia Valley), Paulo Alto Reserve (Chile), Villa Antinori Toscana, Michelob® Pale Ale Dry Hopped or Hofbräu Oktoberfest, München (Germany) which is a very light style of Oktoberfest.