Haddock with Tahini Sauce and Caramelized Onions

The sweetness of the caramelized onions goes exceptionally well with the tahini sauce, which is an easy Middle Eastern sauce made of sesame paste, water, garlic and lemon.  

There are lots of recipes for fish with tahini sauce if you google it.  It's is a traditional Lebanese dish.  I found this one on Great British Chefs, a website I enjoy.  

Goes well with white fluffy rice.  Any mild white fish can be used.  

---Barbara

Haddock with Tahini Sauce and Carmelized Onions
(adapted from Great British Chefs, Helen Graves)

Serves 2

For the sauce:
2 haddock fillets,  5-6 ounces each
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. chili powder, medium hot
pinch of salt
1 t. olive oil

For the caramelized onions:
1 large onion or 2 small, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. oil
salt

For the tahini sauce:
4 T. tahini
4 T. water, cold
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, grated

Start by making the onions, well in advance of serving the meal, as it takes 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get a rich, deep color on the onions which brings out their sweetness.  In a non-stick pan, add the sliced onions, a tiny bit of salt, oil and turn up the heat to high to get the pan hot, then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until deep, golden brown.   (You can make in advance, refrigerate, and reheat gently as I did.  I just put them in the oven along with the fish.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Marinate the fish for 1/2 hour before baking:  Pat the fish dry, mix together the marinade in a small bowl (cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and olive oil), then rub the fish with the marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

At this point,  the rice can be made, a fluffy white rice, like basmati works well.

Cover the fish loosely with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.  Depends on the thickness of your fillets.  Ours took 20.  Press the fish to test doneness.  It will be firm in the center if it is done.

While the fish bakes, make the tahini sauce in a small pan.  I didn't really understand the directions, so I heated my water and tahini with the garlic together, took it off the heat, then added the lemon juice, and whisked together until smooth.

As the directions said, it will curdle and look weird but just keep whisking until it all comes together.  Taste and add more lemon juice or salt, if desired.  When I re-read the recipe, it says to do all of this cold.  Many recipes use a processor for this step.  But who wants to get out the processor?

When the fish is ready, warm the tahini sauce over low heat.  Divide the haddock between plates, pour over the tahini sauce and top generously with caramelized onions.  Add the rice on the side.

Chopped parsley would be good as a garnish.

The short cut I am going to try next time is to substitute golden raisins for the onions.

I don't think the sauce would be good just by itself.  A sweet element like the caramelized onions or raisins offsets the slight bitterness of the sauce.

---Barbara