SEVEN OR LESS
Fish with mushroom sauce simple to prepare

By Thayer Wine
Nashville Tennessean

If you have time to run by a fish market on your way home, you will be rewarded with a dinner that you can prepare in less than half an hour.

This baked-fish recipe can be prepared with any mild-flavored, white-fleshed, tender-textured fish fillet — whatever looks best, freshest, affordable.

Make the mushroom sauce in a separate skillet and add it to the fish during the last couple of minutes it's in the oven.

Serve the fish with steamed rice, if desired, steamed broccoli and a fresh salad of arugula and avocado with a dressing made with lemon juice, grated Parmesan and extra-virgin olive oil. For dessert, offer orange wedges sprinkled with toasted coconut.

BAKED FISH WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

• 1 1/2 pounds fish fillets
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided use
• 1 small shallot, about 1 tablespoon finely chopped
• 1/4 pound sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using 1 teaspoon of the butter, grease bottom of 9-by-13-by-2- inch glass baking dish.

Rinse fillet, be sure all bones are removed, and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into serving pieces, if desired. Place fish with skin side down in prepared dish. Dot with small pieces of the remaining teaspoon butter. (You may season with salt and pepper, if desired.)

Place fish in preheated oven, set the timer and cook about 12 minutes. Remove at 12 minutes to check for doneness. If necessary return to oven another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the flesh has gone from translucent to opaque and flakes easily when prodded gently with a fork.

Chop shallot and slice mushrooms. Heat olive oil briefly in a 10-inch nonstick skillet; add shallots and sauté 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and white wine. Sauté about 2 minutes, or until shallots are softened. Stir in heavy cream. Bring to a boil and cook until sauce has reduced by half and thickened slightly.

When fish is nearly done, pour sauce over fish, gently combining it with juices from the fish and return it to the oven for about 1 minute. Serve immediately. If the sauce seems too thin, return it to the skillet and boil rapidly for a couple of minutes until it thickens again.

Serves 4.

Per serving: 274 calories, 36 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate (.3 g fiber), 12 g fat, 116 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium.