Foodie Friday: Buttered Tilapia & Semillon Wine

Hosted by Gollum, foodie friday is a fun way to experience food from a different perspective. I love sharing my recipes and reading what others have posted as well. Stop by Designs by Gollum to see more.

My recipe for today is a favorite of ours. My son, now in college, made this one last time before we took him to school this week. Tilapia is a mild fish, not very fishy tasting but delicious. We first read about this recipe on AllRecipes.com. However, we've made just a few changes based on what we like to arrive at this Very Easy meal. Mostly, we love the way the butter makes the fish taste and feel so we increased the amount of butter. Tried making it with Olive Oil but it just wasn't the same.

Ingredients:

1 lb Fresh Tilapia

1/2 lemon

1/2 cup butter (not margarine)

1/4 cup Parsley

1 large garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

Start by rinsing your fresh Tilapia under cool water. Pat dry with a paper towel and place in a 9X13 pan.

Mash or mince your garlic and spread over the fish.

Drizzle with 1/2 lemon's juice & melted butter.

Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered in middle rack, at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Fish is done when it flakes separates easily with a fork.

Done!!

We serve this dish with a Mushroom & Onion Risotto and our favorite garden salad which is topped with Havarti cheese, almonds, and craisins. A great wine with this meal is featured below. Although the kids don't get the wine, they get the apple juice or water, it was a great way to say farewell to our college bound son.

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Now here's Neil from On The Grapevine to share some more interesting facts about wine. This particular one goes well with my Buttered Tilapia.

Semillon is my favourite white wine. The grape is used in France as a blending component to make the dry white wines of Bordeaux but more famously it is used in the production of the sweet dessert wines of Sauterne eg. Chateau d’Yquem.

In Australia it is also used to make both styles but predominantly as a single varietal wine although it is sometimes blended with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. I have never found much Semillon in the USA, either locally made or imported, but in my opinion it is well worth seeking out.

The most famous Australian Semillon comes from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Usually of low alcohol (10-11%) and unwooded, when young it is a crisp dry wine smelling of apples, grass/hay and tasting of citrus. However on aging, the same wine develops into a full flavoured toasty, honeyed wine that is now considered a classic Australian wine style.

In other areas of the country it is allowed to ripen more thus producing wines of higher alcohol, more body and with flavours more like tropical fruit, passion fruit and figs. These wines are also more conducive to the wine maker’s input so many are either barrel fermented, left for a time on the lees, allowed to go through malolactic fermentation or barrel aging (or a combination of all or some).

All these processes increase the complexity of the wine adding creamy, buttery and nutty tones to aroma and flavour.

A dry Semillon is great with any seafood, pasta dish or white meat but is just as acceptable to be drunk by itself outside, with feet up, on a warm summer’s day.

Enjoy!