Jim's Grouper Therapy

By Jim

If I ever get a center console boat to go offshore in, I'll probably name it something like Grouper Therapy for the kind of fish I plan on pursuing. Fortunately, up here, you just have to go to Wegmans or a good fish market to find good, fresh grouper. The kind, when you put it to your nose, smells sweet and salty, not fishy.

Barbara wrote about her version of this a couple of years ago. Here is mine.
Two grouper fillets (5-8 oz each)
Olive oil
8 oz package oyster mushrooms, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
2 shallots chopped fine
4 cloves garlic chopped
12-16 grape tomatoes, quartered
Pinch of thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
Italian parsley, rough chopped, for garnish
Crusty bread

Preheat oven to 450. In an ovensafe skillet, heat olive oil to cover bottom of pan until smoking. Add mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add thyme and a large pinch of kosher salt, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Remove mushroom mix. Salt and pepper grouper filets. Add more olive oil to cover bottom of pan, heat until smoking, then gently lay filets in pan. Cook until deep golden brown , then turn gently. Add mushroom mix, tomatoes, and wine to pan. Put into oven for 4-6 minutes. Remove from oven, then remove grouper filets and cook down wine sauce with mushrooms and tomatoes. Top filets with sauce and mushroom-tomato mix. Make sure that you have some crusty bread around to soak up wine sauce.