Whitefish and Vegetable Gratin

Tonight we made the whitefish vegetable gratin. It was excellent. We are always looking for new ways to make fish more "restaurant" style and this was a winner. It was flavorful and robust. We used Fresh Cod (that my dad caught last week) and Chardonnay for the wine since that was the only white wine we had in house. Instead of using butter we used butter flavor cooking spray with the bread crumbs, just enough to wet them a bit. I also cut the amount of bread crumbs in half since we had less fish then the recipe called for. This is definitely something that is going into the rotation whenever we have some fish on hand. We served it with rice on the side. I spooned a little of the left over drippings from the pan over the rice. Used up the rest of the Chardonnay with the dish. Absolutely Superb!

Whitefish and Vegetable Gratin-
~*~Sandy~*~

A great flavor develops as the fish bakes in wine with a crumb-cheese topping. Use thin fish fillets for this dish.

1 large yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 1/2 pounds whitefish fillets, such as snapper, cod, sole, or tilapia
1/4 tsp dried basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 ounces mushrooms, sliced (sub small can of mushrooms)
1 tomato, sliced
1/3 cup dry white wine (sub sherry)
3/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Arrange onion slices in a lightly sprayed or oiled 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Place fillets on top and sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper. Arrange mushrooms on top of fish, then tomato slices. Pour wine over all.

In a small bowl, toss bread crumbs with melted butter. Spread on top of fillets and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until fish flakes when tested with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.

Sandy's Variation: Heat 1 T oil in an iron skillet. Sauté onion slices until soft and lightly browned. Top with fish pieces, mushrooms, tomatoes, wine, and buttered bread crumbs. Transfer skillet to 400º oven to bake for 10 to 15 minutes.