Grilled White Fish in Lemon Basil Cream Sauce

When my father-in-law recently came to visit, I jumped at the chance to prepare a seafood dish. I’m a lover of all things seafood, but my husband, not so much. I’m able to get him to eat some mild fish every now and again (mostly Fridays during Lent), but I’ve learned to dress up the fish with sauces or salsas to make it easier for him to eat.

I have an abundance of beautiful fresh basil in my garden. Sidebar: PLANT BASIL! If you ever make ANYTHING with basil, it is much cheaper and fresher to just pay $2 for a basil plant and plop it in the garden. As a matter of fact, you don’t even need a garden. You can keep it in a small pot and give it sunlight, water and a little love. I am always looking for ways to incorporate basil to spice up any dish. This brought me to preparing a grilled fresh Lake Superior white fish with a lemon basil cream sauce.

We bought the white fish because of its thicker skin, to make it easier for grilling. I still always use foil when grill. The last thing I want to do is lose a good piece of fish through the grates of the grill. I can hear my uncle, in my memories, shouting his usual stuff at me. He was an avid fisherman and caught the fish he ate so he had some eccentric views and never stopped reminding us. He was the kind of fellow that considered getting into technical details about spincast reel reviews, for example, was small talk for everyone. Anyway, thankfully, I decided never to eat fish in front of him again, solves that.

For the fish:

Lightly brush some Extra Virgin Olive Oil on each piece of fish and season with a little sea salt and pepper. Wrap the fish in foil and grill on a medium heat for 10 minutes. The fish should be flaky and moist.

For the sauce:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 4-6 basil leaves, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped

In a saucepan at medium heat, melt the butter. Slowly add cream. Lightly simmer for 3 minutes. Whisk in lemon juice. Add bouillon cube and garlic. Once bouillon has dissolved. Toss in basil. Pour sauce over the white fish. Pair this dish with a crisp white wine, such as Imagery 2008 White Burgundy, like we did! This sauce would also work great with grilled chicken.