Sunday Supper: Oven-Roasted Bass in Cream, Horseradish and Caper Sauce

Serves 4.

Note: This easy recipe is best with a flaky but firm-fleshed white fish, such as black cod, Chilean sea bass, striped bass, swordfish or cod. The roasting time reflects the author's preference for slightly underdone fish; cook it longer if you prefer (but not too long!). The cream sauce is whisked together in a few minutes. The cream is initially whipped just enough to make it slightly frothy before the rest of the ingredients are added and the sauce is heated in a microwave oven for 45 seconds to warm it before serving. This sauce also goes well with steamed or poached scallops or shrimp. From "A Grand­father's Les­sons: In the Kitchen With Shorey," by Jac­ques Pépin.

• 4 black cod or Chi­le­an sea bass fil­lets (4 to 5 oz. each and 1 in. thick; see Note)

• 1/4 tsp. salt, di­vid­ed

• 1/2 c. heav­y cream

• 2 tsp. grated or bot­tled horse­rad­ish

• 2 tsp. drained ca­pers

• 1/2 tsp. fresh­ly ground black pep­per

• 1 tbsp. coarse­ly chop­ped fresh dill

Di­rec­tions

Heat oven to 350 de­grees.

Ar­range the fish on a bak­ing sheet lined with non­stick a­lu­mi­num foil. Sprin­kle with 1/8 tea­spoon salt.

Place the fish in the oven for 10 min­utes, for a slight­ly un­der­done in­te­ri­or, or longer if you prefer. Mean­while, heat the sauce in micro­wave for 45 sec­onds to warm it.