Lemon Caper Sauce for Fish

I’ve discovered that a certain sauce is quite popular with many; a lemon-caper sauce that originally was designed as a marinade to season rare beef. We sliced the beef very thin, added that sauce, and put it on baguette slices with some horseradish butter. The little bite-sized baguette rounds with the beef on them made a wonderful appetizer, so we made a sandwich-sized version for our daily customers. It was a hit!

I realized that the lemon-caper sauce went over well at home too, when I’ve served fish for dinner. But, I often don’t have much prep time by the dinner hour. So I’ve found it handy to have some of the basic ingredients mixed and ready for the sauce ahead of time, and I just add a little fresh lemon, garlic, and green onion to it on serving day. The rest of my “Lemon Caper Concentrate” stays fresh in my refrigerator for several months, being composed of capers, cornichons, Dijon mustard, and olive oil. Those ingredients will keep well, and by adding the more perishable ingredients to the sauce at serving time, it tastes like I must’ve just made the whole thing from scratch.

Some may wonder, just what are “capers”? They are a little bud off of a bush that grows in the Mediterranean. They get pickled, and lend a unique flavor to recipes. The other unusual ingredient is the cornichons. It is a fancy French name, used for tiny, gherkin-sized pickles. But they’re sour, not sweet. And being so tiny, you can mince them up, as for my Lemon Caper recipe, and they won’t be rubbery, as larger pickles may be. They add just a bit of crunch and tang; perfect in this sauce.

 

Lemon Caper Sauce

This recipe is great with fresh fish. It’s also a deli favorite on a roast beef sandwich with horseradish butter, or on a salad. Serves 7-8.

Ahead of time, make the “Lemon Caper Concentrate”. To do that, process the cornichons, or mince finely by hand: > ½ c. cornichons

Add the minced cornichons to a quart jar. Also add: > 1 c. olive oil > ¼ c. Dijon mustard > ¼ c. capers

Store the “concentrate” in refrigerator up to three months.

On serving day, add a half cup or so of the concentrate to a serving bowl. To serve, stir in last: > 1 tsp. fresh garlic, chopped > ¼ c. lemon juice > 2 green onions (about ¼ c.), chopped

 

Order Jennifer Cote’s cookbook, From the Land of Milk and Honey, online at Winepress Books. (Or at Amazon.com)