Filet de mulet et sauce piquante au yaourt

What do you do when you have one container left of the best yogurt in the world, left over from the Salon d'Agriculture? Make a delightful yogurt sauce out of it to pour on top of the fish fillet you bought at the really sweet fishmonger down the block. After all the meat I've been having, fish sure seemed like the perfect idea. It even gave me an excuse to use both the good olive oil my mom bought us in January and the delightfully spicy mustard I bought at Place Monge when we were living down in the fifth.

I've been reading about cooking fish in a court-bouillon, so I wanted to try it out. But my only big pot is in the fridge with the left-over veal shanks. So I decided I'd have to settle with baking it in the oven. Then, just before I put it in, I had a startling revelation--why not just add water to the fish in the pan and do something like poach it? Well, that's what I did and it turned out very nice smothered in my sauce.

To make the sauce, I gently reworked a sauce for smoked salmon croquettes from The Gefilte Variations, my mom's cookbook. (Sorry for the shameless plug.) I was thinking of making a fish like breme (I believe it's bream in English though I'm not sure) or perch, but the fishmonger didn't have any. So he convinced me to go home with a red mullet fillet. With this meal, I also finally managed to make a dinner for just me, without left-overs and with very little clean-up. So, here goes. Just figure one fillet per person and as much sauce as you want. I have a little extra sauce, so if The Boy were home he could have had fish and sauce too, but there's not enough that it's worth saving (if that's any sort of guide).

Filet de mulet et sauce piquante au yaourt

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 sprig Bay Leaf
1 sprig Dill
1 fillet Red Mullet
Salt and Pepper
about 4 cups Water

Pre-heat oven to 180 C (350 F). Put one tablespoon of good Olive Oil in a glass pan, along with a sprig of Bay Leaf and a Sprig of Dill. Rub Salt and Pepper on the Fillet. Place it on top of the Bay Leaf sprig and drizzle another tablespoon of Olive Oil on top. Then add about 4 cups of Water, until the Fillet is completely covered. Put the Fish in the oven for about 12 minutes.

While it's cooking, make the Sauce:

1 tablespoon Mustard, preferably quite spicy
4 teaspoons Citrus Juice (I used an orange/grapefruit/clementine blend)
1-2 teaspoons Capers, drained
3 sprigs Dill, torn into small pieces
2 Garlic Cloves, sliced
3-5 tablespoons Plain Yogurt

In a small bowl, stir all ingredients together until completely combined.

When the Fish is ready (it will no longer be pink), take it out of the oven, move it to a plate and spoon as much Sauce as you want on top. For an easy vegetable, dip raw carrots or celery in the left-over sauce. That's it! Easy, no?

Update: I made a new variation!