Fish in a lemon-wine sauce; Potato-artichoke pancakes

As I've said before, I don't like seafood. I have tried almost everything, and still try whatever Jon orders at restaurants, but really don't like it. However, I don't mind catfish and trout because they are freshwater fish and don't have that typical seafood flavor.

Jon was away all week so I decided to cook him some fish when he got home last night. Because I need to hide the taste of the fish a bit, I decided to cook it similarly to how I cook chicken piccata.

Ingredients

• 2 fish filets
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup wine
• Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (probably a little less, if any at all)
• Optional: capers
• Salt and pepper

Directions

• Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large pan over high heat.
• Season fish with salt and pepper, and then dredge in flour, shaking off any excess.
• Once the pan is very hot, add the fish and cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan.
• Lower the heat to medium-high, and to the pan, add garlic and shallots. Saute for 1-2 min.
• Add the wine and let it cook for about 2 minutes.
• Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and capers.
• Return fish to the pan and simmer about 4-5 minutes. At the end, whisk in 1 tablespoon of butter and top with parsley.

I really liked the flavor of the sauce, and I was able to eat a lot of the fish. Jon also liked the sauce, but thought the fish got a little too soft in the sauce, but still enjoyed it.

I made potato-artichoke pancakes as a way to try to get Jon to enjoy potatoes. It worked - he ate two!

Ingredients (amounts are estimates - I kept working with ingredients until the mixture felt right)

• 2 large baking potatoes, peeled, grated, and with all of the water pressed out (don't peel/grate until you are ready to start cooking as the potatoes will turn brown)
• 1/2 can artichokes, drained and finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 tbsp shallots, chopped
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbsp parsley for color (I think some spinach would be great, too)
• Salt, pepper, oregano
• Olive oil - enough to coat a pan by about 1/4 inch

Directions

• Mix all ingredients in this order - potatoes, artichokes, garlic, shallots, spices, egg, parsley, breadcrumbs, cheese (I added 1 egg, then the breadcrumbs and cheese, then decided to add a second egg).
• Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat
• Form mixture into round patties about 2 1/2 - 3 inches in diameter
• Drop patties into the oil and cook for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.
• Remove from pan onto a paper towel before serving

These were really good and if I didn't already have the lemon sauce for the fish, I would have liked some sort of creamy dipping sauce for them. I can't believe Jon ate 2!