Chamomile-Poached Sand Dabs with Candy Caps #FishFridayFoodies

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' October event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, to share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. And Wendy herself is hosting October's event.

She wrote: "Share a recipe using fish or seafood that is poached on the stove top or in the oven." In case you are unfamiliar with the technique, poaching involves cooking by submerging food in a liquid, such as water, milk, stock or wine and cooking at a low temperature.

I really enjoying poaching in olive oil as evidenced by my Olive-Oil Poached Salmon with Rhubarb Crème Fraîche and Olive Oil-Poached Salmon Bellies with Summery Peach-Tomato Salsa. But I have also poached in tea: Green Tea Poached Cod. This time I decided to poach in a tisane of sorts.

But, before I get to my post for the event, here's the rest of the #FishFridayFoodies' poached fish offerings...

• Chamomile-Poached Sand Dabs with Candy Caps from Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Herb Butter Poached Wild Salmon from Food Lust People Love 
• Poached Cod Cantonese-Style with Chiles from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Poached Prawn Cocktail from Sneha's Recipe
• Poached Salmon with Bourbon Cream Sauce from Palatable Pastime 
• Poached Sole with Caper Sauce from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Tomato Basil Poached Fish from Making Miracles 
• Tomato Poached Cod over Egg Noodles from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Chamomile-Poached Sand Dabs with Candy Caps

Fall has certainly arrived on California's central coast. With all this gloom and grey, I wanted a dish that looked a little bit Springy. And I looked no further than the fresh organic chamomile blossoms I had on my table. Fresh chamomile is surprisingly bitter, so I thought I'd temper it with the maple syrup-reminiscent candy cap mushrooms. 

Sand Dabs, scientific name Citharichthys sordidus, are a mild white fish whose range runs the coastline from Alaska to Baja. It has the ability to change its color and pattern to match its surroundings which protects it from predators. Since most of the waters in and around the Monterey Bay are closed to trawling, these are caught using the hook and line techniques.

Ingredients serves 4

• 1 pound sand dab filets, deboned
• 1/4 C dried candy cap mushrooms 
• 1 T fresh, organic chamomile blossoms + more for garnish
• 1/2 C boiling water
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T shallots, peeled and minced
• 1 T olive oil + more for serving
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• organic chamomile greens for serving

Procedure

Place candy cap mushrooms and fresh chamomile blossoms in a bowl. Pour boiling water over them. Let steep until softened and fragrant. Whisk in maple syrup. Set aside.

In a large, flat-bottom pan, heat olive oil and saute shallots until softened and beginning to turn translucent. Pour in the soaked candy caps, chamomile blossoms, and soaking liquid. Bring to a simmer.

Place sand dab filets into the liquid. Poach until firm, approximately 5 minutes.

To serve, move cooked filets to a low, rimmed bowl. Spoon candy caps over the top. Pour in a few T of poaching liquid. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and freshly ground pepper. Garnish with fresh chamomile blossoms and greens.