Recipe #10: Oreo Dory pan-fried with 16 y.o. rare old tawny port

I have been thinking of making a creamy mushroom and port sauce for awhile, so when I found a bottle of Chateau Reynella 16 y.o. rare old tawny port, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try this.

So far, I have been extolling the virtues of French wines, although without a doubt, Australia produces some really great wines too. From experience, when it comes to tawny port, the absolute best I have tasted comes from Australia. Seppelt is world-renowned for their tawnies. But there are other great producers. Penfolds Great Grandfather port comes to mind, and Chateau Reynella's tawnies are amongst Australia's best. At less than AUD$10 a 375ml bottle, the 16 y.o. rare old tawny is an absolute bargain.

Oreo dory is an Australasian classic that is easy to prepare in many ways. I plan to experiment further with this fish. Like its John Dory counterpart from the northern hemisphere, oreo dory has a firm-textured, flavoursome flesh. That is why I felt it would go well with rare old tawny.

Ingredients

• Oreo dory fillets
• Rare old tawny port
• Olive oil
• Butter (unsalted)
• Fresh mushrooms
• Garlic
• White Onion
• Basil
• Parsley
• Salt
• Black pepper

Preparation
Heat up fry-pan with a little olive oil, chopped garlic and white onions. When they soften, add a generous chunk of butter and allow to simmer on low heat.
Toss in fresh mushrooms, spreading them evenly in a single layer over pan. Turn heat up and allow them to brown nicely. Add salt to taste.
When mushrooms have browned, push them to side of pan, so that there is room to place fish fillets evenly on pan. Again, don't overcrowd the fish. Fry slowly until bottom of fish is golden, then turn over and cook other side.
Just before fish is fully cooked, pour some cream, stir into mushrooms, then splash some tawny port. Mix ingredients in sauce, allowing it to bathe the fish as it cooks.
Turn off heat and quickly toss finely chopped basil and parsley over fish. Sprinkle a little black pepper if desired.

To Serve
Serve over a bed of pasta, then top with creamy mushroom port sauce and garnish with remainder of fresh chopped basil and parsley.

Complement with a medium- to full-bodied Chardonnay, or even a Pinot Noir. (I had mine with Chilean Pinot Noir, which was superb.)

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